Carla Burks

At Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union, directed daily loss mitigation and servicing operations for approximately 10 employees, prioritizing workloads, resolving escalations, coordinating coverage, and coaching team members to improve operational consistency and performance accountability amid shifting business demands. For approximately three years, provided acting manager-of-managers coverage as needed, guiding supervisors and managers on escalated decisions, drafting evaluations for AVP approval, and directing corrective training to maintain operational continuity and clear ownership. Identified recurring credit-reporting control risks at Farmers and developed a documented standard operating procedure (SOP) incorporating Excel VLOOKUP audits, immediate corrections, evidence retention, and annual reviews to standardize workflows and strengthen compliance readiness.

Loss Mitigation / Collections Operations Leadership - Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union

• At Farmers Insurance Federal Credit Union, directed daily loss mitigation and servicing operations for approximately 10 employees, prioritizing workloads, resolving escalations, coordinating coverage, and coaching team members to improve operational consistency and performance accountability amid shifting business demands.
• For approximately three years, provided acting manager-of-managers coverage as needed, guiding supervisors and managers on escalated decisions, drafting evaluations for AVP approval, and directing corrective training to maintain operational continuity and clear ownership.
• Identified recurring credit-reporting control risks at Farmers and developed a documented standard operating procedure (SOP) incorporating Excel VLOOKUP audits, immediate corrections, evidence retention, and annual reviews to standardize workflows and strengthen compliance readiness.
• Redesigned title and insurance verification workflows by prioritizing account exceptions and coordinating systematic follow-up, reducing unperfected vehicle titles from more than 1,000 to approximately 150 in roughly six to eight weeks and demonstrating measurable process optimization.
• Drafted and implemented repeatable procedures for outside counsel selection, vendor evaluation, and fee negotiation, replacing inconsistent practices with documented decision steps that supported operational efficiency and scalability.
• Coordinated business-side user acceptance testing and workflow validation for simultaneous Tulee and Akuvo implementations, partnering with IT, vendors, and management to identify issues, validate business processes, and provide departmental sign-off before enterprise go-live decisions.
• As a Fiserv platform administrator, managed service escalations and vendor tickets, evaluated system behavior, and validated both automated and manually initiated data transfers to support reliable operational workflows.
• Worked across finance, compliance, technology, and external providers to investigate exceptions, reconcile records, and communicate process changes during technology transitions, balancing project execution with uninterrupted service.
• Managed external relationships with collection agencies, repossession and auction vendors, credit bureaus, software providers, and outside counsel, addressing service-level issues and recommending provider changes to improve partner performance.
• Negotiated a collection agency service-fee reduction from 10% to 5% with Caine & Weiner, achieving a concrete cost-reduction result while maintaining access to an external recovery partner.
• Prepared quarterly departmental budgets and forecasts using Excel analysis and year-over-year comparisons, presenting financial and operational findings to leadership to inform resource planning and performance decisions.
• Conducted monthly quality reviews using a 20-point scorecard and three sampled calls per representative, delivering targeted coaching and identifying recurring service issues for continuous performance improvement.

Medical Negotiations / Operations Leadership - National Health Quest

• Supervised nine medical negotiations employees, led team training and coaching, and supported performance of approximately 115% of target while navigating complex insurer, provider, and patient needs.

Senior Account Manager - iDEPO Reporters

(2014 - 2016)

• Coordinated court-reporting vendors and client deliverables, reconciled vendor payments, and completed quarterly Excel audits to identify discrepancies and strengthen financial and service controls.
• Managed legal-services client accounts, prepared proposals, identified additional service needs, and generated expansion revenue while monitoring account activity and reconciling vendor expenses.

Bachelor of Science - Business Management (Leadership)