Assistant Director, Operations, MBA Admissions & Financial Aid

Harvard University • Boston, MA

17d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Assistant Director, Operations for Admissions and Financial Aid serves as the technical and systems lead for the MBA Admissions and Financial Aid teams. Reporting to the Director, Operations and partnering closely with the Director, Financial Aid, this position oversees the systems, applications, data flows, and operational processes supporting recruitment, application review, interviews and evaluations, financial aid administration, and student-facing programs.

The role combines advanced Slate administration, application and workflow design, systems integration, data security, project leadership, and cross-functional consultation. The Assistant Director translates business and program needs into secure, sustainable technical solutions; advises senior leaders; and coordinates work across Admissions, Financial Aid, MBA IT, Technolutions, and other MBA and Harvard partners. The position routinely handles highly confidential Level 4 data and exercises independent judgment in protecting information, managing access, and resolving complex operational and technical issues.

This is a hybrid position based at Harvard Business School’s Boston campus. Staff are expected to be onsite at least three days per week, with onsite coverage across Monday through Friday; specific hours and onsite days are determined by business needs. The position is scheduled for 40 hours per week.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Five or more years of relevant professional experience in higher education, admissions, financial aid, operations, systems administration, or a related field.
• Demonstrated experience administering complex data systems and leading cross-functional technical or operational projects.
• Strong proficiency with Microsoft Excel and data analysis tools.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with Slate CRM (Technolutions) or similar admissions/enrollment management platforms.
• Experience with PowerFaids or other financial aid management systems.
• Familiarity with student information systems (SIS) and data integration between multiple platforms.
• Understanding of data security and privacy regulations, such as FERPA and GDPR, and best practices for managing confidential or sensitive information.
• Experience designing and maintaining data governance frameworks, including access controls and permissions management.
• Project management experience leading cross-functional initiatives involving multiple stakeholders and competing priorities.

Responsibilities

• Lead technical and systems strategy across MBA Admissions and Financial Aid, aligning platform capabilities with program priorities and annual operating cycles.
• Serve as the primary technology lead and main point of contact for HBS IT and Technolutions on upgrades, system requests, issue resolution, and longer-term improvements.
• Translate operational requirements into scalable workflows, forms, portals, reports, and processes across Admissions Slate, Financial Aid Slate, PowerFaids, the student information system, and related platforms.
• Lead cross-team project planning involving Outreach, Evaluation, Yield, Financial Aid, Joint Programs, Career and Professional Development, External Relations, and other MBA departments.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and advise on responsible use of automation and AI-enabled tools in Admissions operations.
• Lead all phases of the MBA and 2+2 application lifecycle, including annual design, creation, testing, updates, release, decision notification, and ongoing maintenance.
• Oversee application processing and supporting workflows for applicants, Admissions Board readers, interviewers, and observers.
• Manage technical and operational components of interview and observer processes, including forms, schedules, pairing, communications, Zoom observer logistics, troubleshooting, training, and report tracking.
• Manage Slate rules and conduct annual reviews of rules, workflows, permissions, portals, and related configuration.
• Oversee application fee waiver requests, testing and English-language score processing, transcript and employment verification queries, fraud-report workflows, and related application operations.
• Oversee technical and data infrastructure for MBA Financial Aid, including the Financial Aid application, Certification of Finances, Scholarship Calculator, Complementary Fellowships, Career Support, and related forms and portals.
• Partner with the Director, Financial Aid and Director, Operations to implement solutions that improve student and staff experience while maintaining operational and data integrity.
• Coordinate with MBA IT on design, testing, and launch of major Financial Aid applications and annual cycle preparation.
• Manage integrations and data exchanges among Financial Aid Slate, Admissions Slate, PowerFaids, the student information system, and other platforms.
• Coordinate application design, collection, and processing for special programs and initiatives, including GO:Africa, Search Fund, Social Enterprise Loan Reduction, and Tech Fellows applications.
• Support Financial Aid communications, mailings, polls, reader workflows, rules, portals, and decision releases as assigned.
• Design and maintain processes to ensure data is accurately collected, organized, transferred, retained, and used across systems.
• Manage data pipelines and integrations, including feeds between Slate and the student information system, and monitor interactions among database products from different vendors.
• Establish and maintain appropriate access controls for Level 4 data, ensuring users access information only when appropriate and for legitimate business purposes.
• Oversee data security, confidentiality, annual retention activities, GDPR-related requests, and compliance with Harvard and HBS policies.
• Create and run queries, reports, exports, filters, portals, dashboards, and custom PDFs for Admissions and Financial Aid operations and decision-making.
• Onboard and train new Admissions and Financial Aid staff on Slate, workflows, event management, communications, data retrieval, and efficient use of technology.
• Coach and consult with colleagues, document processes, and promote consistent use of systems and data across teams.
• Contribute to a collaborative, service-oriented operations team and perform other duties as assigned.
• Build trust and collaboration by being present onsite and engaging directly with colleagues and constituents.

Benefits

• Generous paid time off, including parental leave.
• Medical, dental, and vision health insurance coverage starting on day one.
• Retirement plans with university contributions.
• Wellbeing and mental health resources.
• Support for families and caregivers.
• Professional development opportunities, including tuition assistance and reimbursement.
• Commuter benefits, discounts, and campus perks.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager