J-1 Visa Collection Agent Jobs
Collection Agent roles in the United States can be pursued through J-1 visa sponsorship under the Trainee or Intern program categories, depending on your career stage. These programs let you gain hands-on experience in U.S. debt recovery and financial services operations through a designated sponsor organization that issues your DS-2019.
See All Collection Agent JobsOverview
Showing 5 of 14+ Collection Agent jobs
Have you applied for this role?
Have you applied for this role?
Have you applied for this role?
Have you applied for this role?
Have you applied for this role?
See all 14+ Collection Agent jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new Collection Agent roles.
Get Access To All JobsINTRODUCTION
Earnest empowers ambitious professionals to make confident financial decisions and build the life they envision. Earnies are committed to helping borrowers move forward with confidence by offering smarter borrowing options with a clearer path to taking control of their debt. If you’re as passionate as we are about our mission, read more below, and let’s build something great together.
ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Director of Collections Strategies will report to our Chief Product Officer. As the Director of Collections Strategy, you will:
- Build and lead our collections strategy across personal loans and student loan refinance, with an initial focus on standing up the personal loan program.
- Design customer-first recovery strategies that improve performance across the full delinquency lifecycle, including pre-default.
- Select and manage third-party vendors, driving clear performance expectations and accountability.
- Use data, testing, and cross-functional partnership to build a compliant, scalable collections operation.
- Shape the long-term model for collections, including where to leverage vendors versus build in-house capabilities.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
About You:
- 10+ years of experience in consumer lending collections, servicing, or recoveries, with significant ownership of strategy and execution.
- Deep knowledge of collections operations, compliance, and vendor management.
- Track record of improving recovery outcomes while maintaining a strong customer experience.
- Highly analytical and comfortable using data to guide decisions and optimize performance.
- Strong cross-functional communicator who works effectively across Risk, Product, Operations, Legal, Compliance, and Data.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
Even Better:
- Experience in fintech, digital lending, or a customer-oriented bank.
- Familiarity with student loans, personal loans, or unsecured installment lending.
- Experience building or modernizing a collections function from the ground up.
LOCATION
This role will be based in the US.
BENEFITS
Earnest believes in enabling our employees to live their best lives. We offer a variety of perks and competitive benefits, including:
- Health, Dental, & Vision benefits plus savings plans
- Mac computers + work-from-home stipend to set up your home office
- Monthly internet and phone reimbursement
- Employee Stock Purchase Plan
- Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)
- 401(k) plan to help you save for retirement plus a company match
- Robust tuition reimbursement program
- $1,000 travel perk on each Earnie-versary to anywhere in the world
- Competitive days of annual PTO
- Competitive parental leave
WHAT MAKES AN EARNIE
At Earnest, our people bring our cultural principles to life. These principles define how we work, how we win, and what we expect of ourselves and each other:
- Every Second Counts: Speed is our competitive advantage. Our customers need better solutions, and the faster we execute, the greater our chance of success.
- Choose To Do Hard Things: We win by tackling the hard things that others avoid, fueled by grit and resilience.
- Pursue Excellence: Great companies, teams, and individuals never settle and are proud of the work that they do. What’s good enough today won’t be good enough tomorrow. Excellence isn’t a destination; it’s a mindset of continuous improvement.
- Lead Together: Our success comes from how we work together. Leadership is not about titles—it is about action. We take ownership, drive results, and move forward as a team.
- Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously: We take our work seriously, not ourselves. The stakes are high, but a sense of humor keeps us grounded, creative, and resilient.
At Earnest, we are committed to building an environment where our employees feel included, valued, and heard. Our belief is that a strong commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging enables us to move forward with our mission. We are dedicated to adding new perspectives to the team and encourage anyone to apply if your experience is close to what we are looking for.
Earnest provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability or genetics. Qualified applicants with criminal histories will be considered for the position in a manner consistent with the Fair Chance Ordinance.
INTRODUCTION
Earnest empowers ambitious professionals to make confident financial decisions and build the life they envision. Earnies are committed to helping borrowers move forward with confidence by offering smarter borrowing options with a clearer path to taking control of their debt. If you’re as passionate as we are about our mission, read more below, and let’s build something great together.
ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Director of Collections Strategies will report to our Chief Product Officer. As the Director of Collections Strategy, you will:
- Build and lead our collections strategy across personal loans and student loan refinance, with an initial focus on standing up the personal loan program.
- Design customer-first recovery strategies that improve performance across the full delinquency lifecycle, including pre-default.
- Select and manage third-party vendors, driving clear performance expectations and accountability.
- Use data, testing, and cross-functional partnership to build a compliant, scalable collections operation.
- Shape the long-term model for collections, including where to leverage vendors versus build in-house capabilities.
BASIC QUALIFICATIONS
About You:
- 10+ years of experience in consumer lending collections, servicing, or recoveries, with significant ownership of strategy and execution.
- Deep knowledge of collections operations, compliance, and vendor management.
- Track record of improving recovery outcomes while maintaining a strong customer experience.
- Highly analytical and comfortable using data to guide decisions and optimize performance.
- Strong cross-functional communicator who works effectively across Risk, Product, Operations, Legal, Compliance, and Data.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS
Even Better:
- Experience in fintech, digital lending, or a customer-oriented bank.
- Familiarity with student loans, personal loans, or unsecured installment lending.
- Experience building or modernizing a collections function from the ground up.
LOCATION
This role will be based in the US.
