Collections Lead

Emporium; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 800,000 - 1,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Emporium in South Africa seeks a Collections Lead to oversee day-to-day performance of external debt collection agencies and payments partners. You will manage partner relationships, perform reconciliations, resolve escalations and drive continuous improvement.

The role requires strong Excel skills, regulatory understanding of SA credit laws, and experience in collections or fintech. It is an on-site position reporting to the Payments Manager.

Qualifications

• Minimum six years of relevant industry experience in collections, credit operations, payments or financial services.
• Proven track record engaging with external collection agencies or service providers and holding them accountable for delivery.
• Strong financial reconciliation capabilities, with the ability to independently investigate and explain discrepancies.
• Intermediate to advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including PivotTables, XLOOKUP, VLOOKUP, SUMIF/SUMIFS, COUNTIF/COUNTIFS, IF functions, data cleaning and validation; Excel assessment will be required.
• Confident stakeholder communication, sound analytical judgement, structured problem-solving and prioritisation.
• Understanding of South African consumer credit requirements and related regulatory acts (NCA, Debt Collectors Act); knowledge of PSP and loan management systems is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Lead operational engagement with debt collection agencies, the debt buyer, and PSP/loan management system partners.
• Monitor DCA productivity and recovery performance; identify gaps and track corrective actions.
• Facilitate DCA performance meetings to ensure SLA commitments are met.
• Complete weekly and monthly reconciliations for DCAs and debt buyers, including payovers, commissions, invoices and accruals.
• Manage complex partner and customer escalations by coordinating investigations and resolving root causes.
• Oversee quality assurance on DCA customer treatment standards and remediation of control gaps.
• Prepare clear performance insights and recommend improvements in processes, quality and automation.

Skills

Debt collection

Agency management

Financial reconciliation

Advanced Excel

Stakeholder communication

Regulatory knowledge

Education

Finance/Accounting/Business Management or Financial Services degree

Tools

Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Word

Microsoft PowerPoint

Job description

Are you one of us?

We're looking for a Collections Lead, Collections & Payments

Function

Collections Lead

Reporting to

Payments Manager

Role Purpose

Wonga is seeking an experienced Collections Lead to oversee the day-to-day performance, productivity and service delivery of external debt collection agencies and other collections and payments partners. This role combines partner relationship management, hands-on financial reconciliations, complex escalation resolution, quality oversight and continuous improvement. Routine transaction processing is not the primary focus.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead operational engagement with debt collection agencies (DCAs), the debt buyer, and relevant PSP and loan management system partners.
• Monitor daily DCA productivity and recovery performance; identify gaps, challenge results, and track corrective action plans.
• Facilitate DCA operational performance meetings, ensuring partner commitments and service-level agreements are met.
• Complete weekly and monthly reconciliations for DCAs and debt buyers, including payovers, commissions, invoices, accruals and exceptions.
• Manage complex partner and customer escalations by coordinating investigations and resolving root causes.
• Oversee quality assurance on DCA customer treatment standards; selectively review calls for escalations or validation, and track remediation of control gaps.
• Prepare clear and concise DCA performance insights, recommending practical improvements in processes, quality and automation.

Person Specification

• Experience: Minimum six years of relevant industry experience in collections, credit operations, payments or financial services, preferably within consumer lending or fintech.
• Agency Management: Proven track record engaging with external collection agencies or service providers and holding them accountable for delivery.
• Financial Skills: Strong financial reconciliation capabilities, with the ability to independently investigate and explain discrepancies.
• Technical Proficiency: Intermediate to advanced Microsoft Excel skills are essential, including PivotTables/PivotCharts, XLOOKUP/VLOOKUP, SUMIF/SUMIFS, COUNTIF/COUNTIFS, IF functions, data cleaning and validation, conditional formatting, multi-source reconciliations, variance analysis and operational performance reporting. A practical Excel assessment will be required.
• Communication & Analytical Skills: Confident stakeholder communication, sound analytical judgement, structured problem-solving and effective prioritisation.
• Regulatory Knowledge: Understanding of collections conduct and South African consumer credit requirements. Knowledge of the National Credit Act (NCA), Debt Collectors Act, fintech, PSP and loan management systems is advantageous.
• Qualifications: A relevant diploma or degree in Finance, Accounting, Business Management, Credit Management or Financial Services is desirable. Professional certifications in credit management, collections or financial services are also advantageous; however, demonstrable experience may be considered in lieu of formal qualifications.

Additional Information

Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Word and PowerPoint is essential. Candidates must be confident in preparing professional reports, procedures, correspondence, presentations and stakeholder updates, as well as delivering presentations.

This is an individual contributor lead role. Overall collections strategy, business targets and commercial decisions remain the responsibility of the Payments Manager.

Remuneration: Competitive salary inclusive of applicable employer benefits. The final offer will be subject to experience and company remuneration policy.

Looking forward to hearing from you!

The Wonga Team