Collections & Recoveries Strategy Manager

About the role

You will own the end-to-end strategy, design, and execution of KOHO's collections and recoveries function from inception through full maturity. This role involves setting the strategic direction and operating model for how the company manages delinquent lending portfolios. You will directly influence customer treatment during financially vulnerable moments while balancing loss mitigation with empathy. The position requires you to build scalable processes that turn collections into a customer-centric recovery journey rather than a transactional conflict. You will be responsible for the full customer lifecycle from early intervention to post-charge-off recovery and eventual rehabilitation. Success in this role means you translate complex data into clear strategies that protect both the business and the customer. You will play a critical role in ensuring KOHO's lending operations are sustainable, compliant, and aligned with our mission to empower Canadians.

Key facts

What you'll do

Analyze delinquency and loss trends across all lending products, including roll rates, cure rates, vintage performance, and charge-off trajectories.

Build and maintain dashboards and reporting frameworks that provide leadership with real-time visibility into portfolio health and collections performance.

Identify early warning signals of credit deterioration and design proactive intervention strategies to address risk before it escalates.

Define and track core KPIs such as right-party contact rate, promise-to-pay rate, promise-to-pay kept rate, gross collections rate by delinquency stage, cost-per-dollar-collected, and post-charge-off recovery rates.

Design and continuously optimize contact strategies across the full delinquency lifecycle, determining when to reach out and through which channels including chat, email, push, SMS, and voice.

Develop customer segmentation models to tailor treatment strategies based on delinquency stage, customer risk profile, payment behaviour history, and responsiveness.

Partner with Product and Engineering teams to build or enhance in-app and digital nudges that encourage repayment before accounts reach critical delinquency stages.

Ensure all contact strategies and recovery practices comply with applicable regulations, including FCAC guidelines on debt collection conduct and OSFI expectations for a federally regulated lender.

Design payment arrangement programs such as hardship plans, instalment options, fee suppression, and settlement or partial forgiveness offers that balance loss reduction with customer relief.

Define eligibility criteria, discount waterfall frameworks, and authorization protocols for settlement offers while maintaining consistent governance.

Evaluate and test the financial trade-offs of different recovery programs against a modelled "do nothing" baseline to ensure rational decision-making.

Build and refine financial models to assess the value of collections treatments, cure probability by segment, and expected recovery rates at each delinquency stage.

Lead the strategy for third-party collections partners (BPOs), including defining scope of engagement by delinquency stage, channel coverage, performance standards, and escalation frameworks.

Work with Operations to develop performance scorecards for BPO partners and participate in regular reviews to assess quality, compliance, and outcomes.

Work with Operations to design the internal versus external collections model, determining which segments to manage in-house and when/how to place accounts with external agencies.

Own the strategy for bringing customers back to KOHO after a default, creating pathways that turn potential permanent exits into opportunities for financial rehabilitation.

Partner cross-functionally with Operations, Product, and BPO providers to ensure seamless execution of recovery initiatives aligned with KOHO's strategic priorities.

Requirements

You possess a Bachelor's degree in a quantitative field such as finance, economics, mathematics, or a related discipline.

You bring a minimum of eight years of progressive experience in collections, recoveries, credit risk, or a related domain within a financial services environment.

You have at least eight years of hands-on experience managing and optimizing collections performance in a regulated financial services context.

You demonstrate deep familiarity with federal regulations and industry guidelines governing debt collection practices, including FCAC requirements and OSFI expectations.

You have a proven track record of designing and implementing collections strategies that reduce losses while maintaining high standards of customer care.

You are experienced in building and maintaining performance dashboards and analyzing large data sets to derive actionable insights.

You have substantial experience collaborating with third-party vendors, BPOs, and external agencies within a regulated lending environment.

You show a strong understanding of customer segmentation, delinquency lifecycle management, and the application of treatment strategies based on behavioral data.

Nice to have

Experience with AI and automation tools relevant to collections and customer engagement.

Familiarity with lending product design and digital financial services product development.

Experience building financial models to evaluate recovery programs and portfolio outcomes.

Practical notes

KOHO is a remote-first organization that prioritizes asynchronous collaboration and flexible work hours.

This role is based in a Canadian location and requires adherence to KOHO's performance and compliance standards.