BENEFITS
Earnest believes in enabling our employees to live their best lives. We offer a variety of perks and competitive benefits, including:
- Health, Dental, & Vision benefits plus savings plans
- Mac computers + work-from-home stipend to set up your home office
- Monthly internet and phone reimbursement
- Employee Stock Purchase Plan
- Restricted Stock Units (RSUs)
- 401(k) plan to help you save for retirement plus a company match
- Robust tuition reimbursement program
- $1,000 travel perk on each Earnie-versary to anywhere in the world
- Competitive days of annual PTO
- Competitive parental leave
WHAT MAKES AN EARNIE
At Earnest, our people bring our cultural principles to life. These principles define how we work, how we win, and what we expect of ourselves and each other:
- Every Second Counts: Speed is our competitive advantage. Our customers need better solutions, and the faster we execute, the greater our chance of success.
- Choose To Do Hard Things: We win by tackling the hard things that others avoid, fueled by grit and resilience.
- Pursue Excellence: Great companies, teams, and individuals never settle and are proud of the work that they do. What’s good enough today won’t be good enough tomorrow. Excellence isn’t a destination; it’s a mindset of continuous improvement.
- Lead Together: Our success comes from how we work together. Leadership is not about titles—it is about action. We take ownership, drive results, and move forward as a team.
- Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously: We take our work seriously, not ourselves. The stakes are high, but a sense of humor keeps us grounded, creative, and resilient.
At Earnest, we are committed to building an environment where our employees feel included, valued, and heard. Our belief is that a strong commitment to diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging enables us to move forward with our mission. We are dedicated to adding new perspectives to the team and encourage anyone to apply if your experience is close to what we are looking for.
Earnest provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, veteran status, disability or genetics. Qualified applicants with criminal histories will be considered for the position in a manner consistent with the Fair Chance Ordinance.
See all 14+ Collection Agent jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new Collection Agent roles.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding J-1 Visa Sponsorship in Collection Agent
Frame your training plan around compliance
Your DS-2019 requires a detailed training plan tied to specific collections competencies, not just job duties. Map your proposed activities to measurable learning objectives in credit analysis, skip tracing, and federal debt collection regulations before approaching any designated sponsor.
Target host employers with FDCPA compliance teams
Collection agencies that maintain dedicated Fair Debt Collection Practices Act compliance departments are better positioned to structure a formal J-1 training program. These employers already document workflows in ways that satisfy a designated sponsor's audit requirements.
Search for J-1-compatible roles on Migrate Mate
Use Migrate Mate to find U.S. employers in financial services and accounts receivable who have hosted international exchange visitors before. Filtering by role and sector saves time compared to cold outreach to agencies with no J-1 host history.
Verify the home residency requirement early
Collection Agent traineeships funded partly by a foreign government or involving a skills-shortage field may trigger the two-year home residency requirement under INA section 212(e). Confirm your status with your designated sponsor before accepting a host employer offer.
Align your credentials with the Trainee category
The J-1 Trainee category requires either a degree in your field plus one year of related experience, or five years of full-time collections or financial services work. Gather employment verification letters and academic transcripts that clearly demonstrate whichever pathway applies to you.
Confirm the host employer meets DOL wage standards
Your designated sponsor will require that your host employer pays at least the prevailing wage for the role and location. Use the OFLC Wage Search to look up the wage level for collection-related SOC codes before your training plan is finalized.
Collection Agent jobs are hiring across the US. Find yours.
Find Collection Agent JobsCollection Agent J-1 Visa: Frequently Asked Questions
Which J-1 program category fits a Collection Agent role?
Most Collection Agent exchange visitors enter through the J-1 Trainee category, which is designed for post-degree professionals with at least one year of relevant experience, or for individuals with five or more years of full-time work in financial services. Current students completing a degree in finance or business may qualify under the Intern category instead, provided the placement connects directly to their field of study.
Who actually sponsors the J-1 visa for a collection position?
The J-1 visa sponsor is a U.S. Department of State-designated organization, not your employer. Organizations like Cultural Vistas or AIPT issue your DS-2019 and monitor your exchange program compliance. The collection agency where you work is your host employer, not your visa sponsor. These are two separate parties with distinct legal responsibilities, and both must agree to the arrangement before your exchange program can begin.
What does the training plan need to cover for a collections role?
Your training plan must detail the specific skills you'll develop during your exchange, such as U.S. consumer debt regulations, payment negotiation techniques, credit reporting systems, and skip-tracing methods. Generic job descriptions aren't sufficient. Your designated sponsor will review the plan for educational value, and your host employer must be able to document that the placement is structured training rather than routine employment.
How do I find U.S. collection agencies that have hosted J-1 exchange visitors before?
Migrate Mate lets you search for roles in financial services and accounts receivable with filters relevant to international candidates. Employers who have previously hosted J-1 trainees understand the DS-2019 process, are familiar with training plan requirements, and are less likely to withdraw an offer once they learn about the designated sponsor's oversight role. Starting with experienced host employers reduces the risk of delays during program setup.
Can the two-year home residency requirement affect a collection trainee?
Yes, in some cases. If your J-1 program is funded by your home government, or if your home country has designated collection or financial services as a skills-shortage field, you may be subject to the two-year home residency requirement under INA section 212(e). This means you'd need to return home for two years before changing to most other visa statuses. Clarify this with your designated sponsor before you sign any training agreement or accept a host employer offer.
See which Collection Agent employers are hiring and sponsoring visas right now.
Search Collection Agent Jobs