Associate, Education

Sallie Mae•Indianapolis, IN

3d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Associate, Education designs, delivers, and evaluates educational programs and training initiatives for newly hired and tenured employees. The role has direct management responsibility for employees assigned to New Hire Education, including establishing expectations, monitoring performance and attendance, coaching and providing feedback, supporting employee development, and holding employees accountable to performance, behavioral, compliance, and workplace expectations. The position helps prepare front-line employees to deliver customer service, maintain compliance, and meet operational performance targets, while supporting their transition from education into production. The role develops curricula for onboarding, compliance, product knowledge, systems use, soft skills, and customer service, and delivers training through in-person facilitation, virtual classrooms, e-learning, microlearning, and simulations. It aligns training with contact center metrics, provides post-training reinforcement and coaching, works with business partners to identify performance gaps, and updates training in response to operational, product, regulatory, and process changes. The Associate also manages learning records and reporting, evaluates training effectiveness, and provides leadership and development to direct reports.

Requirements

Strong organizational skills and attention to detail for managing program logistics and administrative tasks.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, including Word, Excel, and 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.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in education, Business Administration, or a related field; relevant experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
At least 5 years of experience in training design and delivery, preferably in a contact center, banking environment, grade school, or higher education.

Responsibilities

Directly manage and lead employees throughout New Hire Education and their transition to the production environment.
Set and communicate expectations for attendance, punctuality, engagement, professionalism, conduct, performance, productivity, quality, and compliance.
Monitor employee performance, progress, and proficiency throughout the education program; provide documented feedback and take appropriate action when expectations are not met.
Manage attendance and employee-related matters according to company policies, partnering with Human Resources and Operations leadership as appropriate.
Evaluate employee readiness to transition to production based on demonstrated knowledge, skills, behaviors, performance, and completion of required education.
Foster accountability, engagement, inclusion, continuous learning, and high performance, and support employees through their transition into production.
Design and develop training curricula for onboarding, compliance, product knowledge, systems usage, soft skills, and customer service.
Deliver interactive training through in-person facilitation, virtual classrooms, e-learning, microlearning, and simulations.
Develop training for core banking systems, the CRM platform, and other customer service technologies.
Align training with contact center metrics, including Initial Call Resolution (ICR), Average Handle Time (AHT), Net Promoter Score (NPS), and Quality Assurance scores.
Monitor post-training performance and identify needs for refresher training or coaching.
Provide post-training reinforcement through floor coaching, on-the-job training, knowledge assessments, and job aids; mentor and coach frontline staff.
Partner with department heads, QA, compliance, and customer experience teams to identify performance gaps and training needs.
Use quality-monitoring insights and customer feedback to refine training programs.
Support training for change management initiatives, including product rollouts, process changes, and regulatory updates.
Embed customer experience principles in training and teach emotional intelligence, empathy, de-escalation, and effective communication.
Ensure training content meets current banking regulations, compliance standards, and internal policies; revise materials as laws, products, and industry practices change.
Use and manage the Learning Management System (LMS) for course administration, tracking, and reporting.
Maintain training participation, completion, assessment, and feedback records; report on training effectiveness and recommend improvements based on data analysis.
Collaborate with training professionals and provide leadership, coaching, feedback, recognition, and development to direct reports.

Benefits

Competitive base salaries
Bonus incentives
Generous PTO, floating holidays, and 12 observed federal holidays
401(k) retirement plan with employer match
Medical, dental, vision, hospital indemnity, critical illness, and pet insurance
Employer-paid short-term and long-term disability and basic life insurance
Flexible hybrid working arrangements
Paid parental leave and adoption reimbursement programs
Access to staffed on-site fitness centers in Delaware and a gym subsidy for locations outside Delaware
Confidential counseling support (EAP), Health Advocacy services, and a wellness program with financial incentives
Tuition reimbursement and family scholarship programs
Career development and training opportunities