About Upstart
At Upstart, we’re united by a mission that matters: to radically reduce the cost and complexity of borrowing for all Americans. Every day, we bring creativity, experimentation, and advanced AI to reshape access to credit, helping millions move forward financially with clarity and confidence.
As the leading AI lending marketplace, we partner with banks and credit unions to expand access to affordable credit through technology that’s both radically intelligent and deeply human. Our platform runs over one million predictions per borrower using more than 1,800 signals, powering smarter, fairer decisions for millions of customers. But the numbers only hint at the impact. Every idea, every voice, and every contribution moves us closer to a world where credit never stands between people and their financial progress.
We’re proudly digital-first, giving most Upstarters the flexibility to do their best work from wherever they thrive, alongside teammates across 80+ cities in the US and Canada. Digital-first doesn’t mean distant. We’re intentional about in-person connection through team onsites, planning sessions, and moments that spark creativity and trust. And whether you choose to work primarily from home or collaborate in-person from one of our offices in Columbus, Austin, the Bay Area, or New York City (opening Summer 2026), you’ll have the support to work in the way that works best for you.
If you’re energized by tackling meaningful problems, excited to innovate with purpose, and motivated by work that truly matters, we’d love to hear from you.
The Team:
The Recovery team at Upstart is responsible for maximizing post-default recoveries while ensuring compliant, borrower-centric engagement across a diverse and growing vendor ecosystem. As our Recovery operations mature, we are investing in building smarter, more scalable systems that reduce manual risk, improve data-driven decisions, and align our vendor network with long-term strategic outcomes.
We are seeking a Head of Recovery Strategy to lead our transformation roadmap across vendor integration, automation, compliance infrastructure, and intelligent placement logic. This individual will work cross-functionally across Product, Engineering, Compliance, Legal, Data Analytics, and Operations to architect the next evolution of Recovery operations at Upstart.
How you’ll make an impact
- Lead Recovery’s transformation roadmap: Design and deliver high-impact initiatives that reduce manual risk, automate vendor workflows, and scale internal process efficiency across legal recovery, bankruptcy, affidavits, DSC, debt sales, and probate.
- Architect scalable vendor infrastructure: Enhance frameworks for vendor onboarding, integration, compliance scorecards, and audit-readiness, ensuring Recovery is built to scale intelligently across a growing multi-vendor ecosystem.
- Enhance and operationalize Recovery KPIs: Collaborate with Ops and Analytics to define, implement, and monitor a comprehensive suite of performance and risk metrics across Recovery verticals—ensuring every vendor strategy and system enhancement is grounded in measurable success criteria.
- Quantify and optimize placement strategy: Partner with data analytics, ML, and operations to improve liquidation and cost-to-collect through segmentation logic, hypothesis-driven testing, and performance-based routing.
- Drive analytical and cross-functional execution: Lead strategic programs from concept to implementation—including the rollout of tools like Convoke, legal collections testing, and compliance health models—grounded in measurable ROI and portfolio-level impact.
- Own Recovery’s strategic alignment layer: Serve as the connective tissue between Product, Engineering, Legal, ML, and Ops to ensure programs are modeled, implemented, and monitored with discipline.
- Enable performance & quality execution: You'll complement operational leadership by enabling managers with scalable tools, systems, and decision frameworks—not by running day-to-day vendor performance.
- Lead and scale a small strategic enablement team: May manage 1–2 ICs (project or program managers) focused on executing recovery transformation initiatives—including automation, issues management, vendor enhancements, compliance workflows, and metric monitoring. You’ll guide executional velocity while staying deeply involved in program strategy and prioritization.
