Position Description

Purpose                                     

The Credit & Vulnerability Consultant is responsible for managing and responding to a wide range of high risk and vulnerable customers experiencing financial or personal difficulties in accordance with our policies and procedures in a fair and equitable manner, consistent with and exceeding the requirements of applicable regulatory policies and codes.  The Credit & Vulnerability Consultant is required to work closely with and act as subject matter experts with Process Leads & Customer Solution counterparts in relation to debt recovery matters and contribute to the development and implementation of supporting strategies.

Key Duties and Responsibilities

• Onboard and manage new referrals to the Payment Assistance Program.


• Respond to customer enquiries regarding payment arrangements, process applications for payment plans and provide standard and tailored assistance to help reduce debt.


• Ensuring case management of various portfolios under the credit & vulnerability function is always up to date and meeting regulatory requirements.


• Communicate with customers on a regular basis via their preferred contact method (outbound call, SMS or email)


• Liaising with Financial Counsellors.


• Complete administration tasks including processing life support, concession, government grant, bankruptcy, and liquidation applications and responding to internal and external email requests.


• Implement continuous improvement mindset into all processes and strategies linked to Credit & Vulnerability activities to improve the overall performance of the Credit & Collections function.


• Ensure all processes are documented, approved and governed in line with Pacific Blues governance & compliance guidelines.


• Be the business Subject Matter Experts for the business in relation to customer advocacy & collection strategies and various regulatory obligations. 


• Ensure that appropriate reporting and compliance controls are used to monitor successful customer outcomes in relation to the departments activities.


• Case manage customer accounts that may have been affected by domestic and family violence in accordance with relevant internal and external policies.


• Complete all actions required in a manner that meets or exceeds the organisation’s obligations under its various policies and regulatory frameworks.


• Respond to requests for hardship and vulnerable customer data and information from across the business.


• Working as one team to provide assistance within the Retail Operations Group as required. 


• Ensure that the Company’s compliance obligations are actively maintained, managed and kept up to date with focus on the compliance obligations allocated to the position title as identified in the Company’s Register of Compliance Obligations

Challenges

• Managing complex customer enquiries and payment difficulties.


• Managing sensitive, complex, and sometimes confronting customer circumstances and situations.


• Being able to work through high volume of customer data and files.

Judgements

• Customer & financially focussed. 


• Ensure accurate and timely resolution of Customer Enquiries 


• Ability to resolve a range of debt & hardship related issues.


• Understanding of system reporting, identification of problems and providing solutions. 


• Systems and process improvement. 


• Understanding the Electricity & Gas retail customer lifecycle..

Knowledge, experience (including qualification) and skill

Knowledge and experience:   

• Tertiary qualifications in a relevant field will be highly regarded but not mandatory.


• Minimum 3 years credit, collection, or customer vulnerability experience within an Energy Retail Business 


• Contact centre experience, including handling inbound/outbound calls and admin tasks.


• Case management experience.


• Extensive knowledge of the Essential Services Commission and Australian Energy Regulator processes and policies to support customers facing Hardship and Family Violence, including a key understanding of the Victorian Payment Difficulty Framework (PDF)


• Experience dealing with Life Support processes and associated regulatory obligations.


• Knowledge of the Privacy Act, Hardship (all jurisdictions) 


• Well-developed administrative and computer skills

Skills:              

• Passionate about supporting customers.


• Demonstrated strong people/communication skills, ability to assist and have effective conversations with extremely vulnerable and high-risk customers.


• Ability to deal with conflict situations utilising sound negotiation skills 


• Ability to work autonomously and as part of a team to deliver high quality work within deadlines.


• Self-starter who can demonstrate high initiative, an ability to manage multiple tasks and manages their time effectively to manage workload. 


• Strong attention to detail with a high level of accuracy 


• Excellent problem-solving skills. 


• Ability to clearly explain and define issues/outcomes. 


• Sound judgment and decision-making skills. 


• Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills