Senior Recovery Operations Vendor Manager

The Team

Upstart is seeking a Senior Recovery Vendor Operations Manager who will be responsible for driving the performance of our agency partners that provide post charge off collections services. This role is crucial in ensuring that our external partners meet and exceed performance and compliance expectations, enabling exceptional business outcomes and delivering a personalized, seamless borrower experience. The ideal candidate will hold agency partners accountable for service delivery excellence, ensuring that the quality of borrower interactions aligns with Upstart’s standards of care, efficiency, and borrower satisfaction. They will also work with key partners and stakeholders to create an enhanced strategy matrix along with designing and implementing a robust vendor oversight program.

Position Location - This role is available in the following locations: Remote

Time Zone Requirements - This team operates on the East/West Coast time zones. 

Travel Requirements - As a digital first company, the majority of your work can be accomplished remotely. The majority of our employees can live and work anywhere in the U.S but are encouraged to to still spend high quality time in-person collaborating via regular onsites. The in-person sessions’ cadence varies depending on the team and role; most teams meet once or twice per quarter for 2-4 consecutive days at a time. There is also a vendor travel requirement that will be managed by the entire Recovery organization. 

How you’ll make an impact:

• Create an enhanced recovery strategy outline: Work with key partners and stakeholders to evaluate and enhance the current agency placement and market share strategy and design specific KPI metrics to evaluate performance.
• Design a robust vendor oversight and compliance monitoring program: Design and implement an extensive vendor oversight and monitoring health check program to evaluate the control and compliance health of vendors that support all areas of servicing. 
• Drive Agency Partner Performance: Manage and monitor the day-to-day performance of external vendors responsible for collections services, ensuring they meet or exceed key performance metrics.
• Enable Business Outcomes: Collaborate with internal stakeholders to align vendor performance with Upstart’s strategic objectives, ensuring that vendor contributions drive measurable business outcomes.
• Enhance Borrower Experience: Ensure that agency partners deliver a personalized and effortless borrower experience, addressing borrower needs quickly and effectively while maintaining Upstart's commitment to quality.
• Monitor and Enforce KPIs: Track vendor performance using established KPIs, such as response times, collections success rates, customer satisfaction scores, and compliance with service level agreements (SLAs).
• Relationship Management: Build and maintain strong relationships with external agencies and internal cross functional partners to foster open communication, partnership, and alignment with Upstart’s goals.
• Performance Improvement Initiatives: Collaborate with vendors to identify areas for improvement, provide actionable feedback, and work together to implement solutions that enhance efficiency and borrower outcomes.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with internal teams such as Operations, product management, engineering, Legal, Risk Management, and Lending Partnerships to align vendor performance with Upstart’s broader objectives and operational needs.
• Data-Driven Analysis: Utilize data and reporting tools to track vendor performance, identify trends, and make informed decisions that drive continual improvements in service delivery.

What we’re looking for:

• Minimum qualifications:
  • 5+ years of experience in vendor management, customer service, or collections, preferably in fintech or financial services.
  • 3+ years of people management experience.
  • Strong track record of managing external vendors and holding them accountable to performance metrics.
  • Demonstrated ability to drive business outcomes and improve customer experiences through vendor relationships.
  • Excellent communication and negotiation skills, with the ability to influence partners and internal stakeholders.
  • Proven analytical skills, with the ability to monitor performance metrics and make data-driven decisions.
  • Knowledge of compliance and regulatory requirements in the financial services industry.
  • Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, high-growth environment with a strong sense of urgency.
• Preferred qualifications:
  • Experience building collections vendor procedures, performance and control metrics  from scratch.

What you'll love: 

• Competitive Compensation (base + bonus & equity)
• Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage with Health Savings Account contributions from Upstart 
• 401(k) with 100% company match up to $4,500 and immediate vesting and after-tax savings
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP)
• Life and disability insurance
• Generous holiday, vacation, sick and safety leave  
• Supportive parental, family care, and military leave programs
• Annual wellness, technology & ergonomic reimbursement programs
• Social activities including team events and onsites, all-company updates, employee resource groups (ERGs), and other interest groups such as book clubs, fitness, investing, and volunteering
• Catered lunches + snacks & drinks when working in offices

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