Senior Forderungsmanager*in (m/w/d)

The company

Small businesses move fast. Opportunities often don’t wait, and cash flow pressures can appear overnight. To keep going, and growing, SMEs need finance that’s as flexible and responsive as they are.

That's why we built iwoca. Our smart technology, data science and five-star customer service ensures business owners can act with the speed, confidence and control they need, exactly when it's needed.

We’ve already cleared the way for 100,000 businesses with more than £4 billion in funding. Our passionate team is driven to help even more SMEs succeed, through access to better finance and other services that make running a business easier. Our ultimate mission is to support one million SMEs in their defining moments, creating lasting impact for the communities and economies they drive.

The team

We are looking for a Senior Collections Manager (m/f/d) to join our Collections Team within the German Operations division at iwoca, a fast-growing fintech.

Driven by a true "customer-first" mindset, your core responsibility will be negotiating directly with business owners who are facing difficulties repaying their loans. Drawing on your extensive experience, you will take ownership of high-stakes cases—those involving large balances, multiple stakeholders, and complex restructuring or settlement agreements rather than standard payment plans. You will work closely with our paralegals, legal counsel, and cross-functional iwoca teams (such as Account Management and Credit Risk).

In this role, you will manage your own client portfolio, directly impact the performance of iwoca Germany, and serve as the go-to expert for high-level decision-making within the team.

The role

In this role you’ll manage a dedicated client portfolio, negotiating restructuring and settlement solutions that balance client support with optimal commercial outcomes for iwoca. You’ll evaluate financial situations independently and tailor your strategy, deviating from standard recovery procedures whenever sound commercial reasoning supports it.

The requirements

Essential:

• Demonstrates curiosity to use and learn more about AI tools. You’ll already be comfortable using AI tools in practical ways to help solve problems, increase productivity and improve quality of work, showing good judgement about when to use them and the ability to explain the reasoning behind that use.

• Strategic Financial Analysis: Assess repayment viability, weigh costs versus potential recovery success before escalating cases, and choose the most cost-effective path forward.

• Seamless Escalations: Spot critical risk factors early and hand off cases to internal teams with clear documentation for immediate action.

• AI Tool Integration: Actively leverage AI tools to streamline processes, solve operational challenges, and boost output quality, using sound judgment on when and how to apply technology effectively.

• Mentorship & Onboarding: Onboard new team members, coach colleagues through difficult customer conversations, and share best practices across the team.

• Cross-Functional & Process Projects: Proactively drive cross-departmental projects aimed at optimizing collections workflows, maintaining strong stakeholder relationships across the organization.

• Cultural Ambassadorship: Model iwoca’s core values (smart, motivated, humble, growth mindset) and help shape an inclusive office culture.

Background & Experience:

• Completed commercial or legal vocational training, or a degree in Business Administration, Law, or a related field.

• Multiple years of experience in a customer-facing role, ideally within the financial services or fintech sector.

• Proven track record in collections and debt recovery, managing complex cases end-to-end.

• Working knowledge of German dunning, enforcement, and insolvency law (you won't need to run legal proceedings yourself, but you must be able to evaluate their commercial impact).

Skills & Mindset:

• Communication & Resilience: Confident and articulate in both written and verbal communication, remaining calm and persuasive even when dealing with irate clients, escalations, or legal representation.

• Empathy & Assertion: Highly empathetic with strong interpersonal tact, combined with the assertiveness needed to reach goal-oriented solutions under pressure.

• Negotiation: Skilled negotiator who can say "no" constructively while delivering viable alternatives that keep the client relationship intact.

• Proactive & Growth-Oriented: Naturally curious, innovative, and eager to challenge existing processes to continuously improve how we work.

• Team Player & Coach: Passionate about sharing knowledge, mentoring colleagues, and supporting team success.

• Languages: Fluent proficiency in German (C1), alongside strong English skills to collaborate smoothly with our international teams.

The salary

We expect to pay from 50,000 - 66,000 EUR for this role. But, we’re open-minded, so definitely include your salary goals with your application. We routinely benchmark salaries against market rates, and run quarterly performance and salary reviews.

The culture

At iwoca, the best idea wins. We model our culture on independent thinking, challenging untested logic, and evidence-based decisions. We prioritise learning and growth, and give people the autonomy to develop in the direction that makes them most effective.

We're a tech company and believe in the power of AI to help us work faster and better. We provide the infrastructure where every iwocan always has access to the best models and where those models have access to all of our data. We will help our people to learn how to use and grow with the new tools available to them.

The offices

We put a lot of effort into making iwoca a great place to work:

• Offices in London, Leeds, Berlin, and Frankfurt with plenty of drinks and snacks.

• Events and community-led groups, including running groups, padel, and monthly ping-pong and pool competitions.

The benefits

• A smart, motivated and international team (we represent over 35 different nationalities) with ridiculous growth-mindset.

• 26 days of vacation a year plus a free day for your birthday.

• One-month fully paid sabbatical after 4 years.

• Mental health support with direct access to certified psychologists via our partner OpenUp.

• iwoca takes over a ski chalet in winter so that you and your team can ski or snowboard (and work) for a week. During summer we are drawn to the sun. We’ve been to France, Italy, Spain, and further afield.

• Access to the gym membership program, €25 for either Fit711 or Urban Sports Club.

• €30 contribution towards the Deutschlandticket.

• Company Pension with Canada Life.

• Great office locations. In Frankfurt in the middle of the city, our Berlin office is located in Prenzlauer Berg.

• A paid volunteer day that gives you the opportunity to invest time to support a charity of your choice.

• Corporate Benefits discounts.

• ’iwocans’ also benefit from fully stocked fridges in our offices with whatever is needed to strengthen them. There are snacks (both healthy and less healthy) for the whole day.

And to make sure we all keep learning, we offer:

• A learning and development budget for everyone, including a book budget.

• Learning German budget.

• Company-wide talks with internal and external speakers.

• Access to learning platforms like Treehouse.

Useful links:

• See iwoca benefits & policies for detail and some additional benefits.

• See iwoca interview welcome pack.