Collections Strategy Lead - Small Business

2022 - Chief Operating Office; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 45,000 - 57,000; Full time

Job summary

A financial services company in the UK is hiring a Strategy Specialist for their Collections and Recoveries team. The role involves driving collections strategies for Small Business customers and ensuring alignment with regulatory standards. Candidates should demonstrate experience in collections strategy and strong analytical skills. This position offers a hybrid working model, a competitive salary range of £45,600 to £57,000 per annum, and various employee benefits.

Benefits

25 days holiday, increasing to 30

Private medical insurance

Competitive pension scheme

Performance-related bonus

Training and development opportunities

Flexible benefits scheme

Life assurance

Paid volunteering days

Qualifications

• Experience in Small Business collections strategy with a track record of improving customer outcomes.
• Ability to analyze data and translate insights into effective strategies.
• Familiarity with FCA regulations and compliance standards.

Responsibilities

• Drive the delivery of collections strategies for Small Business customers.
• Identify opportunities for improvement in the collections journey.
• Design and improve contact strategies for optimal customer engagement.
• Ensure adherence to regulatory requirements in collections operations.
• Maintain relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Support strategic change initiatives and communicate with stakeholders.
• Monitor performance and recommend improvements.

Skills

Small Business collections strategy

Analytical capability

Communication skills

Collaborative team player

Tools

SAS

SQL

Job description

Business Unit: Customer Operations
Salary range: £45,600 - £57,000 per annum
Location: UK Hybrid – Leeds/ London
Contract type: Permanent

Our Collections and Recoveries team is investing in strategic improvements across the Collections operation. These enhancements will ensure the operation is fit for crease in the context of a continually evolving and complex regulatory landscape where customer circumstances require often tailored and sensitive solutions. Positive customer outcomes will continue to be at the heart of everything the function does with broader functional improvements driving a more engaging colleague experience across the front‑line Collections operation.

We’re looking for individuals to join us to help deliver this exciting strategic initiative, working with colleagues across Virgin Money and Nationwide, to deliver improvements in the operation of the Collections and Recoveries function.

As a Strategy Specialist, your role will include driving the delivery of collections and recoveries strategies to ensure we offer the right treatments to Small Business customers in arrears, at the right time. You are primarily responsible for utilising your knowledge and experience, using data analysis, to drive the direction of the customer journeys for Small Business customer in arrears. You’ll use your well‑developed skills to draw conclusions, offer solutions and make recommendations that contribute to achieving our businesses ambitions. This ensures that they support customers in line with risk appetite, within regulatory guidelines and delivers delightfully surprising customer solutions.

What you’ll be doing

• Own the collections and recovery strategy for Small Business customers, ensuring alignment with customer outcomes, risk appetite and regulatory requirements.
• Identify opportunities to improve the collections journey, delivering better customer outcomes while making best use of operational resources.
• Design, monitor and continuously improve contact strategies to reach the right customer, through the right channel, at the right time.
• Work closely with legal, compliance and risk team to ensure adherence to current and new regulatory requirements, adapting strategies and monitoring as required.
• Build and maintain strong internal relationships across Financial Care, 2nd line risk, compliance and commercial teams, as well as external partnerships with third parties including Debt Collection Agencies and the British Business Bank.
• Support the development, evaluation and delivery of key strategic change initiatives, ensuring clear communication and engagement with multiple stakeholder groups.
• Support the running of monthly strategy governance, sharing MI trends, strategy updates and general credit considerations.
• Monitor business performance, providing early warning of emerging risks and making recommendations to drive continuous improvement.

We need you to have

• Demonstrable experience in Small Business collections strategy (early & late arrears, pre‑default, default, and recoveries), with proven track record of delivering improved customer, risk and commercial outcomes.
• Proven analytical capability, with traduit experience using SAS and/or SQL to work across multiple data sources and translate insight into effective strategy.
• Working knowledge of FCA CONC, Consumer Duty, SME lending standards, Treating Customers Fairly (TCF), vulnerability guidance, and forbearance expectations.
• Evidence of delivering measurable change and continuous improvement within a regulated financial services environment.
• Strong ability to communicate complex information clearly and confidently, both in writing and verbally
• A proactive and self‑directed approach, with a track record of identifying opportunities, driving improvement and taking ownership from insight through to delivery.
• A collaborative team player with proven experience working across multiple stakeholders to deliver shared outcomes

It’s a bonus if you have but not essential

• Experience with dialler strategies and digital collections (SMS/Email/Push), conversational AI, and self‑serve portals.
• Knowledge]={ please ignore}'? Actually we keep original: "Knowledge of affordability and cash‑flow assessment for small businesses; business banking credit/risk models."
• Knowledge of affordability and cash‑flow assessment for small businesses; business banking credit/risk models.

Red Hot Rewards

• 25 days holiday per year, increasing over time to 30. Plus, an option to buy more, giving you even more choice.
• Private medical insurance
• A highly competitive pension to help you build a strong foundation for retirement
• Access to an annual performance‑related bonus
• Training and development to help you progress your career
• A great selection of additional benefits through our flexible benefits scheme
• Life assurance to provide peace of mind for you and your loved ones
• Up to 2 days of paid volunteering a year

If we’re lucky to receive a lot of interest, we may close the advert early. Please ensure to submit your applications as soon as possible.

Say hello to Virgin Money

Virgin Money is so much more than just a bank. As part of theNationwide group,together we're the UK's first full‑service mutual bank serving millions of retail and business customers and all driven by our purpose; Banking but fairer, more rewarding and for the good of society. With us, you’ll be part of an organisation uniquely positioned to make a difference to the lives of customers, communities and broader society and embark on a collaborative, customer obsessed, and fun‑filled career journey. Embrace the weekdays, enjoy fantastic perks, and make a meaningful positive difference. Time to discover what it means to be part of the first mutual full‑service banking provider.

Be yourself at Virgin Money

At Virgin Money, we celebrate everyone. We have fun, think big, and relentlessly include each other, all in pursuit of our purpose: Banking – but fairer, more rewarding, and for the good of society. We’re committed to creating an inclusive culture where colleagues feel safe and inspired to contribute, speak up and be heard.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we're committed to removing any obstacles to inclusion. If you need any reasonable adjustments or support making your application, contact our Talent Acquisition team [e-mail]

Please note: If we receive a high volume of eligible applications, we may need to prioritise candidates whose skills and experience most closely align with the role, while still ensuring fair and equitable consideration for all applicants.

Now the legal bit

We’re in the process of bringing Virgin Money and Nationwide together which, subject to Court approval, will happen on 2 April 2026. You can find out more about what this means at https://uk.virginmoney.com/nationwide-transfer. If you’re successful in securing a role with us, your employment will move automatically to Nationwide when this transfer goes ahead.

Although some of our roles allow you to be based anywhere in the UK, we'll need you to confirm you have the right to work in the UK.

If you're successful in securing a role with us, there are some checks you need to complete before starting. These include credit and criminal record checks and three years' worth of satisfactory references. If the role is part of the Senior Manager Regime and Certification Regime, it requires enhanced pre‑employment checks – we'll ask for six years of regulatory references, and once in the role, you'll be subject to periodic employment checks.