Associate Director, Financial Aid

Associate Director, Financial Aid

We are searching for an experienced Associate Director, Financial Aid at our Goldsmith Campus - Westchester campus.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities:

Primary Purpose:

The Associate Director of Financial Aid provides strategic leadership over the determination of student eligibility and award processing in strict adherence to federal, state, and institutional regulations. This role manages essential federal data exchange processes, oversees the document tracking system, and monitors workflows for application processing, verification, and packaging. As the primary technical lead, the Associate Director troubleshoots departmental systems and coordinates with IT and outside vendors to resolve complex issues. Crucially, this position directly supervises, trains, and manages the performance of the Financial Aid Specialist team, ensuring they deliver expert counseling on federal and state aid, scholarships, grants, loans, and federal work-study. Vital to the strategic success, compliance, and operational efficiency of the office, the Associate Director reports directly to the Director of Financial Aid Compliance.

Core Duties and Responsibilities:

Veterans Benefits Administration & Compliance

VA Program Oversight: Serves as the primary School Certifying Official (SCO); provides strategic leadership and administration of all VA education benefits (including Post-9/11 GI Bill and Chapter 31 VR&E), ensuring strict institutional compliance with Department of Veterans Affairs regulations and timely enrollment certifications.

Grant Management & Disbursement Operations

State & Federal Grant Administration: Oversees the strategic management and compliance of the Pell Grant and Cal Grant programs; directs the California Student Aid Commission (CSAC) roster upload, reconciliation, and reporting processes to ensure perfect alignment with state and federal funding requirements.

Supervision of Dataload & Disbursement Audits: Directly manages and supervises the Financial Aid Specialist(s) responsible for daily batching, posting of funds, and processing origination/validation rejects within the Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) system.

ISIR & Verification Management: Oversees the specialist running the electronic dataload ISIR process; provides high-level guidance on resolving complex C-codes, conflicting information, and file verifications to prevent packaging delays.

Enrollment Changes & R2T4 Audits: Monitors financial aid adjustments for students with canceled or changed enrollment status; manages the review of late disbursements and signs off on Return of Title IV (R2T4) calculations to ensure audit readiness.

Award Packaging & External Aid: Leads the manual packaging, file completeness reviews, and adjustment workflows for federal, state, and institutional aid, including the seamless integration of external scholarship awards.

Systems, Data Exchange, & Compliance Reporting

Institutional Reporting Assistance: Collaborates with and assists the Director with mandatory federal, state, and institutional reporting, system setup, data auditing, and annual financial aid system configurations.

Data Systems Authority: Acts as the central authority for all data-related processing and technology functions; administers secure data exchanges with the Department of Education (EdConnect, COD, NSLDS), Meadow, and private lenders.

Vendor & IT Coordination: Serves as the primary technical lead for system integrations, managing relationships with outside vendors (e.g., NextGen, Dynamic Forms, Meadow Price Calculator) and collaborating with campus IT to troubleshoot and resolve enterprise issues.

Student Support & Cross-Departmental Collaboration

High-Level Financial Counseling: Ensures the delivery of student- and family-focused counseling, providing advanced problem-solving strategies for families navigating college affordability, scholarships, federal work-study, and financial literacy initiatives.

Interdepartmental Liaison: Works cross-functionally with Admissions, Student Accounts, and the Registrar to facilitate prompt disbursement processing, clear billing statements, and eliminate barriers to student access.

Other Duties:

Special Projects: Participates in and leads special projects aimed at process improvement, compliance auditing, and aid delivery enhancement as assigned by the Director.

Required Qualifications:

Bachelor's Degree or equivalent education

8+ years of financial aid

Solid knowledge of federal and state financial aid programs

Knowledge of VA benefit programs

Excellent customer service skills

Ability to compile and analyze data

Excellent problem solving skills

Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills

Banner Financial Aid module proficiency

FLSA Status: Exempt

Compensation Type: Annual Salary

Salary Range: 76,627.00 - 86,146.00

Our company 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.