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Associate Director, Financial Aid & Scholarships

Position Type: Administrative/Staff
FTE: Full-Time
Department: Financial Aid & Scholarships

Position Summary

The Associate Director of Financial Aid & Scholarships provides operational leadership and day-to-day management of the Financial Aid & Scholarships Office. Reporting to the Director of Financial Aid & Scholarships, this position supervises daily office operations, provides direct leadership and support to staff, assists with the administration of federal, state, institutional, and private financial aid programs, and supports departmental compliance, reporting, systems administration, and continuous process improvement.

The Associate Director works collaboratively with the Director to implement departmental priorities, maintain regulatory compliance, and ensure the timely and accurate delivery of financial aid services. This position serves as acting director during the Director's absence.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Operational Leadership

• Assist the Director in coordinating the daily operations of the Financial Aid & Scholarships Office.
• Provide direct day-to-day supervision, leadership, mentoring, coaching, scheduling, and performance management for assigned staff.
• Monitor staff productivity, workload distribution, processing timelines, and customer service standards to ensure efficient office operations.
• Provide guidance and technical support to staff regarding complex financial aid regulations, policies, procedures, and system functionality.
• Identify staff training needs and coordinate professional development opportunities.
• Assist the Director with implementing departmental goals, operational initiatives, and strategic priorities.
• Serve as acting director during the Director's absence.

Financial Aid Administration

• Assist in the administration of federal, state, institutional, private, and scholarship financial aid programs in accordance with applicable regulations and institutional policies.
• Review complex financial aid cases and provide recommendations regarding Professional Judgment, Dependency Overrides, unusual enrollment history, and other specialized eligibility determinations.
• Assist with oversight of financial aid awarding, adjustments, eligibility determination, packaging, and disbursement processing.
• Coordinate operational activities related to Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), appeals, reinstatement processing, and student communications.
• Assist with Return of Title IV (R2T4) calculations and post-withdrawal disbursement processing.
• Coordinate the federal verification process and resolution of conflicting information.
• Support scholarship administration and institutional aid processing.

Compliance and Regulatory Support

• Assist the Director in maintaining compliance with federal, state, institutional, and accreditation requirements.
• Assist with the development, implementation, and continuous improvement of departmental policies, procedures, and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
• Monitor regulatory changes and assist in implementing procedural and system updates.
• Support federal program reviews, state audits, internal audits, and compliance monitoring activities.
• Assist with documenting processes and maintaining compliance records.

Systems Administration and Technology

• Serve as the department's primary functional resource for the Student Information System (SIS) and financial aid technologies.
• Collaborate with Information Technology and software vendors regarding system configuration, testing, troubleshooting, upgrades, and implementation of new functionality.
• Test software updates, patches, enhancements, and system configurations prior to production implementation.
• Assist in developing automated awarding strategies, workflow improvements, system configurations, and quality assurance processes.
• Develop and maintain system queries, reports, dashboards, and data validation procedures to support operational effectiveness.
• Monitor electronic interfaces and data exchanges with the U.S. Department of Education and other external agencies.
• Support implementation of technology initiatives that improve operational efficiency and student service.

Reporting, Reconciliation, and Data Analysis

• Assist with the preparation, reconciliation, validation, and submission of required federal, state, institutional, and scholarship reports.
• Support reconciliation activities for federal, state, institutional, and scholarship financial aid programs.
• Assist with preparation and validation of reports including, but not limited to:
  • FISAP
  • Financial Aid Database (FAD)
  • Financial Value Transparency/Gainful Employment
  • Enrollment Reporting
  • Net Price Calculator
  • Default Management
  • State reporting
  • Institutional reporting
  • Other required federal, state, and institutional reports
• Analyze financial aid operations and data to identify trends, improve data integrity, strengthen compliance, and recommend process improvements.
• Assist with quality assurance activities designed to maintain accurate student records and financial aid processing.

Customer Service and Campus Collaboration

• Provide guidance to students, parents, faculty, staff, and external agencies regarding financial aid policies, procedures, eligibility, and regulatory requirements.
• Collaborate with Admissions, Registrar, Business Office, Information Technology, Academic Advising, and other campus departments to support enrollment and student success initiatives.
• Represent the department on institutional committees, cross-functional teams, and special projects as assigned.

Process Improvement

• Evaluate departmental processes and recommend improvements that enhance operational efficiency, compliance, and customer service.
• Support implementation of business process improvements, workflow automation, and technology enhancements.
• Develop documentation and cross-training materials that promote operational consistency and business continuity.
• Assist the Director with strategic initiatives that support enrollment management and student success.
• Perform other duties as assigned.
• 100% on-site presence

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited college or university in Business Administration, Higher Education Administration, Public Administration, Finance, Accounting, or a related field.
• Three (3) years of progressively responsible experience administering financial aid programs in a higher education environment.
• Demonstrated experience supervising, leading, mentoring, or coordinating the work of professional staff.
• Working knowledge of Title IV federal financial aid regulations.
• Strong analytical, organizational, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
• Excellent written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Demonstrated proficiency using Microsoft Office applications, particularly Excel.
• Ability to interpret and apply complex federal and state regulations.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities while meeting regulatory deadlines.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree from a regionally accredited institution.
• Five (5) years of progressively responsible financial aid administration experience.
• Experience administering federal, state, institutional, and scholarship financial aid programs.
• Experience with enterprise Student Information Systems (SIS), including Anthology Student, Banner, Colleague, Jenzabar, PeopleSoft, Workday Student, or comparable higher education systems.
• Experience configuring or supporting financial aid system automation, workflow management, software testing, or system implementations.
• Experience with U.S. Department of Education systems and services, including COD, NSLDS, FAFSA Partner Portal, SAIG, EDConnect, FISAP, and FAA Access/FAA Partner systems.
• Experience assisting with financial aid reporting, reconciliation, compliance monitoring, and regulatory submissions.
• Experience with business process improvement, quality assurance, and operational documentation.