Collections Specialist

Company Description

Chartwell Housing Finance Solutions (Pty) Ltd is a financial services and advisory company focused on making homeownership affordable in Africa. By collaborating with developers, financial institutions, and employers, Chartwell creates solutions that bridge the housing affordability gap. Utilizing bespoke loan origination and administration platform, Chartwell offers tailored advisory services and product design, aiming to make homeownership a sustainable reality for a growing number of people in Africa. The company is committed to a flexible and multi-dimensional approach to address various facets of housing and housing finance.

Job Summary

We are seeking an energetic, dynamic, and results-driven Collections Specialist to join our team. This pivotal role demands an individual who thrives on strategic problem-solving and takes immediate, proactive action on all default accounts. You'll be instrumental in analysing complex non-payment reasons and negotiating robust payment arrangements that consistently deliver the best possible outcomes for the business.

This is not a traditional Collections Specialist role; we require a professional with a deep understanding of urgency and the tenacity to ensure payments are met timeously. This is not a traditional collections agent role; we require a professional with in-depth knowledge of collections processes and strategies, gained from extensive experience within a collection's environment. The ideal candidate will possess comprehensive knowledge of the National Credit Act, the legal collections process, and debt review procedures, complemented by the ability to analyze credit bureau information and bank statements.

You must be confident, assertive, and fearless in your approach, yet possess the emotional intelligence to strike a crucial balance between being firm and reasonable. If you are a passionate negotiator with an unwavering commitment to achieving targets and a strong, persuasive communication style, we invite you to apply.

Duties and responsibilities

• Proactive Arrear Management & Same-Day Collections:
  Implement a proactive approach to ensure customer collections are received on their salary date or scheduled collection date.
  Should a payment not be received as expected, the goal is to immediately explore all avenues and initiatives to contact the customer on the same day or following up to ensure contact is made, thereby actively preventing a default.
  Promptly follow up on non-receipts.
• Lead monthly arrear collections by meticulously analyzing reconciliations and monitoring bank statements daily.
• Deep Financial Analysis:
  Investigate historical data and analyze current customer financial performance (via credit reports, budgets, etc.) to understand repayment capabilities and proactively identify and address behavioural trends or changing conditions.
• Income & Employment Verification:
  Verify customer income, employment, and salary information when changes occur during the home loan lifecycle.
• Expedited Mandate Action:
  Swiftly action new or changed collection mandates, ensuring all necessary supporting documentation is in place.
• Diligent Task Management:
  Maintain and diligently manage a daily task list, meticulously tracking past and future actions for all assigned responsibilities.
• Robust Communication:
  Action all incoming tasks promptly and effectively across various communication channels (emails, calls, text messages), ensuring clarity and impact.
• Strategic Debt Review Management:
  Review and critically assess communications from debt counsellors, meticulously following business processes for debt review notices. This includes crafting "out of the box" counter-proposals for restructured repayments, always with a sharp focus on safeguarding business assets.
• Payroll Deduction Implementation:
  Prepare required documentation and actively liaise with customers and their HR/payroll departments to implement and follow up on home loan payroll deduction requests until full implementation.
• Aggressive Customer Contact:
  Proactively engage customers via telephone, SMS, email, or (where necessary) social media to track payments and outstanding balances.
• System Integrity:
  Ensure all customer information and feedback are accurately and promptly updated on systems, with all relevant documentation uploaded.
• Credit Life Claims:
  Meticulously follow business processes for actioning retrenchment, death, and disability claims from submission to finalization.
• Legal Process Management:
  Prepare default notices and liaise effectively with Sheriff's offices and post offices to ensure successful and timely delivery of legal notices.
• Reporting & Accountability:
  Conduct thorough reviews of arrear collection reports at month-end to ensure all arrear collections are accounted for until full settlement.
• Credit Bureau Judgement Loading:
  Liaise effectively with various credit bureaus to ensure timely and accurate loading of judgments against customer credit records.
• Ad-hoc Task Management:
  Efficiently manage diverse ad-hoc tasks, including customer account queries, payment relief requests, and credit bureau listings.
• Consistent Reporting:
  Provide daily and prompt feedback to the Line Manager on all pending tasks and target progress.

Other Responsibilities

• Stay current on new product information and legislation through ongoing learning and internal communication.
• Adhere strictly to all company policies and procedures.
• Handles the tasks and responsibilities of colleagues during periods of leave or sick leave, ensuring continuity of operations.

Requirements and Skills

• Education:
  Grade 12 qualification; a related Credit Management Diploma/Degree is a significant advantage.
• Experience:
  A minimum of
  3 years of aggressive collections experience
  , specifically with soft and legal collections in a home loans environment.
• Collections Expertise:
  A strong understanding and practical working knowledge of collections processes, recovery techniques, and billing procedures.
• Technical Proficiency:
  Advanced computer literacy skills with high proficiency in MS Excel and Word.
• Legal & Regulatory Knowledge:
  Solid understanding and practical application of the National Credit Act and all relevant debt collection legislation pertaining to credit risk and collection processes.
• Exceptional Communication & Negotiation:
• Proven ability to communicate very strongly and persuasively with customers,
  navigating challenging conversations with assertiveness and professionalism.
• Highly skilled in
  negotiation and problem-solving
  , with the ability to secure optimal payment outcomes.
• Confident and resilient
  in pursuing collections, demonstrating persistence and a positive "can-do" attitude even in difficult situations.
• Adept at explaining complex payment plan options to non-paying customers, negotiating robust terms, and
  winning customers over to responsibly manage their debt.
• Exceptional written communication skills, capable of crafting emails that elicit the desired action from customers to rectify defaults.
• Attributes:
• Strong, passionate, and aggressive collections approach
  focused on achieving results.
• Highly empathetic yet non-judgmental
  , able to understand customer situations while firmly upholding business requirements.
• Excellent
  patience combined with the ability to manage stress
  in a high-pressure environment.
• Comfortable working with strict deadlines and targets.