Vendor Management Jobs in High Demand

One of the most interesting aspects of being a recruiter that specializes in a particular industry is insight: we’re exposed to certain information others aren’t. We can see a change in management or ownership coming from an influx of resumes from a particular company (employees always know first). We know a client is going to enter a new industry when they call us and are seeking sales professionals that have experience in a particular vertical. We also know when a particular skill set is growing in demand based on hiring patterns and historical trends.

An area where we have seen an increased amount of activity is the vendor management portion of collections. This skill set includes external agency management and attorney network management. As a recruiter, what really interests me is that there is a huge demand and a marked lack of supply.

Cause

In the mid 90’s most vendor management professionals were employed by banks or creditors. During this same period of time, banks and creditors began to consolidate. Vendor management professionals found themselves in a situation called “redundant skill sets” and a lot of these professionals were either deployed into other departments or left scrambling to find other industries or professions to earn a living.

Some of these individuals migrated to the agency side of the business because of their previous employment/relationship with the creditor. But on balance, vendor management professionals’ numbers dropped by an estimated 50% and created a huge lack of supply.

Effect

A few years later, selling debt became a real and accepted alternative for creditors dealing with large portfolios of unpaid accounts. Initially accepted in common consumer collection verticals such as credit cards, the practice of selling debt has since become more accepted in a multitude of verticals. These debt buyers then became the owners of this debt and as such had to create either an internal or external collection effort. Unable to work every account purchased, debt buyers had to incorporate the services of external collection agencies creating the need for external agency management professionals.

Additionally, some debt buyers (depending on the type of paper purchased) immediately hand the accounts over to attorneys for legal collections, creating the need for attorney network management professionals. This increasing demand, coupled with the percentage of vendor management professionals who left their positions back in the 90’s, created a tremendous deficit in “available skill”.

Vendor management professionals who were able to either keep their jobs with creditors during the consolidation period or who had the opportunity to join a debt buyer have seen an upward spike in compensation. Lack of supply and increased demand, have also increased compensation for the skill set. If you are a collection professional interested in acquiring a position with growth potential, vendor management is certainly worth investigating.

John Fiumano is CEO of Executive Alliance, a leading national recruitment firm that specializes in the debt collection and accounts receivable management industry. John grew up immersed in the credit and collections industry. He’s proud to come from a family of well-respected credit and collections professionals.

John has nearly a decade of industry specific recruitment experience. He has recruited for major banks, telecommunications companies, utilities and service providers to these industries.