Job Title: Member Services Officer – Credit Control
Location: Oldham
Salary: £22,000 – £23,000 per year (FTE)
Job Type: Permanent, Part Time. 18.5 hours per week
Founded in 2002 Oldham Credit union (OCU) is a not for profit, democratic financial co-operative owned and run by its members.
Our mission is to provide access to fair financial services which promote greater financial inclusion and make a key contribution to the economic well-being of the Oldham Community.
We currently have over 5000 members holding £1.7M in savings and over £1.2M out on loan.
We are looking to build on these strong foundations and improve and grow the organisation. As part of this re -organisation we are looking to appoint a Member Services Officer with specific responsibility for Credit Control.
The Role:
The purpose of the Member Services Officer (Credit Control) role is primarily to deal with all aspects of Oldham Credit Union’s credit control activities, from first contact through to formal enforcement including court action. The role also includes a range of other finance and member services administrative tasks.
Key duties and tasks:
The role includes (but is not limited to):
- Being the front-line contact for members in arrears or experiencing financial distress
- Contacting members in arrears in accordance with the credit union’s contact strategy using a full range of methods of communication
- Making arrangements to pay with members in arrears, blending tact, discretion, and empathy with the need to recover outstanding payments to protect the interests of the wider membership and the financial resilience of the organisation
- Working with the Senior Member Services Officer (Finance) to develop and administer member support options to assist members in difficulty
- Utilising 3rd party professional services as required to enhance collection levels. These include tracing agents and third-party solicitors
- Liaising with the DWP for benefit deductions, and with employers for salary deductions, as appropriate and where normal interactions with members have failed to achieve an adequate outcome
- Arranging for County Court Judgements to be registered for the more serious cases, and then following through to enforce the CCJ, as far as such is possible
- Managing the Credit Union’s portfolio of aged loans, seeking to recover as much money as is recoverable.
- Identifying cases for write offs and Preparing arrears reports
- Updating and reporting of credit reference data
- Undertake any necessary training and development as and when required
- Attend regular staff meetings
- Carry out any other reasonable task to support the effective operation of OCU as required
We are looking for the following Essential Criteria:
- Excellent communication skills written and spoken
- Strong numeracy, verbal and written skills
- Accurate with an attention to detail
- Good team player
- Flexibility and effective time management
- Experience of using IT systems and applications (Word, Excel, Power-point, Outlook)
- An understanding of the need for compliance with all regulatory requirements
- The ability to balance empathy with a firmness of approach
- Commitment to the ongoing future development of the credit union
We are looking for the following Desirable Criteria:
- Experience of working in a financial / customer service setting
- Experience / Knowledge of Credit Control processes and procedures
- An understanding of what constitutes ‘a vulnerable customer, and the ability to interact appropriately with members who fit this description
- Ability to confidently use various IT systems and platforms, which includes (but is not limited to): The Credit Union’s CRM system; the Credit Union’s customer interaction mobile app (currently Nivo); Website and Social Media
Why Choose us?
- A competitive salary of up to £23,000 (FTE) £11,552 (Actual) depending on experience
- We offer auto enrolment pension contributions
- Permanent role – Part Time 18.5 hours per week
- A starting entitlement of 12.5 days Annual Leave which increases the longer you stay with us
- We operate a contractual sick pay scheme because we value the well – being of our team
Please click the APPLY button and to submit your CV.
Candidates with experience of: Member Services Officer, Credit Control Officer, Credit Union Credit Control Officer, Credit Control Team Member, Credit Controller, may also be considered for this role.
