Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Arrears Executive

🎯 Role Definition

The Arrears Executive is a collections specialist who owns a portfolio of overdue customer accounts, applies structured recovery strategies to reduce arrears, negotiates sustainable repayment plans, and escalates accounts appropriately. This role balances assertive debt recovery with customer-centric service, strong regulatory compliance and accurate reporting to drive continuous improvement in credit performance.

Key SEO keywords: arrears executive, collections specialist, debt recovery, credit control, late payments, outstanding balances, payment arrangements, compliance, aging reports, recovery strategy.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Collections Agent / Debt Collection Officer
Customer Service Advisor with experience handling billing or payments
Credit Control Assistant or Accounts Receivable Clerk

Advancement To:

Senior Arrears Executive / Team Lead – Collections
Collections Manager / Recovery Manager
Credit Control Manager / Head of Collections

Lateral Moves:

Customer Experience Manager (billing & retention focus)
Risk Analyst (delinquency & portfolio risk)
Compliance Officer (collections regulation)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Manage a tailored portfolio of overdue accounts end-to-end, performing daily contact activities (telephone, email, SMS and letters) to secure payments, reduce arrears and prevent accounts from progressing to higher-risk stages.
Conduct in-depth account reviews and investigations for complex arrears cases, identifying root causes of default, validating balances, and proposing realistic, documented repayment solutions that align with company policy and regulatory requirements.
Negotiate, implement and monitor payment arrangements and forbearance plans, ensuring terms are affordable for the customer, enforced in the ledger, and tracked for adherence and any required remediation.
Execute targeted outbound campaigns and inbound call handling with clear case notes, persuasive conversation techniques and a focus on converting contacts into sustainable payment outcomes.
Prioritize accounts using segmentation and risk-scoring methodologies (e.g., days past due, balance size, credit score, propensity-to-pay) to maximize recovery efficiency and improve portfolio collection rates.
Prepare, maintain and present daily, weekly and monthly arrears performance reports (KPIs: recovery rate, cure rate, DSO reduction, aging buckets) to team leaders and senior management, using CRM or collections management systems.
Investigate and resolve disputed charges, billing errors, and reconciliation discrepancies by collaborating with billing, operations and product teams to correct accounts and avoid unnecessary escalation.
Apply regulatory and legal frameworks (e.g., FCA guidelines, FCRA, local consumer credit laws) to all interactions, ensuring scripts, letters and processes comply and that customers’ rights are respected during recovery.
Escalate accounts to legal or external collection agencies according to defined criteria, prepare evidence packs, and liaise with solicitors, repossession agents or enforcement partners to support recovery actions while documenting chain of custody and approvals.
Maintain precise case management records, including phone logs, payment promises, letters sent, and compliance checkpoints, ensuring audit-readiness and traceability of all collection decisions.
Collaborate with credit underwriting and customer retention teams to influence credit policy, recommend portfolio remedial actions and advise on write-off strategies for irrecoverable accounts.
Execute skip-tracing and tracing activities for hard-to-contact customers, leveraging third-party data sources and respecting data protection laws to locate debtors and re-establish contact.
Process and allocate received payments promptly and accurately, manage partial payments, refunds and adjustments, and ensure correct ledger updates and receipts issuance.
Participate in continuous improvement initiatives by identifying recurring causes of arrears, proposing process changes, and testing new workflows, scripts or payment options to increase recovery rates.
Conduct affordability and vulnerability assessments, making appropriate referrals to specialist teams (hardship, welfare, or legal) and adjusting recovery approach to protect vulnerable customers and comply with fair treatment standards.
Train and mentor junior collectors and temporary staff on collections best practices, dispute resolution, compliance requirements and CRM use to uplift team capability and consistency of execution.
Support portfolio forecasting and capacity planning by providing input on expected cure rates, seasonal trends and campaign effectiveness to align resource allocation with business goals.
Coordinate with fraud, refunds and chargeback teams to identify and escalate suspicious activity, block accounts if required, and ensure recoveries are pursued only on valid balances.
Manage outbound and inbound written communications: drafting clear demand letters, Payment Arrangement Confirmations (PACs), default notices and final notice templates that meet legal and brand tone requirements.
Maintain up-to-date knowledge of product terms, contractual rights and service-level agreements to discuss obligations confidently with customers and escalate contract-related issues where necessary.
Actively contribute to debt sale preparation where appropriate by supporting portfolio data cleansing, bundling eligible accounts and providing accurate account histories to maximize recoverable value.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc reporting requests and exploratory account analysis to help the business better understand delinquency drivers and campaign ROI.
Assist in the implementation and testing of new collections technology, CRM enhancements and automated communication tools to improve contact rates and operational efficiency.
Provide feedback to product and billing teams about systemic issues leading to arrears (e.g., unclear invoices, payment gateway failures) and participate in root cause remediation projects.
Participate in cross-functional projects, workshops and training aimed at improving the customer journey, reducing disputes and strengthening payment conversion.
Maintain professional relationships with external partners (debt purchasers, collection agencies, solicitors) to ensure aligned outcomes and contract compliance.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Debt collection and arrears management: proven ability to manage delinquent portfolios, negotiate repayments and secure sustainable cures.
Knowledge of credit control systems and CRMs (examples: Salesforce, Experian Collections, FICO Debt Manager, RecoverSoft, Oracle/SAP AR modules).
Regulatory/compliance expertise: familiarity with consumer credit regulation and debt collection law in your jurisdiction (e.g., FCA, FCRA, GDPR/Data Protection).
Strong MS Excel skills for analysis, reporting and reconciliation (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, basic formulas).
Payment processing and ledger management, including posting receipts, allocating partial payments and reconciling accounts.
Data-driven decision making: ability to interpret aging reports, recovery KPIs and portfolio analytics to prioritize actions.
Case management and documentation skills: accurate record-keeping, audit trail maintenance and evidence preparation for escalations.
Experience using dialer systems, outbound campaign tools and multichannel communication platforms (phone, SMS, email, automated letters).
Negotiation andstructured objection handling: securing commitments and converting promises into actual payments.
Skip-tracing and use of third-party tracing/databases where permitted, to locate debtors and update contact information.

Soft Skills

Excellent verbal and written communication with the ability to influence and negotiate professionally under pressure.
Strong empathy and customer-focused mindset to handle vulnerable customers sensitively while protecting company interests.
Attention to detail and accuracy in calculations, compliance steps and documentation.
Resilience and persistence: comfortable working to targets and managing rejection while maintaining professional conduct.
Problem-solving and analytical thinking to design tailored payment solutions and resolve complex disputes.
Time management and organizational skills to juggle a portfolio of cases, deadlines and reporting obligations.
Team collaboration and coaching aptitude to share best practices and mentor junior colleagues.
Ethical judgment and integrity, particularly when handling confidential customer data and payment commitments.
Adaptability to implement process changes, system upgrades or new regulatory requirements quickly.
Commercial awareness and focus on maximizing recoveries while balancing the long-term customer relationship.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

High school diploma / secondary education or equivalent; strong preference for candidates with certifications or training in collections, credit management or finance.

Preferred Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Business Administration, Economics, Accounting, or related discipline.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Finance / Accounting
Business Administration / Management
Economics
Law (useful for escalation & legal liaison)
Risk Management / Credit Management

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 1–5+ years in collections, arrears management, credit control or debt recovery roles.

Preferred:

2–4 years handling consumer or SME arrears portfolios with demonstrable recovery performance and experience working under regulatory frameworks.
Experience in handling escalations to legal and outsourced debt collection partners, and a track record of implementing payment arrangement strategies that reduced arrears and improved cure rates.