Minimum Qualifications
- 8+ years of experience in product strategy, operations, or transformation program leadership in a regulated or financial services environment
- Proven success leading analytically rigorous initiatives involving ROI modeling, hypothesis-driven testing, and cost-benefit analysis while leading complex, cross-functional initiatives involving vendors, risk/compliance, and technology teams
- Demonstrated ability to estimate financial impact at the unit and portfolio level (e.g., revenue per transaction, net present value over time)
- Demonstrated experience applying process design, automation, or analytics to solve operational problems
- Excellent project management skills and the ability to organize and drive multiple workstreams
- Demonstrated ability to structure ambiguous problems, develop hypotheses, and present recommendations
- Excellent communicator: able to synthesize complex analyses into clear, actionable roadmaps
- Proven analytical skills, with the ability to monitor performance metrics and make data-driven decisions
- Familiarity with compliance and operational risk frameworks in regulated financial operations
- Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, high-growth environment with a strong sense of urgency
Preferred Qualifications
- Comfort building and interpreting unit economics models, breakeven analysis, and performance scenarios
- Experience leading or collaborating on ML- or rule-based segmentation strategies for operational decisioning
- Strong fluency with quantitative tools (SQL, Excel modeling, Looker, or scripting languages)
- MBA from a top-tier business school
- 3+ years of People management experience
- Strong familiarity with regulated financial services operations or collections/recovery environments
- Experience in legal collections, recovery optimization, debt sale analytics, or servicing vendor strategy
- Immense curiosity about root causes—thinks critically from first principles and never stops asking questions
- A natural thought-partner: open-minded, collaborative, and able to co-create new ideas with cross-functional teams
- Experience working in fintech, financial services, or consulting (e.g. strategy, risk, vendor management)
- Familiarity with tools like Convoke, Salesforce, AppScript, or vendor audit and control software
- Experience with compliance, vendor due diligence, or regulatory exam preparation
Position location This role is available in the following locations: Remote.
Time zone requirements The team operates on the East/West coast time zones.
Travel requirements As a digital first company, the majority of your work can be accomplished remotely. The majority of our employees can live and work anywhere in the U.S but are encouraged to to still spend high quality time in-person collaborating via regular onsites. The in-person sessions’ cadence varies depending on the team and role; most teams meet once or twice per quarter for 2-4 consecutive days at a time. Potential for some vendor site travel; length and cadence to be determined.
#LI-REMOTE
#LI-MidSenior
At Upstart, your base pay is one part of your total compensation package. The anticipated base salary for this position is expected to be within the below range. Your actual base pay will depend on your geographic location–with our “digital first” philosophy, Upstart uses compensation regions that vary depending on location. Individual pay is also determined by job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.
In addition, Upstart provides employees with target bonuses, equity compensation, and generous benefits packages (including medical, dental, vision, and 401k).
What you'll love
At Upstart, our benefits are designed to support your health, financial well-being, family, and personal growth. Here’s what you can expect:
- Competitive compensation, including base pay, bonus opportunities, and annual equity grants that vest quarterly
- Generous 401(k) plan with Upstart matching $2 for every $1 contributed, up to $15,000 per year
- Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) with discounted stock purchase options for eligible employees
- Affordable medical, dental, and vision coverage, with multiple plan options - Upstart covers 90% to 100% of the cost depending on the plans you choose
- Health Savings Account contributions from Upstart for eligible plans
- Income protection benefits, including company-paid Basic Life, AD&D, and Short- and Long-Term Disability coverage, with options to purchase supplemental coverage
- Paid time off, sick and safe time, and company holidays
- Paid family and parental leave to support caregiving and major life moments
- Family-centered benefits through Carrot and Cleo, supporting fertility, parenthood, and caregiving
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offering mental health support and life-centered resources
- Financial wellness resources, including access to financial planning tools and a financial concierge service
- Annual wellness allowance to support your physical and emotional well-being and personal development, based on what matters most to you
- Annual productivity allowance to invest in relevant tools and resources you need to do your best work, no matter where you work from
- Connection and community through team events and onsites, all-company updates, and employee resource groups (ERGs)
- Onsite perks, including catered lunches and fully stocked micro-kitchens when working from one of our four offices, located in the Bay Area, Austin, Columbus, and New York City (opening Summer 2026!).
Upstart is a proud Equal Opportunity Employer. Just as we are dedicated to improving access to affordable credit for all, we are committed to inclusive and fair hiring practices.
If you require reasonable accommodation in completing an application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please email [email protected]
https://www.upstart.com/candidate_privacy_policy
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