Director of Student Financial Services

Director of Student Financial Services

East Carolina University requires applicants to submit a candidate profile online in order to be considered for the position. Candidates must also submit a cover letter, resume, and a list of three references, including contact information, online. Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis.

The Director of Student Financial Services reports directly to the University Controller and is responsible for all aspects of student accounting, collections, and cash receipt related operations, including; processes, internal controls, accounting, and tax compliance. This position is responsible for formulating and implementing relevant financial policies, and supports University leadership by providing the information and feedback necessary for informed decision-making. The position sets the overall direction for the student finance related processes of the University, ensuring that all financial operations, systems, transactions, policies, and procedures meet the objectives of the University and that they follow all oversight and regulatory entity standards & requirements. Additionally, evaluating the current services and adjusting operations as needed to meet the changing needs of our students is a major emphasis of this role.

The role of Director of Student Financial Services is critical to the University's goal to provide excellent service to its students. This position approaches every situation professionally and ethically. This position provides outstanding customer service to students and parents; resolving escalated customer complaints, while at the same time learning from those experiences and focusing on developing and implementing new policies, procedures, and tools to improve customer service to the University's current students and prospective students. The Director often serves as a key point of contact for customers attempting to resolve issues that may be registration, financial aid, academic, or purely financial in nature; thus, this position maintains a thorough understanding of all processes impacting student accounts directly and indirectly.

The Director also works closely with various administrative and academic units across the campus community to coordinate office operations, develop and refine policies, and operationalize the process improvements necessary to accomplish the goals of the University. Additionally, the reporting and reconciliation needs of Student Financial Services, as well as information requests from University leadership, often require working extensively with Information Technology and Computing Services (ITCS) staff to facilitate the system programming necessary to extract the information needed; therefore, cultivating and maintaining productive working relationships across the campus community is imperative for this position.

This position utilizes extensive knowledge of the various policies and regulations of the IRS, State of NC, University, and University-related foundations. The Director works closely with various campus units on student-related IRS regulations to ensure compliance, while still meeting customer service expectations. This position is also responsible for the preparation and oversight of accounts receivable reconciliations, balance sheet reconciliations and monthly cash reconciliations for various loan funds, as well as assisting with the preparation various loan and financial aid related reports throughout the year.

Bachelor's degree in accounting, business, finance or other discipline related to the area of assignment with 12 credit hours of accounting coursework and three years of professional accounting experience, of which at least one is supervisory; or equivalent combination of training and experience. Some positions may require additional credit hours of accounting coursework. All degrees must be received from appropriately accredited institutions.

A demonstrated history of experience with the cashier, collections, and/or student accounting related functions of a college or university is highly preferred, with leadership roles in these areas considered a plus. Preference will also be given to those with substantial experience working with both advanced finance/ERP systems and advanced student information systems. Additionally, experience with integrated third-party billing and payment collection systems is considered favorable.