Senior Operations and Collections Specialist
Pleo · Lisbon, Lisbon
ABOUT PLEO
Messy spend management is tricky business. And tedious processes are a lose-lose situation for all involved, not just finance. At Pleo, we're changing that. We build spend solutions that make managing money seamless, empowering, and surprisingly effective for finance teams and employees alike - with a vision to help all businesses ‘go beyond’.
The word ‘Pleo’ actually means ‘more than you’d expect’, and living by that mantra has been the secret to our success over the last 10 years.
Now, we’re at a pivotal moment in our journey; every move we make has a direct impact on our 40,000+ customers, our business, and our collective success. We need people who take pride in uncovering customer needs, who turn complex problems into simple solutions, challenge the way things are done (respectfully), and always aim high. With great ambitions driving us forward, we can’t say we’ve got this whole thing figured out. And frankly, that’s half the fun! What we can say is that we’re a driven, progressive, and, importantly, a kind bunch of 850+ people from over 100 nationalities, all committed to delivering the future of business spending, together.
About the role
We're looking for a Senior Operations and Collections specialist to join our Credit team at Pleo. You'll own collections end to end — from the first conversation with a customer who's fallen behind, through to external agencies and legal action — as we scale our credit product. If you're excited about running Collections as its own function and are passionate about B2B credit, this is the opportunity for you.
Who you’ll be working with and reporting to
You'll report to our Senior Operations Manager and join a team of four who own Credit Operations at Pleo. Most of the work happens across boundaries: you'll partner closely with risk, underwriting, finance, product and our customer-facing teams to recover what's owed and stop the same problems recurring.
What you’ll be doing
As a Senior Operations and Collections specialist, you will:
- Monitor a portfolio of customers that are unwilling or unable to pay back their credit
- Engage with customers in the portfolio in a 1:1 capacity to resolve breach of credit terms
- Liaise with external agencies and legal firms in different jurisdictions when internal solutions are not found, including instructing legal actions and registering claims in insolvencies
- Build and maintain reports pertaining to collections activities, amounts collected, amounts written off, internal and external portfolio performance, and provide other reports and insights as required
- Collaborate with leadership, risk & underwriting and other operational teams to support policy changes and proactive monitoring based on data driven analyses
- Create and maintain documentation relating to the collections processes
What you bring
You’ll thrive in this role if you have:
- Experience in collections, risk and compliance, and/or data analysis.
- Background in customer-facing roles across B2B or B2C (such as Customer Support, CX, or Customer Success).
- Strong independent leadership skills: you can self-motivate and balance daily tasks with long-term projects effortlessly.
- Intermediate skills with Google Workspace, SQL, and GenAI (including agentic AI tools).
- Experience collaborating with product and engineering teams to fix bugs and scope new features.
- The skill to convey complex operational concepts with simplicity and empathy.
- Sharp prioritisation skills that let you weigh impact against effort every day.
- Familiarity with FinTech, collections, or legal environments is a strong plus.
Why is this role a good fit for you
This role is a good fit for you if:
- You have the discipline to follow procedural workflows to a T - and know precisely when standard procedures apply.
- You are biased to action above perfection, and people rely on you to get things done.
- You’re not just fixing problems as they appear, you are looking to optimise current processes, and you challenge the status quo.
- You know when to use AI in your workflows - but most importantly, you know when to not use AI.
This role is not a good fit for you if:
- You find fast-paced, iterative problem-solving challenging or frustrating.
- You require total clarity and broad consensus before making day-to-day decisions.
- You are comfortable flagging issues, but hesitate to probe for underlying causes or propose solutions.
How you’ll develop in this role
In your first 3 months at Pleo, you’ll:
- Master the collections processes, legal partner interactions, and collections portfolio.
- Collaborate with operations teams and risk & underwriting to improve monitoring and policies.
- Grow your skills in agentic AI, planning to build sustainable workflows within collections.
SHOW ME THE BENEFITS
- Your own Pleo card (no more out-of-pocket spending!)
- Lunch is on us for your work days - enjoy catered meals or receive a lunch allowance based on your local office
- Comprehensive private healthcare - depending on your location, coverage options include Vitality, Alan or Médis
- We offer 25 days of holiday + your public holidays
- For our Team, we offer both hybrid and fully remote working options
- We use MyndUp to give our employees access to free mental health and well-being support with great success so far
- Paid parental leave - we want to make sure that we're supportive of families and help you feel that you don't have to compromise your family due to work
ABOUT YOUR APPLICATION
- English first. Since it's our company language, please submit your application in English. You’ll be using it a lot if you join us.
- A fair look for everyone. Our talent team reads every single application to ensure the process is fair. To keep things running smoothly, we only accept applications through our system—our support team can’t pass on calls or emails.
- Diversity drives us. We can only reach our goals if our team reflects the world around us. That starts with you hitting apply, even if you don't tick every single box. We encourage people from all backgrounds and experiences to join us.
- Interview at your best. We want you to feel comfortable throughout the process. If you have any accessibility requirements or need a specific format, email belonging@pleo.io. We’ll design a process that works for you.
- Your data is safe. When you apply, we process your personal data as a data processor. For more information on how Pleo processes personal data, read our Privacy Policy here https://www.pleo.io/en/legal.
- Applying for multiple roles? Nothing is stopping you, and we assess every role independently. However, we do look for alignment, so make sure you can explain why your interest and experience are right for each specific role.
- Reapplying. If you’re applying for the same role again, please wait six months from your last decision before hitting submit.