Financial Aid Advising Manager

Description

Work from Home (WFH) - Remote work must be performed while residing in California or New Mexico

CIAT Location: San Diego, CA and Albuquerque, NM

Reports to: Director of Financial Aid 

Status: Exempt

Employment Type: Full-time

Summary

The Financial Aid Advising Manager at CIAT will lead and oversee a dedicated team of Financial Aid Advisors to support prospective students through the enrollment and financial aid application processes. This role ensures prospective and returning students have a seamless, transparent, and supportive financial aid consultation and enrollment experience. The ideal candidate will bring a passion for education, a strong understanding of federal, state, and institutional financial aid regulations, and proven experience managing and motivating teams in a vocational or technical school environment.
 

Responsibilities

• Recruit, coach, motivate, and supervise our growing team of Financial Aid Advisors 
• Monitor and improve critical KPIs and performance metrics for each Financial Aid Advisor
• Support termly recruitment goals by ensuring Financial Aid Advisors provide expert guidance, communication, and motivation to students evaluating their education and financing options
• Coach Financial Aid Advisors on effective processes in 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 Advisors to effectively provide counseling on financial aid applications, deadlines, and award processes
• Assist students and families in understanding available financial aid and other funding options
• Ensure compliance with relevant regulations such as Title IV, state-specific rules, and institutional policies
• Monitor and track financial aid enrollment 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, vision, purpose and values

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree preferred, or equivalent work experience
• Minimum of 2 years in a Financial Aid management position is required
• Minimum 5 years of experience in higher education financial aid positions required, 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
• Position may require work responsibilities outside of normal business hours to accommodate business needs and deadlines
• 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
• Possess high ethical standards, being an example of professionalism to others
• 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 Type and Expected Hours of Work

 Days and hours of work are Monday through Friday. Occasional weekend and evening hours may be required.  

Supervisory Responsibility

 This position supervises a team of Financial Aid Advisors. 

Values

Values such as integrity, excellence, customer service, teamwork and mutual respect are some of those that remain constant, regardless of changes in our company. When identifying company values, it is important that those values are being demonstrated in the course of business each day. Our values set expectations for how employees and managers interact with every person while representing the company.

• We are passionate about education and student success
• We value integrity and excellence in our employees and students
• We treat ourselves and our students with dignity and respect
• We believe in and encourage innovation at our school to better help our students succeed
• We have a customer centric focus, and we want people highly committed to achieving goals, where our success equals student’s success
• We are accountable for our actions, and if errors occur, we focus on preventing future errors and moving forward
• We have a growth mindset, always looking for ways to improve, with a sincere belief that every student can do better and achieve their goals
• We expect every employee to be an example of conduct and professionalism, being a role model to students and colleagues
• We commit to fostering an inclusive and supportive learning environment that respects the diversity of students' backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives
• We foster lifelong learning and professional development

Physical Demands

These physical demands are representative of the physical requirements necessary for an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of the job. Reasonable accommodation can be made to enable people with disabilities to perform the described essential functions.

• Essential functions of this role require sitting for extended periods of time
• Daily use of a company computer and related software applications at a workstation
• Ability to type, use a computer to search for information and input information while speaking on      the phone is required
• The employee will frequently be required to use the computer, mouse and telephone to conduct the regular tasks of this role
• The employee will be required to compute simple to simple mathematical calculations as a normal part of this role

Work Environment

While performing the responsibilities of this remote position, the job holder will work in a home office environment. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable people with disabilities to perform the essential functions of the job. This role routinely involves using standard office equipment such as computers, phones, and virtual communication tools. Employees are expected to ensure that their home office is a safe and ergonomic working environment.

Employees must maintain data security and confidentiality in accordance with company policies and use secure connections for all work-related activities. Expectations regarding work hours, availability, and time tracking will be clearly communicated and must be adhered to.

The company is not responsible for maintaining home office environments beyond the provision of reasonable accommodations and necessary work-related equipment. Workers' compensation and liability for injuries that occur in the home office will be covered as per company policy and applicable laws.

This remote work policy is designed to comply with all relevant local, state, and federal laws.

AAP/EEO Statement

California Institute of Applied Technology provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, the California Institute of Applied Technology complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training. California Institute of Applied Technology expressly prohibits any form of workplace harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status. Improper interference with the ability of California Institute of Applied Technology’s employees to perform their job duties may result in discipline up to and including discharge.

Other Duties

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.

Salary Range

The salary range is $75,000 -$100,000 yearly/DOE. However, the expected starting salary for this position is  $75,000 - $85,000 yearly/DOE. We base salary offers on a variety of considerations, such as education, experience, equity and other business and organizational needs.

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