EOP & 3rd Party Collections Specialist

Job Summary

The EOP & 3rd Party Collections Specialist is responsible for collection strategy execution oversight, recovery performance analysis, audit support, compliance monitoring, and continuous improvement for Early-Out Program and third-party collection agency portfolios. This role focuses on ensuring vendor activities align to approved collection strategies, operational controls, recovery objectives, and regulatory requirements.

The Specialist works closely with the Vendor Relationship Specialist, Collections Vendor Manager, Active Collections team, Credit/Collections Operations, Legal, and external vendors to assess performance, identify recovery opportunities, support audit readiness, and recommend actions that improve portfolio outcomes.

Essential Duties:

Collections Strategy Execution & Portfolio Oversight

• Oversee execution of approved collection strategies across EOP and third-party agency portfolios
• Validate that vendor activity aligns to placement logic, allocation strategy, workflows, and business priorities
• Assess portfolio performance and identify opportunities to improve early-stage recovery and post-placement liquidation
• Support recommendations related to placement strategy, campaign effectiveness, and vendor optimization
• Partner with internal teams to ensure collection strategies are operationally sound and effectively executed

Vendor onboarding and offboarding

• Coordinate vendor onboarding and offboarding activities, including readiness checklists, training, system access, security requirements, documentation, and internal approvals.

Invoice and expense coordination

• Support vendor invoice validation by confirming charges align with approved rates, services, staffing, and contractual terms, and coordinate resolution of discrepancies.

Performance Monitoring, Reporting & Recovery Analysis

• Monitor daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly vendor performance across assigned collection portfolios
• Analyze key performance indicators including contact rates, recovery rates, liquidation curves, productivity, and portfolio trends
• Provide performance reporting, variance analysis, insights, and recommendations to support business reviews
• Identify performance gaps, recovery trends, and root causes impacting vendor or portfolio results
• Support recovery forecasting and recommend corrective actions to improve performance

Audit, Compliance & Quality Oversight

• Support operational and recovery audits of EOP and third-party collection agency activity
• Review vendor adherence to policies, procedures, regulatory requirements, and contractual obligations
• Validate vendor reporting, recovery results, process adherence, and operational control effectiveness
• Monitor quality findings, customer complaints, compliance trends, and operational risks
• Escalate compliance, legal, customer experience, or operational risks to the appropriate internal partners

Operational Controls & Governance Support

• Maintain oversight of operational controls related to account placements, allocations, reporting, campaign execution, and recovery processes
• Partner with Vendor Relationship Specialist, Vendor Manager, Legal, Risk, Analytics, and Operations to resolve control issues and strengthen governance
• Support Weekly, Monthly, and Quarterly Business Reviews with performance insights and risk-based commentary
• Identify governance gaps and recommend improvements to reduce risk and strengthen vendor accountability
• Support documentation and evidence requirements related to audits, controls, and performance reviews

Continuous Improvement & Performance Optimization

• Recommend process, allocation, and strategy improvements to improve collection and recovery performance
• Support champion/challenger vendor strategies and performance optimization initiatives
• Identify opportunities to improve agency effectiveness, operational controls, recovery outcomes, and customer experience
• Support implementation of process changes, reporting enhancements, and operational improvements
• Partner with the Vendor Relationship Specialist to ensure identified actions are tracked, communicated, and followed through

Minimum Requirements:

• High school diploma or equivalent
• 2–5 years of collections, vendor management, recovery operations, audit, or compliance experience
• Strong understanding of collection strategies, recovery metrics, vendor performance management, and operational controls
• Strong analytical, reporting, and operational problem-solving skills
• Strong attention to detail and ability to maintain accurate reporting, documentation, and issue tracking
• Experience supporting performance/QA reviews, audits, compliance monitoring, or recovery analysis

Preferred Qualifications:

• Utility or energy industry experience
• Experience working with early-out and/or third-party collection agencies
• Omnichannel collections or digital engagement experience
• Knowledge of regulatory and compliance requirements related to collections
• Experience with SAP, Salesforce, Debt Next (or other middleware), performance dashboards, reporting tools, or similar systems

Key Skills & Competencies:

• Collections strategy and recovery operations expertise
• Performance analysis, reporting, and forecasting
• Audit, compliance, and quality oversight
• Operational controls and risk awareness
• Strong analytical skills and attention to detail
• Stakeholder management and cross-functional partnership
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and meet business deadlines
• Continuous improvement and performance optimization mindset