Director of Collections Strategy

Earnest empowers ambitious professionals to make confident financial decisions and build the life they envision.

Earnies are committed to helping borrowers move forward with confidence by offering smarter borrowing options with a clearer path to taking control of their debt. If you’re as passionate as we are about our mission, read more below, and let’s build something great together. 

The Director of Collections will report to our Head of Risk and Data Science. 

As the Director of Collections you will:

• Build and lead the end-to-end collections strategy across personal loans and student loan refinance, with an initial focus on scaling the personal loan portfolio.
• Leverage advanced risk modeling and analytics to design collections and loss-mitigation strategies that improve portfolio performance throughout the delinquency lifecycle while delivering a positive customer experience.
• Design and optimize treatment strategies spanning early-stage outreaches, hardship programs, and pre-charge-off interventions.
• Design and execute tests across digital and traditional communication channels, continuously optimizing customer engagement through rigorous experimentation and measurement.
• Lead the AI integration roadmap for collections strategy and leverage AI tools to improve productivity and outcomes.
• Define and monitor portfolio KPIs, and translate complex data into actionable business decisions.
• Drive clear performance expectations and accountability with third-party vendors, and develop the long-term operating model for the optimal balance between internal capabilities and third-party partners.

About You:

• 10+ years of experience in consumer lending collections strategy, with significant ownership of loss mitigation strategy and collections analytics.
• Deep expertise in unsecured consumer lending, preferably Personal Loans, Student Loan Refinance, Credit Cards, or other installment lending products.
• Proven track record of improving collections performance while balancing customer experience, regulatory compliance, and operational efficiency.
• Strong analytical and quantitative background with extensive experience using data to identify opportunities, develop strategies, and measure business impact.
• Expert understanding of collections performance metrics, charge-offs, and vendor management.
• Proficiency with SQL and familiarity with Python, statistical modeling, and modern business intelligence platforms (e.g., Tableau, Looker).
• Excellent cross-functional leadership skills with the ability to align stakeholders across Risk, Data Science, Product, Engineering, Operations, Legal, Compliance, and Finance.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to translate complex analytical findings into clear business recommendations.

Even Better:

• Experience building, scaling, or modernizing a collections strategy function in a high-growth fintech or digital lending environment.
• Experience applying AI, machine learning, or advanced analytics to collections strategy, customer engagement, or operational optimization.
• Deep knowledge of collections operations, regulatory requirements, and vendor management.
• Experience with modern digital collections capabilities.

Where:

• This role will be based in the US.

Compensation: 

A little about our pay philosophy: We take pride in compensating our employees fairly and equitably. We are showcasing a range of your potential base salary based on the roles location. The successful candidate’s starting pay will also be determined based on job-related qualifications, internal compensation, candidate location and budget. This range may be modified in the future.

Salary Range: $221,000 - $253,000 USD. Employees are also eligible for an annual performance-based bonus and equity.

Earnest believes in enabling our employees to live their best lives. We offer a variety of perks and competitive benefits, including: 

• Health, Dental, & Vision benefits plus savings plans
• Mac computers + work-from-home stipend to set up your home office
• Monthly internet and phone reimbursement
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan
• Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)
• 401(k) plan to help you save for retirement plus a company match
• Robust tuition reimbursement program
• $1,000 travel perk on each Earnie-versary to anywhere in the world 
• Competitive days of annual PTO
• Competitive parental leave

What Makes an Earnie:

At Earnest, our people bring our cultural principles to life. These principles define how we work, how we win, and what we expect of ourselves and each other:

• Every Second Counts: Speed is our competitive advantage. Our customers need better solutions, and the faster we execute, the greater our chance of success.
• Choose To Do Hard Things: We win by tackling the hard things that others avoid, fueled by grit and resilience.
• Pursue Excellence: Great companies, teams, and individuals never settle and are proud of the work that they do. What’s good enough today won’t be good enough tomorrow. Excellence isn’t a destination; it’s a mindset of continuous improvement.
• Lead Together: Our success comes from how we work together. Leadership is not about titles-it is about action. We take ownership, drive results, and move forward as a team.
• Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously: We take our work seriously, not ourselves. The stakes are high, but a sense of humor keeps us grounded, creative, and resilient.

At Earnest, we are committed to building an environment where our employees feel included, valued, and heard. Our belief is that a strong commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging enables us to move forward with our mission. We are dedicated to adding new perspectives to the team and encourage anyone to apply if your experience is close to what we are looking for.  

Earnest provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability or genetics. Qualified applicants with criminal histories will be considered for the position in a manner consistent with the Fair Chance Ordinance.