Financial Aid Coordinator Manager

Responsibilities

• Recruit, coach, motivate, and supervise the team of Financial Aid Coordinators.
• Monitor and improve critical KPIs and performance metrics for each Financial Aid Coordinator.
• Support termly financial processing goals by ensuring Financial Aid Coordinators provide accurate student financial statements, forecasts, and financial guidance.
• Coach Financial Aid Coordinators on effective processes for helping students navigate the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) process and interpret their financial aid awards.
• Oversee the administration of financial aid programs, including federal, state, institutional, and private aid.
• Support student escalations by handling student inquiries and complaints with care and a customer service approach.
• Coach Financial Aid Coordinators to effectively provide counseling on financial aid applications, deadlines, and award processes.
• Assist students and families with renewing financial aid and other funding options.
• Adhere to Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policies and guidelines, coaching Financial Aid Coordinators on effective strategies in motivating and educating students on the funding impacts of SAP.
• Ensure compliance with relevant regulations such as Title IV, state-specific rules, and institutional policies.
• Monitor and track financial processing and clearance.
• Maintain current knowledge of all funding sources offered by the institution.
• Provide ongoing training to team members on policy and process changes.
• Collaborate with internal stakeholders, including Admissions, Student Services, and Career Services, to support student recruitment and retention goals.
• Ensure that the institution follows federal, state, and institutional regulations.
• Prepare for and manage financial aid audits and reviews.
• Submit necessary reports required for various governing bodies, such as the Department of Education, and annual audits to the Financial Aid Director for final review and approval.
• Adhere to compliance deadlines and perform periodic reviews to determine compliance status.
• Work with the Financial Aid Director to develop and revise department policies and procedures.
• Communicate policy updates to students and staff as needed.
• Coach and counsel employees, in partnership with HR.
• Provide professional growth opportunities for employees.
• Manage and enforce timekeeping policies to ensure accuracy and timely process of employee’s timecards.
• Contribute to team effort by accomplishing results as needed.
• Process timely, accurate, fair, without bias, performance reviews.
• Embody CIAT’s mission, values, and support the goals of the department.
• Ensure a safe, secure, and ethical work environment.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree preferred, or equivalent work experience.
• Previous Financial Aid management experience preferred.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in higher education financial aid positions, including administering Title IV, VA, private education financing, scholarships, and employer-sponsored funding.
• Minimum 2 years of experience using enterprise CRM systems such as Salesforce, HubSpot, or Microsoft Dynamics.
• Experience recommending financing options to students to help them meet their career goals.
• Strong communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to effectively convey information and interact with students, colleagues, and others.
• Strong organizational skills to manage multiple and rapidly changing priorities to meet the needs and expectations of employees.
• Self-motivated with a strong work ethic; dedicated to quality, quantity, and timeliness of results.
• Able to handle sensitive information with a high degree of confidentiality.
• Possess high ethical standards, being an example of professionalism to others.
• Demonstrated ability to anticipate needs and exercise independent judgment.
• Excellent analytical skills, problem-resolution skills, and general business acumen.
• Proficient skills in MS Office software products, including Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and MS Project, and ability to learn additional software products.
• Proficient in data analysis, reporting, and Microsoft Excel skills to present forecasting models, conversion rate analysis, benchmark performance metrics, and goal setting.
• Exhibits a high degree of flexibility in adapting to a rapidly changing environment.
• A computer savvy and technical mindset willing to learn new systems that are deployed and build automated processes to streamline manual activities.
• Strong presentation, public speaking, and writing skills.
• Possess a sincere interest in helping others achieve life goals.
• Takes a customer-service-oriented approach in collaboration with internal departments to support student recruitment and student retention goals.
• Self-motivated, goal-oriented, assertive, results-driven, high energy, and highly ethical.
• Team player with a positive, can-do attitude.
• Must be able to embody CIAT’s mission, vision, purpose, and values.
• Ability to work collaboratively with colleagues, academic departments, and administration to support student success, achieve institutional goals and contribute to a positive and inclusive culture.
• Position may require work responsibilities outside of normal business hours to accommodate business needs and deadlines.

Preferred Qualifications (Nice to Have)

• None specified in the original text.

Salary

• Salary Range: $75,000 -$100,000 yearly/DOE.
• Expected starting salary for this position is $75,000 - $85,000 yearly/DOE.

Location

• Work from Home (WFH) - Remote work must be performed while residing in California or New Mexico or Florida.
• CIAT Campus Locations: San Diego, CA and Albuquerque, NM.

Benefits

• None specified in the original text.

About the Company

• CIAT values include integrity, excellence, customer service, teamwork, and mutual respect.
• The company is passionate about education and student success.
• The company values integrity and excellence in its employees and students.
• The company treats itself and its students with dignity and respect.
• The company believes in and encourages innovation to better help students succeed.
• The company has a customer-centric focus and seeks people highly committed to achieving goals, where company success equals student success.
• The company is accountable for its actions, focusing on preventing future errors when errors occur.
• The company has a growth mindset, always looking for ways to improve, with a sincere belief that every student can do better and achieve their goals.
• The company expects every employee to be an example of conduct and professionalism, being a role model to students and colleagues.
• The company commits to fostering an inclusive and supportive learning environment that respects the diversity of students' backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives.
• The company fosters lifelong learning and professional development.

How to Apply

• Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time, with or without notice.

Category

Data Analysis