Customer Operations Lead

Avanti Finance Group; Auckland; Hybrid; NZD 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Gym & wellness facilities

KiwiSaver employer contributions

Parental benefits

Flexible working arrangements

Fresh fruit in the office

Job summary

Avanti Finance is seeking an experienced Customer Operations Lead to act as a technical expert and escalation point across collections, recoveries and credit administration. You’ll guide difficult cases, support recovery strategies and empower others to make confident decisions.

This role offers genuine autonomy, with the latitude to assess situations and balance customer needs with risk and commercial goals.

Qualifications

• 5+ years across collections, recoveries, hardship, property collections or credit operations.
• Strong experience in late collections and recoveries.
• Exposure to property, securities and credit administration.
• Understanding of legal recoveries and enforcement.
• Experience handling complex or escalated customer matters.
• Strong commercial judgement and confidence making decisions independently.

Responsibilities

• Act as an escalation point for complex, sensitive and higher risk customer matters.
• Provide guidance across collections, recoveries and credit administration.
• Support property enforcement and recovery strategies.
• Work through complex secured and unsecured lending matters.
• Review complex account strategies and recommendations.
• Support the team to reach balanced commercial and customer outcomes.
• Provide practical coaching and technical guidance to others.
• Maintain hands on involvement with complex accounts.
• Identify opportunities to improve processes, customer outcomes and team effectiveness.
• Build strong relationships across Customer Care & Resolution, Lending, Legal, Customer Services and Risk.
• Work with external legal providers, insolvency practitioners and recovery agents when required.

Skills

Years of experience

Collections expertise

Late collections

Credit administration

Legal recoveries

Escalation handling

Commercial judgement

Coaching/mentoring

Financial services

Risk balance

Job description

We’re on a mission to become the best specialist lending company in New Zealand and Australia, and we’re looking for ambitious, driven people to help get us there.

We’ve got bold goals and a clear vision for the future. That means exciting opportunities for those ready to champion new ideas, challenge the status quo, and grow alongside us.

If you’re hungry to make an impact, thrive in a fast-paced environment, and love turning ideas into action – you’ll feel right at home here.

Some people specialise in one part of the lending journey. Others build their experience across the whole picture.

We’re looking for the latter.

This is an opportunity for an experienced collections and recoveries professional who has developed broad knowledge across lending and credit operations. You’ll bring real depth in late collections and recoveries, along with the confidence and judgement to work through complex situations and make sound commercial decisions.

The role

Avanti Finance is growing – fast

We’re on a mission to become the best specialist lending company in New Zealand and Australia, and we’re looking for ambitious, driven people to help get us there.

We’ve got bold goals and a clear vision for the future. That means exciting opportunities for those ready to champion new ideas, challenge the status quo, and grow alongside us.

If you’re hungry to make an impact, thrive in a fast-paced environment, and love turning ideas into action – you’ll feel right at home here.

Some people specialise in one part of the lending journey. Others build their experience across the whole picture.

We’re looking for the latter.

This is an opportunity for an experienced collections and recoveries professional who has developed broad knowledge across lending and credit operations. You’ll bring real depth in late collections and recoveries, along with the confidence and judgement to work through complex situations and make sound commercial decisions.

The role

As Customer Operations Lead, you’ll be a technical expert and escalation point across collections, recoveries and credit administration.

You’ll work across the more complex end of customer operations, providing guidance on difficult cases, supporting recovery strategies and helping others make confident, well considered decisions.

This is a role with genuine autonomy. You’ll be trusted to assess situations, understand the commercial and customer considerations, and make decisions within your remit without constantly looking for approval.

You’ll also play an important role in developing capability across the team. While there are no direct reports, you’ll use your experience to coach others, provide technical guidance and help lift the quality of decision making across the function.

What you’ll do

• Act as an escalation point for complex, sensitive and higher risk customer matters
• Provide guidance across collections, recoveries and credit administration
• Support property enforcement and recovery strategies
• Work through complex secured and unsecured lending matters
• Review complex account strategies and recommendations
• Support the team to reach balanced commercial and customer outcomes
• Provide practical coaching and technical guidance to others
• Maintain hands on involvement with complex accounts
• Identify opportunities to improve processes, customer outcomes and team effectiveness
• Build strong relationships across Customer Care & Resolution, Lending, Legal, Customer Services and Risk
• Work with external legal providers, insolvency practitioners and recovery agents when required

What we’re looking for

You might have spent much of your career in collections and recoveries, or your experience may have taken you across different parts of lending and credit operations.

Either way, you’ll bring strong collections expertise and enough breadth to understand what happens before, during and after the recovery process.

• 5+ years of experience across collections, recoveries, hardship, property collections or credit operations
• Strong experience in late collections and recoveries
• Experience managing complex secured and unsecured lending portfolios
• Exposure to property, securities and credit administration
• An understanding of legal recoveries and enforcement
• Experience handling complex or escalated customer matters
• Strong commercial judgement and confidence making decisions independently
• The ability to balance customer circumstances with risk and commercial considerations
• Experience coaching, mentoring or developing others
• Financial services experience
• Knowledge of the CCCFA, Privacy Act and responsible lending obligations

You don’t need to already have a formal team leader title. You may be the experienced person others already turn to when something complicated lands on their desk, and you’re ready to take that experience into a broader lead role.

If you know collections inside out, understand the wider lending journey and have the judgement to make good decisions with autonomy, we’d love to hear from you.

What's in it for me?

At Avanti Finance, you'll be supported to grow your career, develop new skills and take ownership of your professional development.

You'll have the chance to give back to the community through initiatives such as Duffy Books in Homes and our annual volunteer day programme.

Depending on the role and team, flexible working arrangements may be available to support your work-life balance.

You'll have access to a range of benefits, which include enhanced KiwiSaver employer contributions (on top of your base salary), enhanced parental and secondary carer benefits , free access to a gym, pilates studio, sauna and state-of-the-art end of trip facilities,and fresh fruit in the office .

If you're looking for a place where you can realise your potential, feel supported and make a meaningful contribution, we'd love to hear from you.

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Our values are the fabric of what makes Avanti, Avanti

They guide our decisions, shape how we work, set the standards we hold ourselves and each other to, and build the trust that brings us together.

Champion the Customer:We put people at the heart of every decision

Win Together:We achieve more when we work as one

Do What’s Right:We act with integrity and take responsibility

Be Curious:We keep an open mind to new possibilities

Together, these values help create a workplace where people can grow, contribute and do their best work.