Associate, Education

Associate, Education

When you join Sallie Mae, you become a champion for all students. We're on a mission to power confidence as students begin their unique journey. To help them plan their higher education, successfully finish, and prepare for life after school. To help them Start smart. Learn big. Students need guidance navigating this important time in their life. They need someone who acknowledges that their education path is unique. They need a partner willing to evolve and not only meet but surpass their expectations. We're changing. Because students need a better way. We're looking for people who are excited to drive this transformation. To break barriers and think of new ways to adapt, help, and create better experiences for students—and for each other. This is where diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and perspectives matter. It's where you're empowered to bring your authentic self to work. Feeling your best allows you to do your best. Our benefits take care of the whole you—from physical and mental to financial and professional. You'll get opportunities to further your education and career, support for you and your family (including your pets!), paid time off to volunteer for the things that matter to you, and more. We're obsessed with impact and making a real difference. For us, that means putting relationships first, asking "why not?" when tackling challenges, and continuously learning new skills. Come do more than join something, change something. For students, for future generations, for the future of education.

The Associate, Education will be responsible for designing, delivering, and evaluating educational programs and training initiatives for newly hired and tenured employees. This role will also have direct management responsibility for employees assigned to New Hire Education, including setting expectations, monitoring performance and attendance, providing coaching and feedback, managing employee development, and holding employees accountable for meeting established performance, behavioral, compliance, and workplace expectations. This role is critical in ensuring front-line employees are fully equipped with the skills, knowledge, and mindset to deliver exceptional customer service, maintain compliance, and meet operational performance targets. The ideal candidate will balance effective education and employee development with strong people leadership and accountability to ensure employees are prepared for successful transition into the production environment.

People Leadership & Employee Management

• Provide direct management and leadership of employees throughout New Hire Education and the transition to the production environment.
• Establish and clearly communicate expectations related to attendance, punctuality, engagement, professionalism, conduct, performance, productivity, quality, and compliance.
• Monitor individual employee performance, progress, and demonstrated proficiency throughout the education program.
• Hold employees accountable for meeting established performance, attendance, behavioral, and training expectations and take appropriate action when expectations are not met.
• Provide timely, clear, and documented feedback regarding employee performance, development opportunities, and areas requiring improvement.
• Manage attendance and other employee-related matters in accordance with established company policies and procedures.
• Partner with Human Resources and Operations leadership, as appropriate, to address performance, attendance, conduct, or other employee relations matters.
• Evaluate employee readiness for transition into the production environment based on demonstrated knowledge, skills, behaviors, performance, and successful completion of required education.
• Foster an environment of accountability, engagement, inclusion, continuous learning, and high performance.
• Support employees through the transition from the learning environment to production while ensuring established performance and behavioral standards remain consistent.

Training Design & Delivery

• Design and develop comprehensive training curricula tailored to operational and business needs, including onboarding, compliance, product knowledge, systems usage, soft skills, and customer service excellence.
• Deliver engaging and interactive training using a variety of instructional methods, including in-person facilitation, virtual classrooms, e-learning modules, microlearning, and simulations.
• Develop training for core banking systems, CRM platform, and other customer service technologies to ensure system proficiency among agents.

Performance & KPI Alignment

• Align training programs with key contact center metrics such as Initial Call Resolution (ICR), Average Handle Time (AHT), Net Promoter Score (NPS), and Quality Assurance scores.
• Monitor post-training performance and identify areas requiring refresher training or coaching support to drive continuous improvement.

Reinforcement & Post-Training Support

• Implement post-training reinforcement strategies including floor coaching, on-the-job training (OJT), knowledge assessments, and job aids to support skill application and retention.
• Provide ongoing mentoring and performance coaching to support frontline staff in applying skills effectively.

Collaboration & Needs Assessment

• Partner with department heads, QA teams, compliance, and customer experience teams to identify performance gaps and training needs.
• Leverage quality monitoring insights and customer feedback to inform and refine training programs.
• Support training components of change management initiatives, including new product rollouts, process changes, and regulatory updates.

Customer Experience & Soft Skills

• Promote a customer-first culture by embedding customer experience principles into all training programs.
• Deliver training on emotional intelligence, empathy, de-escalation techniques, and effective communication to enhance customer interactions.

Regulatory & Compliance Training

• Ensure all training content meets current banking regulations, compliance standards, and internal policies.
• Update and revise training materials in response to changes in laws, products, and industry best practices.

Learning Technology & Reporting

• Utilize and manage the organization's Learning Management System (LMS) for course administration, tracking, and reporting.
• Maintain accurate records of training participation, completion rates, assessment results, and feedback.
• Generate reports on training effectiveness and provide recommendations for improvements based on data analysis.

People Leadership and Team Collaboration

• Collaborate with a team of training professionals, fostering a culture of continuous learning and excellence.
• Provide ongoing leadership, coaching, feedback, recognition, and development to direct reports while fostering a culture of accountability, continuous learning, engagement, and operational excellence.

What You Have:

• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail to manage program logistics and administrative tasks efficiently
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills to effectively interact with participants, team members, and stakeholders
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and other relevant software applications
• Proven knowledge of contact center operations and performance metrics
• Experience with adult learning principles, instructional design, and learning technologies
• Strong communication, facilitation, and coaching skills
• Ability to analyze data, measure training effectiveness, and adjust content accordingly
• Demonstrated experience directly managing, coaching, and developing employees
• Ability to create a positive learning environment while maintaining consistent leadership expectations and performance standards
• Preferred: Bachelor's degree in education, Business Administration, or a related field
• Relevant experience will be considered in lieu of a degree
• 5+ years of experience in training, design and delivery, preferably in a contact center, banking environment, grade school or higher education