Director, Collections Strategy & Recovery

Mary Dickson; Newark (DE); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive base salary

Bonus incentives

Generous PTO & holidays

401k with employer match

Medical/dental/vision coverage

Hybrid work arrangements

Tuition reimbursement & career growth

Job summary

Sallie Mae is seeking a Director, Collections Strategy to shape and execute recovery and collections strategies for Private Student Loan portfolios. This role leads cross-functional initiatives, partners with internal teams, external agencies, and legal partners, and drives financial performance with a customer-centric approach.

The position requires strategic vision, strong leadership, and hands-on experience in a data-intensive environment, with proficiency in SAS, SQL, and MS Office.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent work experience.
• 10+ years of experience in financial services.
• Experience in collections and recovery risk.
• Strong knowledge of U.S. consumer protection laws and credit regulations.
• Proficient in SAS, SQL & Microsoft Office.
• Experience with financial forecasting and modeling.
• Strong analytic and problem-solving skills.
• Experience with credit and financial models.
• Ability to communicate technical information to all audience levels.
• Ability to build relationships across internal and external partners.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute collections strategy.
• Design and implement post-default recovery strategies across channels (in-house, external agencies, attorney network).
• Continuously evaluate and enhance collections contact strategies including AI capabilities.
• Collaborate with senior leadership to align collections strategy with organizational goals and credit risk policies.
• Provide thought leadership and strategic recommendations to drive financial results.
• Leverage data analytics to personalize outreach and enhance borrower engagement, optimizing resolution rates.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to ensure collections strategies are compliant and data-driven.
• Lead and mentor a high-performing collections team.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic planning

Analytical thinking

Communication

Project management

Education

Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent

Tools

SAS

SQL

Microsoft Office

Job description

Sallie Mae is seeking a Director, Collections Strategy to shape and execute recovery and collections strategies for Private Student Loan portfolios. This role leads cross-functional initiatives, partners with internal teams, external agencies, and legal partners, and drives financial performance with a customer-centric approach.

The position requires strategic vision, strong leadership, and hands-on experience in a data-intensive environment, with proficiency in SAS, SQL, and MS Office.