Director of Financial Aid Operations

GEORGIA MILITARY COLLEGE•Milledgeville, GA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

Georgia Military College announces an opening for the Director of Financial Aid Operations. The Director of Financial Aid Operations provides strategic leadership and operational oversight for financial aid processing across Georgia Military College’s multi-campus system. The Director ensures the timely, accurate, and compliant administration of federal, state, institutional, and scholarship aid while leading daily operations, staff performance, systems, internal controls, and continuous improvement. The Director leads the effective use, stabilization, and continuous improvement of Ellucian Colleague SaaS and related financial aid systems and ensures alignment of procedures, training, and service delivery across all campuses and modalities. The Director works closely with Financial Aid compliance leadership, Veterans Educational Services, Student Accounts, Data Systems, and other institutional partners to strengthen service delivery, regulatory compliance, technology, and organizational readiness. The position is expected to assume progressively broader strategic and institutional leadership responsibilities based on organizational needs and demonstrated performance.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree.
Minimum seven (7) years of progressively responsible financial aid experience, including three (3) years in a supervisory, management, or operational leadership role.
Demonstrated experience administering Title IV programs and managing high-volume processing operations.
Strong knowledge of federal and state financial aid regulations.
Demonstrated leadership, analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
Sound judgment.
Excellent written and verbal communication.
Ability to develop staff, manage competing priorities, collaborate across departments, and explain complex requirements to varied audiences.
Criminal background check and drug screen must be cleared before any candidate may begin working.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree.
NASFAA Certified Financial Aid Administrator certification, advanced NASFAA credentials, or comparable professional development.
Experience leading financial aid operations in a multi-campus or similarly complex institution.
Experience with Ellucian Colleague or a comparable student information system.
Experience administering Georgia state financial aid programs and institutional scholarships.
Experience supporting audits, implementing corrective action plans, leading system implementations or process redesign, and presenting recommendations to executive leadership.
Experience with strategic planning, budget management, organizational change, staff development, accreditation, or Veterans Affairs educational benefits.
Working knowledge of GLBA requirements, Veterans Affairs educational benefits, accreditation expectations affecting student financial assistance, data analysis, change management, and executive-level reporting.

Responsibilities

Provide leadership, supervision, and operational oversight for all daily financial aid processing functions.
Manage staffing, workflows, performance, service delivery, leadership development, and succession planning within Financial Aid.
Provide direct supervision, coaching, professional development, and performance evaluation.
Assign workloads, monitor service standards and processing timelines, resolve escalated operational issues, and develop leadership capacity within the department.
Lead the effective use, stabilization, configuration, and continuous improvement of Ellucian Colleague SaaS, Self-Service, and related financial aid systems and automated processes.
Collaborate on system configuration and batch processes; troubleshoot system errors and data mismatches; test releases, upgrades, and automation improvements; design workflow enhancements; and ensure data integrity across financial aid systems.
Oversee operational processes for Title IV, Georgia state, institutional, and scholarship aid, including coordination with Veterans Educational Services on aid and benefit matters affecting military-affiliated students.
Coordinate awarding cycles and processing deadlines; ensure correct application of eligibility requirements; resolve packaging and disbursement issues; align institutional scholarship awarding with budgetary controls; and address enrollment matters affecting aid or veterans educational benefits.
Maintain and strengthen internal controls and quality assurance procedures across financial aid operations and support readiness for federal, state, institutional, and accreditation reviews.
Conduct quality assurance reviews, documentation checks, and error trending; prepare audit and accreditation materials; coordinate corrective action plans; update internal controls and procedures; and ensure compliance with federal and state requirements and GLBA safeguards.
Lead federal and state reconciliation, ensure COD, NSLDS, and GSFC reporting accuracy, monitor performance measures, and support institutional budgeting, forecasting, and planning.
Validate reconciliation reports and resolve discrepancies; monitor dashboards, service measures, and workload queues; coordinate data corrections and disbursements; prepare executive-level reports and recommendations; and ensure accurate transmissions to external agencies.