| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Banking and NBFC |
| Level | Senior management |
| Reports to | Chief Executive |
| Direct reports | Area Collection Manager, Collection Manager |
| Experience | 12+ years in collections with 4 years leading teams |
Head of Collections job description template
Copy this job description, replace the text in square brackets and post it on your careers page or a job portal.
Job title: Head of Collections
Department: Banking and NBFC
Reports to: Chief Executive
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
A Head of Collections leads recovery for a bank or NBFC, keeping bad loans and losses under control. They set collection strategy, lead field and tele collection teams and drive recovery across buckets and locations. The role reports to the Chief Executive or Managing Director. A good Head of Collections keeps overdue accounts moving back to regular, reduces write offs, runs recovery within the law and fair practices code, and builds disciplined teams that collect firmly but correctly.
Key responsibilities
- Set the collection and recovery strategy across products, buckets and locations.
- Lead field and tele collection teams to their recovery targets.
- Drive recovery in early, late and non performing buckets to reduce losses.
- Set allocation, follow up and escalation processes for overdue accounts.
- Manage legal recovery, settlements and repossession within the rules.
- Monitor recovery, roll rates and write offs and act on the trends.
- Ensure collections follow the fair practices code and the law.
- Coordinate with credit and risk on portfolio quality and early warning.
- Manage collection agencies and monitor their performance and conduct closely.
- Build, train and control collection teams across the network.
Requirements
- Postgraduate in management or finance
- Strong collections leadership record
- Knowledge of recovery law and fair practices
- 12+ years in collections with 4 years leading teams
KRAs and KPIs for a Head of Collections
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Recovery | Collection efficiency held at or above the target each month |
| NPA control | Non performing assets and roll forward held within the approved limit |
| Write off reduction | Write offs held within the approved percentage of the portfolio |
| Bucket movement | Overdue accounts rolled back to regular against the target |
| Compliance | No fair practices or conduct breach in collections during the year |
| Cost of collection | Collection cost held within the approved budget |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: Collections management system, Core banking system, MIS and dashboards, Advanced Excel, Auto dialer systems.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: Chief Risk Officer, Business Head, Chief Executive
Interview questions for a Head of Collections
- How do you build a collection strategy across buckets?
- How do you reduce non performing assets in a stressed portfolio?
- How do you keep recovery within the fair practices code?
- How do you manage collection agencies and their conduct?
- How do you decide between settlement and legal recovery?
- How do you build disciplined collection teams?
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What does a Head of Collections do?
A Head of Collections leads recovery for a bank or NBFC. They set collection strategy, lead field and tele teams, drive recovery across buckets and locations and reduce bad loans and write offs. They manage legal recovery and agencies within the fair practices code, reporting to the Chief Executive or Managing Director.
What is collection efficiency?
Collection efficiency measures how much of the due amount is actually collected in a period, usually as a percentage of what was billed or overdue. A Head of Collections tracks it closely, since higher efficiency means fewer overdue accounts slipping into non performing status and lower losses for the lender.
What qualifications does a Head of Collections need?
Most Head of Collections roles ask for a postgraduate in management or finance with a strong collections leadership record and twelve or more years, several leading teams. Knowledge of recovery law and the fair practices code, portfolio analysis and firm, correct team leadership matter most.