What You’ll Do

Koalafi is launching a new non-prime installment loan product, and we’re looking for an experienced Operations Manager to stand up and scale the operational infrastructure that will power it. This role is ideal for a hands-on operational leader who thrives in 0→1 environments. You will partner closely with the Principal Product Manager and other operational leaders who support our other products to develop the day-to-day execution processes. 

You’ll lead the development of our approach servicing operations, collections & recoveries, back-office processing, etc. - ensuring the product is compliant, scalable, and delivers a high-quality customer experience from day one. Navigating which of our existing functions is extensible to the loan product, and which require bespoke and dedicated solutions will be paramount. 

This is a high-impact, mid-level leadership role for someone who understands consumer lending operations and is excited to build and own something new from the ground up. This is an opportunity to build something from the ground up. You won’t just inherit a process — you’ll design it. You’ll work alongside strong product and executive leadership to bring a new lending product to market and shape the operational foundation that supports it. If you’re excited by ownership, impact, and building operational excellence in a regulated fintech environment, we’d love to meet you. In this role you will:

• Stand Up Core Loan Operations:
  • Design and implement operational workflows for functions such as customer service, delinquency management, and account maintenance - at times leveraging existing capabilities and at times build from scratch.
  • Build and document SOPs across all operational functions. 
  • Hire, onboard, train, and oversee staff to support initial and growing account volume. 
  • Establish service and monitor performance standards, SLAs, and QA frameworks. 
  • Build and manage internal and/or outsourced customer support teams.
• Collaborate with the Head of Collections & Recoveries to build & launch a delinquency management strategy: 
  • Design early-stage and late-stage collections strategies aligned with risk and compliance guidelines. 
  • Implement compliant outreach strategies (dialer, SMS, email, mail). 
  • Partner with Risk to monitor roll rates, delinquency curves, and recovery performance. 
  • Manage third-party agencies and recovery vendors, where applicable. 
• Oversee Back-Office & Compliance Operations: 
  • Monitor complaint handling and regulatory response processes. 
  • Build, document and oversee exception account handling (e.g., deceased, bankruptcy, credit bureau disputes, etc.) 
  • Prepare operational reporting to support audits, compliance reviews, and executive oversight. 

What Success Looks Like 

• A fully operational servicing function is in place ahead of product launch. 
• Customer support and collections teams are trained, compliant, and performing against clear KPIs. 
• Early delinquency and recovery strategies are implemented and producing measurable results. 
• Operational processes are documented, scalable, and audit-ready. 
• The installment product delivers a strong, compliant customer experience while maintaining disciplined cost-to-serve. 

Who This Role Is For 

• You are an operational leader with experience in consumer lending, fintech, or financial services. 
• You’ve helped launch or scale servicing functions for installment loans, personal loans, or similar credit products. 
• You’re comfortable building processes from scratch and bringing structure to ambiguity. 
• You understand how customer experience, risk management, and compliance intersect in lending operations. 
• You’re hands-on enough to build the playbook — and strategic enough to improve it over time. 

About You (Qualifications)

• 5–8 years of experience in consumer lending operations, servicing, collections, or related functions. 
• Experience with installment loans, personal loans, or other regulated consumer credit products strongly preferred. 
• Direct experience managing customer service and/or collections teams (internal or outsourced). 
• Familiarity with loan servicing platforms, dialers, CRM systems, and payment processing tools. 
• Working knowledge of consumer lending regulatory frameworks (FDCPA, UDAAP, FCRA, state lending regulations). 
• Strong analytical skills with experience building and managing operational KPIs. 
• Excellent cross-functional collaboration skills and comfort working with Product, Risk, Legal, and Engineering partners.
• Location Requirement: This position requires regular in-person attendance at our office location (Richmond, VA). Candidates must already be located within a commutable distance, as relocation assistance is not available at this time.