Job Details

Associate Director, Financial Aid Systems & Reporting

Main Campus - Boston, MAMain Campus - Boston, MA
R10716

ABOUT SIMMONS

Located in Boston's historic Fenway area, Simmons University has a strong tradition of empowering women and challenging traditional gender roles. Simmons was founded for equality 125 years ago as one of the first higher education institutions dedicated to helping women become leaders. Today, our university continues to grow and evolve and now offers Boston's only women's undergraduate program and graduate programs open to all.

You're joining our community at an especially exciting time as we continue to innovate for the future. Simmons recently launched a six-school academic structure that leverages our expert faculty and longstanding expertise in professions that make our communities stronger. In addition, we continue to highlight our high-value education proposition that is delivering greater ROI to students and putting them on the fast track to career growth and success. You'll find that people who work here truly believe in our mission of preparing students to become social justice-oriented leaders who excel in their professions and their communities. This commitment and pride make for a dynamic workplace.

As a university that values diversity, equity, and inclusion, Simmons encourages applications from all under-represented groups. Simmons is committed to creating, developing, promoting, and enhancing inclusive hiring practices-at all levels, for all positions-ensuring diverse talent pools and the delivery of a consistent positive candidate experience. Simmons is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to continuing to develop a more diverse faculty, staff, student body, and curriculum.

JOB SUMMARY

The Associate Director, Financial Aid Systems & Reporting, manages all aspects of Simmons' Financial Aid Systems, including implementation, data integrity, and reporting. This key role collaborates with senior leadership to optimize financial aid operations, enhance student experience, and ensure compliance with all relevant regulations. The successful candidate will have strong analytical, technical, and communication skills, with a proven ability to lead projects and effectively train staff on new systems and processes.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these essential functions.

• Manage PowerFaids to ensure accurate, effective and timely processing of student aid applications, documents and related processes. Management includes system setup, data integrity, and integrations between other campus systems (Workday, SLATE, Scholarship Manager).
• Complete all financial aid data and reporting requests from sources outside or inside the University.
• Assist in the preparation of federal, state and institutional fiscal and statistical reports by determining programming needs, scheduling programs and analyzing output for accuracy.
• Research and propose procedural and automated changes to improve accountability, work flow and efficiency of financial aid processes within PowerFaids.
• Communicate and troubleshoot, as point of contact for aid staff, potential problems, changes or systemic issues which may impact current or new processes.
• Support operational functions through the development of PowerFaids or other system- related solutions in a thorough and timely manner.
• Work closely with financial aid staff to; help them identify, develop and implement automation needs to effectively manage their areas of responsibility; and evaluate business processes to uncover areas for improvement.
• Responsible for the quality control of data into and output from PowerFaids by reviewing and analyzg data and developing reports and procedures to identify and correct inaccurate or discrepant data.
• Responsible for the supervision of one Assistant Director who manages SAP & Graduate Scholarships

OTHER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Maintain a strong working knowledge of federal, state and institutional policies and procedures which govern all aid programs by staying current via Dept. of Education and professional organization handbooks, communications, list serves and training sessions.
• Maintain thorough, accurate and updated written policies and procedures for all functions of this area as well as a functional calendar for system updates, patches, recurring maintenance, annual system set-up, etc.
• Serve as the primary liaison/contact person between Financial Aid and Information Technology.
• Other duties as assigned

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree
• Five years of professional experience in a Financial Aid Office
• Experience using, updating, and managing a Financial Aid database, preferably PowerFaids
• Proficient in Microsoft Excel with advanced skills in data analysis, including pivot tables, & vlookups.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Two years of experience supervising professional staff

COMPETENCIES

• Ability to perform complex calculations; analyze situations accurately, be able to solve problems and offer solutions in order to adopt an effective course of action;
• Demonstrated ability to clearly interpret, apply and convey rules, regulations, policies and procedures while maintaining a high level of professional courtesy;
• Experience providing excellent customer service to a diverse constituency while maintaining successful performance in a high-volume, fast pace, and confidential service environment;
• Ability to maintain student confidentiality in accordance with FERPA regulations;
• Strong problem-solving abilities and the ability to use sound judgment for decision-making;
• Team and service-oriented and able to effectively manage time;

WORK ENVIRONMENT & CONDITIONS/PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• Hybrid eligible position
• Year round position in an office environment
• 40 Hours / week
• Ability to work and/or travel some nights, weekends, and/or other times during peak season

Salary Grade
S08

Instructions to Applicants: Please upload all applicable application materials (e.g. resume/cv, cover letter, writing sample, teaching philosophy, etc.) in the Application Materials box on page 2 ("My Experience") of this application. Documents can be uploaded individually or as a combined document (e.g. PDF).

Simmons University is committed to inclusive excellence in all aspects of an individual's community experience. As a university committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, Simmons encourages applications from all under-represented groups. Simmons is committed to creating, developing, promoting, and enhancing inclusive hiring practices-at all levels, for all positions-ensuring diverse talent pools and the delivery of a consistent positive candidate experience. Simmons is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to continuing to develop a more diverse faculty, staff, student body, and curriculum.


To apply, visit https://simmons.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Simmons-Careers/job/Main-Campus---Boston-MA/Associate-Director--Financial-Aid-Systems---Reporting_R10716

Located in Bostons historic Fenway area, Simmons College is a small, private, non-sectarian College which has educated students for enriching careers and purposeful lives since 1899. Working at Simmons means joining a collaborative, diverse and mission-driven community of educators and professionals.

We prepare students to be leaders for themselves, their communities and the world. Our faculty and staff members lead by example - sharing a commitment to excellence and putting the students first.