Collections Specialist

Job Description

Working within Ecotricity's Debt Management Department, the objective of this position is to maximise cash collections and minimise bad debt through excellent customer service and effective debt recovery processes.

We have the challenging task of balancing the needs of our customers with our needs as a business, all within a regulatory framework shaped by quality, compliance, and a drive for exceptional customer service.

We aim to support our customers struggling with their energy bills back to financial health by being patient, kind and fair. We try and resolve all manner of complex queries, providing opportunities within the team to take on greater ownership.

There's a lot to learn in this role in a fast-paced and dynamic environment. Every day we will come across problems we've not seen before and will have to look for creative and practical solutions. This role helps to build knowledge and encourages development.

The team is open six days a week from 8:30am - 6.00pm, therefore Saturday work is required on a rota basis. For this role, you'll need to be based within a reasonable distance and able to travel to our office in Stroud, Gloucestershire as the role required a weekly office presence, inline with the agreed hybrid working rota.

In addition to the core responsibilities, you may be responsible for undertaking other project-based work as the need arises from across Ecotricity group - all aimed at delivering a high and consistent quality of service to Ecotricity customers.

Core Responsibilities

• Engage with customers in financial difficulty, communicating with passion across inbound and outbound calls, email and app contact.
• Take payments and negotiate affordable repayment options with customers and their representatives to get the best possible outcome for the customer and the Company.
• Quickly understand the root cause of customer contact, taking ownership for solving queries (which can be both sensitive and complex in nature) first time by working with other departments.
• Process, cleanse and format data and update systems and records accurately, including external industry bodies.
• Adhere to industry compliance and regulations such as the Data Protection Act, Vulnerability Commitment, etc.
• Take ownership for the personal and team success by effectively managing your time.
• Identify and implement continuous improvements in ways of working within the team and customer service experience.
• Take accountability for your own development using the development tools and support provided.
• Coach your teammates or colleagues from other departments in areas where you have a deeper level of debt knowledge helping to enhance the overall knowledge across the team and the Company.
• Complete any other ad-hoc duties as requested by Manager or Head of Department.

About You

Essential Skills

• Excellent and professional customer interaction/telephony skills delivering high level of customer service in either face to face or office-based roles.
• Collections and energy industry experience desirable but not essential.
• Experience of using multiple IT systems simultaneously with good computer literacy (including Microsoft Office software packages).
• High level of resilience and positivity managing change in an ever-evolving energy market whilst providing support and reassuring advice to our customers who are facing financial challenges.
• Enjoys working with others, building rapport with customers and colleagues but also thrives independently.
• Able to listen, speak and write confidently and with great attention to detail.
• Takes ownership of complex issues, can work with customers or colleagues to find solutions and deliver them in a friendly and timely manner.

What's in it for you...

• Healthcare plan, life assurance and generous pension contribution
• Volunteering Day
• Hybrid Working
• Various company discounts (including shops, gyms, days out and events)
• Holiday of 25 days (plus bank holidays) & ability to buy/sell days
• Cycle to work scheme, car pooling and onsite parking available

As a valued member of the team, you will be supporting the Group Environmental Policy and its associated sustainability objectives and targets.

The fast moving nature of the business means that from time to time you may be asked to perform duties or tasks outside of your original job description on an ad hoc basis. This allows the company to utilise our people in the best possible way at all times and helps our colleagues to make the best contribution in a changing environment. Ecotricity is Britain's overall greenest energy company- it's more than just green energy - the breadth and depth of our work on green issues is unmatched.

When we started back in 1995, we were the first company in the world to provide a new kind of electricity - the green kind. Our mission was, and remains, to change the way energy is made and used in Britain - by replacing fossil fuels with clean, renewable energy. We don't just supply green energy, we use the money from our customers' bills to make it ourselves too - we have built windmills and sun parks in Britain. We call this turning 'bills into mills'. We don't just focus on energy though- we built the Electric Highway, Britain's leading network of electric vehicle charging points; we helped Forest Green Rovers become the greenest football club in the world; and we launched Britain's greenest mobile phone service, Ecotalk, where they use the money from their customers' bills to protect and regenerate Britain's lost rainforests. Ecotricity is an equal opportunities employer and is committed to providing equality for all.