Recovery Operations Lead

Recovery Ops Lead

What it Means to Be a Program Lead:

A Program Lead at American Avenue is not a subject matter expert who happens to manage a team. It is a function owner — someone who takes full accountability for a program's outcomes, manages the operating model that produces those outcomes, and acts as the connective tissue between their function and the rest of the business. Above individual execution, their job is to ensure a running system, one that produces consistent results, surfaces early signals when something is wrong, and improves over time without requiring constant senior intervention.

Every Program Lead is expected to operate in three modes simultaneously:

• Operator: Run the day-to-day with discipline. The queue moves, the team executes, SLAs are met, and nothing falls through the cracks.
• Problem-solver: When the root cause of a problem lives upstream — in another team's process, a product gap, or a policy ambiguity — you help own getting it fixed and escalating when needed. 
• Builder: Proactively improve the function. Identify where the playbook is missing, where self-serve could replace human effort, where data should be driving a decision that's currently made by feel.

Role Overview:

As the Recovery Lead, you'll play a key role in driving down the total cost of eviction across our 9,000+ home portfolio. Recovery exists to resolve delinquency at the lowest possible cost to the business — either by preventing an eviction through early intervention, recovering what's owed through the most efficient path available, or executing legal resolution cleanly when it's the right call.

This program owns the full recovery lifecycle across our 20-state portfolio, from first missed payment through legal resolution, write-off, or reinstatement. You are responsible for the well functioning of AI technologies, Collections Callers, Evictions Managers, and a litany of attorney partners. Keeping everything humming is no small feat, you’ll constantly be building and tweaking  playbooks, KPIs, tooling, and team structure.

Responsibilities:

The following accountabilities apply to every Program Lead at American Avenue, regardless of business unit.

• 1. Own the Operating Picture
• • Full accountability and visibility on volume, open items, and aging (no surprises)
  • Surface risks and blockers to leadership before they're asked
  • Strong point of view on the technical roadmap complementing your domain
• 2. Lead the Team Day-to-Day
• • Clear priorities; every team member knows what they own and what good looks like
  • Continuous coaching; recognize top performers; document/coach underperformers
  • Team executes on routine decisions without you
• 3. Own the Metrics 
• • Help define and own the KPIs, don't just report on them
  • Know your numbers cold; spot trends before they become problems
• 4. Help Build and Improve the Playbook
• • SOPs, escalation paths, and decision frameworks are documented and repeatable
  • Continuously identify what can be automated, self-served, or prevented upstream
• 5. Be the Voice of Your Program Inside the Business
• • Translate what you're seeing into signals other teams can act on
  • Bring a point of view — don't wait to be asked if something is working

In addition to the universal accountabilities above, this role owns the following role-specific responsibilities:

Recovery Strategy & Cost

• Design and release innovative recovery strategies — early intervention models, alternative resolutions, prevention plays — that reduce eviction volume and severity
• Continuously evaluate when eviction is the right call versus when an alternative recovery path is more cost-effective for the business

Attorney & Legal Vendor Accountability

• Hold outside counsel accountable to case outcomes, turnaround times, cost per case, and win rates; surface underperformance early and decisively
• Identify when current legal partners aren't delivering the outcomes we need, and source, vet, and onboard new firms when they're not in partnership with Vendor team

Cross-Functional Partnership

• Partner with Resident Support, Maintenance, Compliance, and Finance to align recovery actions with resident experience, risk mitigation, and financial accuracy
• Partner with Legal and Compliance to modernize eviction practices while maintaining strict adherence to regulatory and fair housing requirements across states
• Serve as the executive point of accountability for recovery-related escalations — balancing compassion, consistency, and cost control
• Collaborate with leadership to forecast risk, staffing needs, and budget impacts related to delinquency and eviction activity

How Success is Measured:

Metrics:

• Total Cost of Evictions: the all in cost, of all our evictions in a given time period. Includes the cost of operators trying to prevent evictions, personnel running vacancy checks, turns induced by evictions, and everything in between.
• Unacceptable Share: share of evictions exceeding 90 days
• Collections rate, with emphasis on rental assistance capture and post-move-out collections

Behaviors

• Step changes our business: identifies process inefficiencies and redefines workflows to make a discernible impact on performance.
• Owns resolution even when the root cause lives in another team's process; drives the fix cross-functionally rather than handing it off
• Operates with executive-level ownership; brings a point of view on what's working and what isn't rather than waiting to be asked
• Data-first: makes calls based on trend lines, not anecdotes, and can defend them in a room with senior leadership

Qualifications:

• 7-10+ years of property management experience, with deep exposure to collections and evictions
• Proven experience owning and reducing eviction or legal-related costs at scale
• Strong understanding of landlord-tenant law, eviction processes, fair housing regulations, and multi-state compliance requirements
• Demonstrated ability to lead managers and team leads in high-volume, high-risk operational environments
• Highly analytical with strong financial acumen and comfort using data to drive decisions and accountability
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, especially in high-stakes or sensitive situations
• Process-oriented mindset with a track record of building or transforming operational workflows
• Self-motivated and comfortable in a remote-first environment with executive-level ownership and initiative
• Proficiency with property management systems, legal tracking tools, CRMs, and reporting platforms

Bonus

• Experience in affordable housing
• Background in legal operations or eviction vendor management

Perks and Benefits

• Strong compensation. Base salary range depending on experience, plus a quarterly bonus incentive plan tied to the outcomes above
• PTO
• 90% Covered Health/Dental for the Employee year one / 100% employee 50% dependent year 2
• Fully covered Dental for whole family
• 401K
• Plus much more.
• • We are hand-picking a very small team of the best, and we'll make sure you feel like the best so you can perform at your best. A+ Work Environment. We work hard and have a lot of fun doing it. We all take a lot of pride in being the best buyers of homes in America and everything we do is around constantly improving individually and as a team. Cutting Edge Technology

This position is ideal for professionals who are passionate about creating safe, comfortable homes and are looking for a role with autonomy, responsibility, and the chance to make a positive impact. Join us to help shape the reputation and success of American Avenue.