Collections Strategy Manager - Policy & Engagement

Business Unit: COO, Customer Support
Salary range: £56,000 - £81,000 per annum DOE + red-hot benefits
Location: UK Hybrid - 1 Day per week in Leeds or Gosforth

Live to challenge the status quo. Live a life more Virgin.

You’ll be responsible for owning customer engagement within the Collections & Customer Support business unit, covering Collections and Recoveries and Customer Support Operations (Bereavement, Power of Attorney, and Specialist Support).

The primary output is delivery of compelling and engaging communication materials to drive contact and inform customers of the support available throughout their collections journey. You’ll also be responsible for driving improvements in cross-product customer journeys, including managing the day-to-day relationships with key stakeholders such as StepChange, PayPlan, and Paylink, the provider of our Income and Expenditure tool.

You’ll have experience managing individual and team workloads, with matrix management of change analysts, and be confident influencing and communicating with stakeholders across all levels of the organisation. You’ll build relationships with key stakeholders including Marketing, Regulatory Compliance, Legal, Project teams, and Senior Managers within the Collections and Recoveries team.

What you will be doing

• Ownership of all customer engagement content (Online, Letters, SMS, Emails) for Collections & Customer Support, as first point of contact for engagement activities.
• Matrix Management of a team of change analysts focused on engagement and customer experience change.
• Manage the day-to-day development and prioritisation of change to customer communications and journeys, including the use and capability of income and expenditure tools, and relationships with third-party support providers (PayPlan, StepChange).
• Lead on business case development for improvements to customer journeys and engagement, including improvements to cross-product tooling (I&E, digital payment portals, etc).
• Deputising for the Senior Strategy Manager – Collections Strategy, including representing the Collections and Recoveries teams in internal Governance and supplier meetings, and preparation of written reports up to Board level.
• Effective challenge and engagement with operational and change teams to ensure safe execution of change.

We need you to have

• Extensive Knowledge of Collections processes and practices, especially in relation to customer communications and journey management.
• Proven experience of positively managing change and managing and developing a team of change experts.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills.
• Experience of collaborating with people of all levels across the organisation to achieve the best possible result for the customer.
• Experience of stakeholder management and negotiating with people at all levels, including Leadership Team members.
• Experience of debt collection practices and regulation within UK Financial Services.

Red Hot Rewards

• Generous holidays - 38.5 days annual leave (including bank holidays and prorated if part-time) plus the option to buy more.
• Up to five extra paid well-being days per year.
• 20 weeks paid, gender-neutral family leave (52 weeks in total) for expectant parents and those looking to adopt.
• Market-leading pension.
• Free private medical cover, income protection, and life assurance.
• Flexible benefits include Cycle to Work, wellness and health assessments, and critical illness.

And there's no waiting around, you'll enjoy these benefits from day one.

Feeling insatiably curious about this role? If we’re lucky to receive a lot of interest, we may close the advert early and would hate you to miss out.

We're all about helping you Live a Life More Virgin, so happy to talk flexible working with you.

Say hello to Virgin Money
We’re making great strides towards achieving our ambition of becoming the UK’s best digital bank. As a full-service digital bank with a heritage stretching back over 180 years, we’re a workforce to be reckoned with, and we're putting the full power of our experience behind disruptive ideas that reinvent the role a bank plays in people's lives. We're customer-obsessed and work tirelessly to deliver on our purpose, ‘Making You Happier About Money.’ This means we're able to do banking differently, and by innovating and working together we can make a real difference by creating memorable moments and red-hot experiences for our millions of customers. Join us and Live a Life More Virgin that empowers you with choice and flexibility in how you work.

Be yourself at Virgin Money
Our purpose is to make people happier about money, this means seeing and feeling the world as our customers do by creating a workforce that reflects the rich diversity of our customers and communities. We’re committed to creating an inclusive culture where colleagues feel safe and inspired to contribute, speak up, and be heard.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we're committed to removing any obstacles to inclusion. If you need any reasonable adjustments or support making your application, contact our Talent Acquisition team careers@virginmoney.com.

It’s important to note that there may be occasions where it’s not possible to interview all candidates declaring a disability who meet the essential criteria for the job. In certain recruitment situations such as receiving a high volume of applications, we may need to limit the overall numbers of interviews offered to both disabled and non-disabled applicants.

Now the legal bit
Living A Life More Virgin allows our colleagues to be based anywhere in the UK (if the role allows it), but we'll need you to confirm you have the right to work in the UK.

If you're successful in securing a role with us, there are some checks you need to complete before starting. These include credit and criminal record checks and three years' worth of satisfactory references. If the role is part of the Senior Manager Regime and Certification Regime, it requires enhanced pre-employment checks – we’ll ask for six years of regulatory references, and once in the role, you'll be subject to periodic employment checks.