Senior Collections Officer – Multiple Departments Citywide (4308) (156713)

Role description

The Senior Collections Officer performs responsible and specialized revenue collection work involving revenues due the City and County; is responsible for collection through personal and telephone contact correspondence and legal action; sets up repayment schedules; maintains collection records; explains County policies and legal requirements; and performs related duties as required.  This class is the advanced-journey-level in the Collection officer series. Positions are distinguished from the next lower code of Collection Officer in that they perform the more difficult account collection work and may exercise lead direction over the latter class. 

Essential Functions

According to Civil Service commission Rule 9 the duties specified below are representative of the range of duties assigned to this job code class and are not intended to be an inclusive list.

1. Utilizes techniques such as skip tracing and research to locate debtors to help identify available assets and implement collection proceedings through personal and telephone contact correspondence and legal action.
2. Obtains and verifies information related to debtors employment earnings property holdings credit bank accounts assets and liabilities for collection of delinquent accounts.
3. Interviews and corresponds with debtors to determine ability to pay elicit payments to seek debt resolution and to explain City and County policies and legal requirements to debtors representatives departmental employees other agencies and the general public.
4. Uses computer programs to validate debt document collection activities communicate with co-workers via e-mail and formally correspond with debtors.  Uses word processing and windows-based applications.
5. Prepares implements and monitors repayment agreements.
6. Reviews analyzes and validates debt to prepare accounts for legal enforcement including developing case summaries obtaining evidence and consulting with attorneys claims adjusters and other County departments and outside agencies.
7. Maintains records of data and information on collection cases.
8. May represent the City and County as plaintiff in small claims court and as witness during civil court hearings.
9. May train and provide lead direction to other collections personnel.

Qualifications :

Experience

Two years of collection experience in a public agency. This experience must involve collection work equivalent to that performed by Class 4306 Collections Officer in the City and County of San Francisco; OR

Three years of private sector collection experience in collecting delinquent accounts; OR

An equivalent combination of experience;

AND

Ability to type 35 wpm.

Special Requirements

Essential duties require the following physical skills and work environment; ability to work in a standard office environment which may involve prolonged sitting bending and operation of typing word processing and other office equipment; interact with and obtain information from hostile individuals.

Desirable Qualifications: The stated desirable qualifications may be used to identify job finalists at the end of the selection process when candidates are referred for hiring.

• Knowledge of: general principles and techniques of collection work; legal requirements for collection of delinquent accounts; modern office practices and procedures.
• Ability to: Maintain regular and reliable attendance; interact cordially with co-workers and the public; use a computer and various software applications including collection software word processing spreadsheets and databases; conduct informational interviews; write and speak clearly and effectively; research legal financial and other records; use skip tracing techniques; compose clear concise reports and correspondence; establish and maintain accurate records and accounts; interact with and obtaining information from hostile individuals; exercise good judgment in evaluating information and documentation; ask pertinent questions to elicit necessary information; comply with confidentiality rules; make decisions; speak clearly concisely and effectively in order to give oral instructions answer questions respond to concerns and communicate work-related information to staff departmental personnel members of the public and representatives of other agencies; effectively listen and elicit information; analyze financial information to negotiate payment plans.

Verification:

Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point in the application examination and/or departmental selection process.

Note: Falsifying ones education training or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification for this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco. For more information on verification please visit the following link: How to Verify Education Requirements

All work experience education training and other information substantiating how you meet the minimum qualifications must be included on your Smart Recruiters application by the filing deadline. Information must be entered into the Smart Recruiters applicant tracking system under the headings for Experience and Education.  Leaving these sections blank and attaching a resume in lieu of completing the Experience and Education sections will cause your application to be rejected.

Information submitted after the filing deadline will not be considered in determining whether you meet the minimum qualifications.

Applications completed improperly may be cause for ineligibility disqualification or may lead to lower scores.

One year of full-time employment is equivalent to 2000 hours. (2000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40 hours work week.) Any overtime hours that you work above forty (40) hours per week are not included in the calculation to determine full-time employment.

SELECTION PROCEDURE

Written Examination: (WEIGHT 100%): Qualified candidates will be tested by a standardized written examination to determine their relative knowledge skills and abilities in job-related areas which may include but not be limited to: knowledge of collection procedures principles concepts and techniques; and modern office practices and procedures. 

A passing score must be achieved on the written examination in order to be placed on the eligible list/score report.

This is a standardized examination and therefore test questions and answers are not available for public inspection or review.

Note: Applicants that meet the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement in the selection process.

Eligible List/Score Report:

A confidential eligible list of applicant names that have passed the civil service examination process will be created and used for certification purposes only. An examination score report will be established so applicants can view the ranks final scores and number of eligible candidates.

Applicant information including names of applicants on the eligible list shall not be made public unless required by law. However an eligible list shall be made available for public inspection upon request once the eligible list is exhausted or expired and referrals resolved.

The eligible list/score report resulting from this civil service examination process is subject to change after adoption (e.g. as a result of appeals) as directed by the Human Resources Director or the Civil Service Commission.

The duration of the eligible list resulting from this examination process will be of 12 months and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.

To find Departments which use this classification please see certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be Rule of Ten Scores. Additional selection processes may be conducted by the hiring department prior to making final hiring decisions.

Note: The correction of clerical errors in an announcement may be posted on the Department of Human Resources website at  terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 110.4. Such appeals must be submitted in writing to the Department of Human Resources 1 South Van Ness Avenue 4th Floor San Francisco CA 94103-5413 by close of business on the 5th business day following the issuance date of this examination announcement. Information concerning other Civil Service Commission Rules involving announcements applications and examination policies including applicant appeal rights can be found on the Civil Service Commission website at  Analyst Information: If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process please contact the exam analyst Guillermo Tapia by email at .

Additional Information Regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:

• Information About the Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity 
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Veterans Preference
• Seniority Credit in Promotional Exams
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex race age religion color national origin ancestry physical disability mental disability medical condition (associated with cancer a history of cancer or genetic characteristics) HIV/AIDS status genetic information marital status sexual orientation gender gender identity gender expression military and veteran status or other protected category under the law.

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex race age religion color national origin ancestry physical disability mental disability medical condition (associated with cancer a history of cancer or genetic characteristics) HIV/AIDS status genetic information marital status sexual orientation gender gender identity gender expression military and veteran status or other protected category under the law.