Head of Campus Partnerships

SOUTHEAST BANK•Knoxville, TN

4d•Remote

About The Position

The Head of Campus Partnerships at ELFI is a strategic leadership role at SouthEast Bank’s ELFI Division, focused on building, nurturing, and expanding relationships with colleges and universities nationwide. This position is responsible for developing innovative partnership models, creating mutually beneficial initiatives, and ensuring seamless collaboration between campuses and ELFI’s student loan services. The Head of Campus Partnerships is instrumental in advancing student access to financial resources, supporting college enrollment strategies, and upholding compliance with higher education regulations

Requirements

5- 7 years of experience in partnership development, higher education, financial services, or a related area
Bachelor’s degree in Higher Education Administration, Marketing, or related field
Travel up to 40%
Strong understanding of student loan products, compliance requirements, and higher education landscape
Demonstrated expertise in building strategic alliances and managing complex stakeholder relationships
Excellent communication, negotiation, and interpersonal skills.
Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams and drive results through collaborative efforts.
Data-driven mindset and adept at using analytics to guide decision-making.
Commitment to promoting diversity, inclusion, and equitable access to financial resources for all students
Ability to operate office equipment, telephones, and computers
Ability to communicate fluently in English, in person, in writing, and on the computer
Ability to hear, speak, and understand verbal communication
Ability to read, write, count, and perform basic math functions
Ability to move head, shoulders, neck, and arms freely (e.g. operation of office equipment)
Ability to use manual dexterity and fine manipulation for operating a keyboard, using equipment, filing, etc.
Ability to lift up to 10 pounds, grasp, reach, and pull
Ability to think, remember, learn new information, and apply cognitive data to job functions
Ability to assess and concentrate on mental and physical job tasks to see them to completion
Ability to work with others to share information and solve problems

Nice To Haves

7+ years of experience in partnership development in student loan finance
Master’s degree

Responsibilities

Develop and execute a comprehensive strategy for engaging colleges and universities, positioning ELFI as a trusted partner in student financing.
Serve as the primary liaison between ELFI and college leadership, including financial aid directors, enrollment managers, and student services teams.
Negotiate and formalize partnership agreements, ensuring clarity around service offerings, compliance requirements, and shared goals.
Collaborate with campus departments to integrate loan products, financial literacy programs, and support services into existing institutional frameworks.
Monitor changes in federal, state, and institutional policies impacting student loans and proactively adapt partnership approaches.
Lead a team of partnership managers and support staff, cultivating a culture of collaboration, innovation, and excellence.
Analyze partnership performance metrics, such as student engagement, loan uptake, and satisfaction rates, to optimize ongoing initiatives.
Design and deliver workshops, webinars, and presentations to educate campus communities on responsible borrowing and available financial options.
Work closely with technology, marketing, and regulatory teams to develop tailored campus solutions and resources.
Represent the company at higher education conferences, industry forums, and campus events to maintain visibility and strengthen relationships.
Set an example for your team by demonstrating a strong work ethic, competency in your job, adherence to policies and procedures, commitment to training, and alignment with the company’s culture and strategies.
Manage your assigned staff to meet the needs of the company and your department. Management functions include hiring, training, developing, assessing performance, counseling, directing work, prioritizing tasks, terminating, and other administrative functions, such as time, attendance, staffing, scheduling, leave, etc.
Know, understand, and teach the policies, procedures, and guidelines that impact your work and your team. Be proactive in addressing and working through unclear or inconsistent procedures. Communicate with appropriate management and ask questions to clarify uncertainties.
Build and nurture efficient, productive, positive teams. Ensure that communication is clear, active, constructive, and appropriate. Ensure that each Team Member understands their role and maintains accountability for work and group production. Create a respectful, professional working environment that is free from harassment, discrimination, gossip, negativity, retaliation, bullying, and other elements that can damage work and relationships.
Actively engage with leaders in other departments and throughout the company to promote perspective, learning, understanding, and efficient, productive workflow within the Bank. Communicate with senior and executive leaders regularly to build/maintain relationships and share information.
Work with HR to address concerns, deficiencies, compensation, recruiting and hiring needs and processes, work errors, team issues, questions, personnel laws (e.g. ADA, FMLA, FLSA, etc.), reporting and handling situations, etc.
Review the Bank’s information security guidelines regularly and avoid activity that could expose the Bank to malware, scams, and fraud. Follow all guidelines for securing your accounts, access, systems, and information. Be proactive in identifying threats to information security and relay concerns to the information security team.
Diligently protect confidential information and assist the Bank in ensuring that all confidential and sensitive information is handled appropriately.
Maintain an active awareness and understanding of policies, procedures, designated authorities, regulations, and laws, including but not limited to, the Bank Secrecy Act, Anti-Money Laundering Act, Red Flags, Consumer Privacy, Fair Lending, other applicable lending laws, etc. Follow these at all times.
Communicate openly with supervisors and other management about policies, procedures, work conduct, and job functions. Ask questions to clarify any uncertainty when issues arise.
Address with your supervisor questions about suspected violations of policy and procedure, and other laws and guidelines, as outlined in the Code of Conduct, including but not limited to Bank Secrecy Act, Anti-Money Laundering Act, lending laws, etc.
Participate in training sessions and policy updates as necessary. Assist with coordination of scheduling as appropriate.
Maintain focus and professionalism at work; reserve personal matters for personal time. Be teachable, flexible, manageable, approachable, and helpful.
Work scheduled and other needed hours at the designated location(s).
Assist Management with scheduling and other issues as directed.
Accept additional work as needed and assist other managers or Team Members as needed.
All Team Members should provide consistently positive, effective, helpful service to all customers, both internal and external.
Management or Bank policy may revise, delete, or add responsibility as necessary.