FairMoney is building the leading mobile bank for emerging markets. We started with a digital microcredit application on Android, and currently roll out additional financial services (current account, savings, debit card) while expanding the product to Western Africa and South-East Asia.
We are recruiting to fill the position below:
Job Title: Head of Collections - Strategy, Transformation & Performance
Location: Remote
Job Description
End-to-End Ownership:
- Full accountability for cash collected, arrears, roll-rates, PAR/NPL, and recovery economics
- Own outcomes, not activities or excuses
- Actively shape upstream inputs (Risk, Product, CX, Tech) to improve downstream collections performance
Strategy & System Design:
Design and execute a multi-horizon collections strategy:
- Short-term cash optimisation
- Mid-term recovery improvement
- Long-term customer behaviour change
Build structured approaches to:
- Early vs late-stage collections
- Segmentation-driven treatment strategies
- Behavioural and incentive-based interventions
Introduce clear experimentation frameworks (control vs test, ROI-driven rollouts)
Data-Led Decision Making:
Use data to drive decisions:
Partner deeply with Risk and Data Science on:
- Roll-rate optimisation
- Behavioural analytics
- Treatment effectiveness measurement
- Unit economics and ROI of collections actions
- Demand transparent, decision-ready reporting with clear accountability
Team & Bench Strength:
- Build a high-calibre leadership bench within Collections
- Upgrade talent decisively where required
- Develop leaders, not just agents
- Create a culture of accountability, ownership, and continuous improvement
Cross-Functional Leadership:
- Actively influence Product, Risk, Tech, and CX — do not wait for alignment
- Challenge constructively where design or policy decisions harm recoveries
- Be a respected, firm voice at senior leadership and ExCo forums
Customer & Brand Balance:
- Improve collections outcomes without damaging long-term customer value
- Reduce escalations through system fixes, not firefighting
- Balance firmness with fairness through smarter design, not leniency
Time-Bound Success Expectations:
First 90 Days (Stabilise & Diagnose):
- Take full ownership of collections performance and escalations
- Establish clear visibility on cash, arrears, roll-rates, and recovery drivers
- Identify and begin fixing the highest-impact structural blockers
- Deliver a credible, data-backed transformation roadmap with priorities and owners
- Reset accountability standards and leadership expectations within the team
First 6 Months (Deliver Step-Change):
Demonstrate measurable improvement in:
- Cash collected
- Cash-to-arrears and cash-to-instalment ratios
- Late-stage roll-rates
- Implement segmentation-driven treatment strategies at scale
- Reduce escalations and repeat failure points through system and process redesign
- Strengthen leadership bench with clear successors and upgraded capability
Requirements
- Minimum of first degree in any related field of study.
- Senior leadership experience in collections within lending, fintech, or credit-led businesses
- Proven track record of turning around or materially improving collections performance
- Experience operating in data-rich, fast-moving environments
Mindset & Traits:
- Builder, not caretaker
- Strong personal ownership — “the buck stops with me”
- Comfortable with ambiguity and transformation
- Proactive, commercially minded, and decisive
- Willing to challenge peers and leadership when required
- Low tolerance for excuses; high tolerance for accountability.