Collections Specialist - Assistant Vice President

SMBC Group is a top-tier global financial group. Headquartered in Tokyo and with a 400-year history, SMBC Group offers a diverse range of financial services, including banking, leasing, securities, credit cards, and consumer finance. The Group has more than 130 offices and 80,000 employees worldwide in nearly 40 countries. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, Inc. (SMFG) is the holding company of SMBC Group, which is one of the three largest banking groups in Japan. SMFG’s shares trade on the Tokyo, Nagoya, and New York (NYSE: SMFG) stock exchanges.

In the Americas, SMBC Group has a presence in the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, and Peru. Backed by the capital strength of SMBC Group and the value of its relationships in Asia, the Group offers a range of commercial and investment banking services to its corporate, institutional, and municipal clients. It connects a diverse client base to local markets and the organization’s extensive global network. The Group’s operating companies in the Americas include Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC), SMBC Nikko Securities America, Inc., SMBC Capital Markets, Inc., JRI America, Inc., SMBC Leasing and Finance, Inc., Banco Sumitomo Mitsui Brasileiro S.A., and Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing Co., Ltd.

The anticipated salary range for this role is between $70,200.00 and $112,500.00. The specific salary offered to an applicant will be based on their individual qualifications, experiences, and an analysis of the current compensation paid in their geography and the market for similar roles at the time of hire. The role may also be eligible for an annual discretionary incentive award. In addition to cash compensation, SMBC offers a competitive portfolio of benefits to its employees.

Role Description

Responsible for managing assigned delinquent and distressed equipment-finance accounts through cure, workout, repossession, legal action, bankruptcy, deficiency recovery, or other approved resolution. The role protects SMFL’s financial and collateral interests through timely customer outreach, accurate system documentation, disciplined escalation, and reliable management reporting.

Role Objectives

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Review daily past-due reports; prioritize accounts based on delinquency, exposure, broken promises, insurance, collateral, and other risk indicators.

• Contact customers, obligors, and guarantors; determine the cause of delinquency; obtain and monitor payment commitments; and escalate repeated broken promises.

• Maintain complete and timely collection notes, status codes, next actions, supporting evidence, and follow-up dates in Aspire and approved trackers.

• Prepare demand and default notices with required management and Legal review; retain approval and delivery evidence.

• Manage or support Watch List, 90+ DPD, Incident Report, non-accrual, workout, repossession, legal, bankruptcy, and deficiency-recovery activities.

• Coordinate approved repossession assignments, monitor agents and collateral status, and escalate inactive or high-risk assignments.

• Reconcile collection records across Aspire, past-due reports, Watch List, IR, repossession, legal, bankruptcy, and deficiency trackers.

• Investigate payment, billing, payoff, insurance, and collateral issues with Accounting, Operations, Legal, Credit, and other stakeholders.

• Prepare weekly, semi-monthly, monthly, and quarterly collection reports and KPI results; explain variances and implement corrective actions.

• Support process improvements, reporting automation, data-quality controls, audits, and additional collection or asset-management assignments.

Control and Escalation Requirements

• Escalate broken promises by the next business day and 90+ accounts without an approved resolution path within 10 business days.

• Immediately escalate bankruptcy notices, uninsured or unlocated collateral, material balance discrepancies, and potential policy or authority exceptions.

• Ensure second-level management review of material 30+ DPD, Watch List, 90+, IR, non-accrual, repossession, deficiency, legal, bankruptcy, notices, manual adjustments, and KPI results.

• Preserve dated evidence of preparation, review, approval, delivery, exceptions, corrective actions, owners, and due dates.

• Apply approved policy minimums. Enhanced AMD contact expectations may be used based on risk but do not replace formal policy or delegated authority.

Qualifications and Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in business, finance, accounting, or a related field preferred, or equivalent relevant experience.

• Experience in commercial collections, equipment finance, leasing, asset management, workout, repossession, legal recovery, or credit administration preferred.

• Working knowledge of collection practices, bankruptcy and litigation coordination, collateral recovery, deficiency balances, and account reconciliation.

• Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, and collection or lease-management systems such as Aspire; Power BI experience is beneficial.

• Strong analytical, documentation, negotiation, organization, and written and verbal communication skills.

• Ability to manage multiple deadlines, exercise sound judgment, protect confidential information, and work effectively across functions.

SMBC’s employees participate in a Hybrid workforce model that provides employees with an opportunity to work from home, as well as, from an SMBC office. SMBC requires that employees live within a reasonable commuting distance of their office location. Prospective candidates will learn more about their specific hybrid work schedule during their interview process. Hybrid work may not be permitted for certain roles, including, for example, certain FINRA-registered roles for which in-office attendance for the entire workweek is required.

SMBC provides reasonable accommodations during candidacy for applicants with disabilities consistent with applicable federal, state, and local law. If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application process, please let us know at [email protected].

EOE, including Disability/veterans