About the position
ENVIRONMENT:
A credit risk management company is seeking a Senior Debt Recovery Specialist to support Credit Risk Advisors and guide the debt recovery team in improving client cash flow and minimizing risk by proactively recovering outstanding debt, preparing the information behind clients' risk management reports, supporting credit insurance and keeping their industry data current, while keeping the client informed throughout. The Senior Debt Recovery Specialist sets the standard for the DRS team and handles the more complex matters.
DUTIES:
Management, Motivation and Leadership
- Accountable for own work, own time and own delivery, and for setting the standard for DRS colleagues by example.
- Ensure operational excellence; volunteer for activities beyond the normal boundaries of the job.
- Mobilise resources where the team needs assistance to keep client satisfaction high.
- Manage upwards by passing on information, challenging and contributing to the success of the team and business.
- Guide DRSs on creative solutions to difficult recovery matters and build excellence by setting the example.
Organising and Planning
- Plans span one day to three months and include routine and non-routine tasks.
- Schedule own tasks and help schedule DRS tasks; maintain own and the Credit Risk Advisor's diary.
- Use other resources when required to meet monthly deadlines such as Industry Age by the 5th and RMR preparation.
Effectiveness and Delivery
- Resolve operational problems and use discretion on when to escalate.
- Consider more than one solution and make recommendations that solve the problem at hand.
- Operate on facts and guide DRSs to do the same.
Commitment and Effort
- Accountable for best operating practice and the effectiveness of the operation in own area.
- Support DRS colleagues to deliver the standard of work, including meeting deadlines, and raise concerns with their CRA.
- Exhibit professional pride and facilitate a quality-controlled culture.
Initiative and Innovation
- Demonstrate creativity and encourage new ideas from others.
- Suggest ways of improving workflows and productivity; mobilise self and others to take action.
Functional Responsibilities
Debt Recovery
- Obtain the Legal Action Advice (LAA) form with indemnity to list, or the Collection Advice with Authority to List for non-retainer clients, together with the sale agreement, statement and security documents.
- Check documentation for correctness and acknowledge receipt. Record your initial assessment of the paperwork's strengths and weaknesses as the first note when loading the matter.
- Advise clients immediately of shortcomings in documentation, the consequences and suggested solutions.
- Load the full matter on CreditSphere360 with all supporting documents, and place the debtor on Interim Industry Stop, keeping the status current.
- Contact the debtor to establish the status of the debt and ability to pay, record who was spoken to, and send a confirmation letter or letter of demand as appropriate (distinguishing surety / no surety and insured / uninsured).
- Follow proactive recovery processes to obtain payment; secure an Acknowledgement of Debt or Acknowledgement of Correctness of Account where applicable, with insurer authority where insured.
- Adverse list only once proper notice has expired and with prior authority from the Credit Risk Advisor.
- Keep collection notes current on CreditSphere360 within 24 hours, clearly reflecting action taken and outcome, next actions, recommendations, client responses and payment plan amounts and terms.
- Refer matters to the Credit Risk Advisor when progress stalls and decide jointly on handover to attorneys.
- Where a matter is uncollectable, submit a full motivation for closure (including Deeds Office, social media and online searches).
- On payment, remove the debtor from Industry Stop, update the adverse listing and advise the accounts department of ad hoc collection payments for billing.
- Produce monthly and ad hoc client collection reports from CreditSphere360.
- Handle the more complex recovery matters and guide DRSs on theirs.
Legal Collections, Business Rescue and Liquidations
- Update the CreditSphere360 status for legal handover and complete formal attorney handover with all supporting documents.
- Obtain regular updates from attorneys, credit insurers, liquidators and business rescue practitioners, and keep the Credit Risk Advisor and client informed.
- Comply with legal deadlines and apply a working understanding of the legal, liquidation and business rescue processes and time frames.
- Attend business rescue meetings, interpret the fundamentals of business rescue and liquidation reports, and report on viability from the client's perspective.
- Understand the Credit Risk Advisor's analysis of client paperwork and communicate the suggested legal course of action to the client.
Effective Administration
- Manage the Credit Risk Advisor's diary: conflict-free scheduling, proactive prioritisation and clustering of meetings to minimise travel time, with all commitments confirmed and escalated or rescheduled within agreed timeframes.
- Obtain the client's age analysis ahead of each Risk Management Meeting and accurately save and set it up for the debtors' meeting.
- Assist the Credit Risk Advisor in preparing the monthly Risk Management Report (RMR) to the standard and timing agreed.
Credit Insurance
- Support year-on-year improvement in risk participation on allocated policies by obtaining the information debtors need to support limit applications.
- Assist the Credit Risk Advisor with administration of the insurance dashboard to the level the Credit Risk Advisor sets.
- Prepare brokerage reports for the top brokerage clients identified by the Regional.
- Know which clients are insured, comply with insurers' deadlines for collection and claim lodgement, and inform insurers via the portal of all amounts received from debtors.
- Complete and interpret the insurance dashboard for allocated clients.
- Compile policy review reports with the assistance of company Insurance, request quotes for clients and train clients on Cregalink when required.
- Work with CGIC's collection and mitigation divisions, and handle rejected claims in a way that leads to a win-win for the client and the service provider.
Internal Operations: Industry Age
- Load clients' age analyses onto Industry Age by the 5th of each month, to the standard set in your KPI.
- Match debtors on loaded age analyses to the correct entity by the 5th of each month, to the standard set in your KPI.
CreditSphere360
- Treat the Industry Age data you load and match (section 5) as client-facing: it drives CreditPulse Intelligence and the live debtor monitoring provided to clients, so its accuracy and timeliness matter beyond your own KPI.
- Receive, check and acknowledge collection matters handed over digitally by clients through CreditSphere360.
- Keep collection records complete and current so that client dashboards, reports and audit trails are accurate.
- Use CreditSphere360 portfolio dashboards and alerts to support the Credit Risk Advisor at Risk Management Meetings.
- Assist clients with basic CreditSphere360 queries and refer anything further to the Credit Risk Advisor or Key Account Manager.
- Guide DRSs on the correct use of CreditSphere360 and check the quality of their Industry Age and collection data.
Client and Debtor Visits
- Visit debtors to assess recovery risk, referring to annual financial statements when required.
- Attend and contribute to client visits, including running the meeting under supervision.
Ad Hoc Debt Collection
- Grow ad hoc collection invoicing on the prior year, against the target set in your KPI.
- Identify possible clients for the company’s core products and pass leads to the relevant stakeholders.
BCB and Annual Financial Statements
- Understand BCB risk assessments and advise the Credit Risk Advisor (no sign-off authority on BCB reports).
Personalised Goals
- Deliver any measurable personalised goals set by the manager and recorded in the KPI.
REQUIREMENTS:
Qualifications
- An NQF qualification, diploma or degree will be an advantage.
- Lives Company values.
Experience
- Three to five years' experience in debt collection or credit control.
- Two to three years' experience with credit insurance is required.
- Experience in a legal firm is an advantage.
ATTRIBUTES:
- Problem solving
- Dealing with pressure
- Conflict handling
- Resilience
- Communication skills, including explaining technical information to non-technical audiences
- Attention to detail
Desired Skills:
