Senior Manager, Education Operations

Sallie Mae•New Castle, DE

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Senior Manager, Education Operations develops and leads the education strategy that builds employee capability, strengthens operational performance, and supports an exceptional customer experience across Operations. The role provides strategic leadership for new-hire education, continuing education, and ongoing skill development, aligning learning programs with business priorities, regulatory requirements, organizational changes, and evolving workforce needs. The Senior Manager partners with Operations leadership, Quality Assurance, Voice of the Customer, Compliance, Risk, Process Management, and other stakeholders to turn business needs, performance trends, and emerging risks into effective education strategies. The role evolves Operations Education from traditional training delivery into a proactive, data-informed capability-building function. The position oversees learning strategy and programs, evaluates learning effectiveness and business impact, leads and develops Education professionals, and supports workforce readiness during operational change. It also manages education resources, priorities, budgets, project portfolios, and required program controls and documentation.

Requirements

Demonstrated experience leading learning, education, training, organizational development, or workforce capability programs within a complex operational environment.
Proven ability to develop and execute learning strategies aligned with organizational priorities and measurable business outcomes.
Strong leadership experience, including developing teams, managing competing priorities, and influencing across organizational boundaries.
Ability to use operational data, quality results, employee performance information, and other insights to identify capability gaps and develop solutions.
Strong understanding of instructional design, adult learning principles, curriculum development, facilitation, and learning evaluation.
Experience leading large-scale learning initiatives and organizational change efforts.
Strong project and program management capabilities, including experience managing multiple complex initiatives simultaneously.
Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and executive communication skills.
Strong consultative and relationship-management skills, including the ability to influence senior leaders and cross-functional partners.
Experience managing budgets, resources, capacity, and learning priorities.
Ability to translate complex business requirements into practical and scalable education solutions.
Ability to operate strategically while maintaining appropriate oversight of execution and results.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in education, Learning and Development, Organizational Development, Business Administration, Organizational Management, Change Management, or a related field.
Progressive leadership experience within corporate learning, Operations education, learning and development, or a related discipline.
Experience supporting large-scale contact center or customer-facing Operations organizations.
Experience partnering with Quality Assurance, Compliance, Risk, Customer Experience, and Operations functions.
Experience with learning management systems, e-learning platforms, instructional design technology, and emerging AI-enabled learning or performance-support capabilities.
Professional certifications related to learning and development, instructional design, project management, or change management.

Responsibilities

Develop and execute the Operations Education strategy and roadmap, aligning learning priorities with organizational goals, operational performance, customer experience, risk, and workforce needs.
Establish a learning framework covering new-hire education, on-the-job learning, continuing education, skill development, and ongoing reinforcement.
Anticipate future capability needs and develop education strategies for changes in processes, technology, products, regulations, and customer expectations.
Advise senior Operations leaders on workforce capability, learning priorities, and performance improvement opportunities.
Establish governance and standards that promote consistency, quality, scalability, and effectiveness across Operations education programs.
Partner with Operations, Quality Assurance, Voice of the Customer, Compliance, Risk, and other stakeholders to identify performance trends, gaps, customer experience opportunities, and learning needs.
Translate performance data and business insights into targeted education strategies designed to improve employee capability and operational outcomes.
Establish and use measures to evaluate knowledge acquisition, skill application, performance improvement, and business impact.
Analyze education and operational performance data, recommend changes to learning strategies, and report the effectiveness and business value of Operations Education to senior leadership.
Promote continuous learning and reinforce knowledge throughout the employee lifecycle.
Provide strategic oversight for the design, development, implementation, and continuous improvement of Operations learning programs.
Ensure curricula and learning experiences align with business requirements, procedures, compliance expectations, and customer experience standards.
Guide instructional approaches incorporating instructor-led and virtual learning, simulations, practical application, digital learning, and performance support where appropriate.
Establish standards for curriculum design, assessments, learning materials, and instructional delivery; evolve programs based on feedback, results, stakeholder input, and changing needs.
Lead, coach, and develop Education leaders and professionals; establish expectations for instructional excellence, partnership, accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
Develop talent and succession plans and build subject-matter expertise and cross-functional knowledge within the Education team.
Partner with Operations leaders and subject matter experts to align learning priorities with business objectives.
Support large-scale operational changes by determining education requirements and workforce readiness needs; develop education approaches for adoption of new processes, systems, policies, products, and technologies.
Partner with AI Enablement & Content on opportunities to incorporate technology and point-of-need knowledge into the employee learning experience.
Represent Operations Education in cross-functional initiatives requiring learning, workforce readiness, or capability-building expertise.
Manage education resources, capacity, priorities, and budgets; prioritize education requests according to risk, customer impact, business value, and organizational priorities.
Oversee education project portfolios, timelines, and resource allocation; ensure required controls and documentation are maintained.
Monitor external learning trends, emerging technologies, and industry practices and determine where they can improve Operations education.

Benefits

Competitive base salaries
Bonus incentives
Generous paid time off, floating holidays, and 12 observed federal holidays
Financial-well-being and retirement support
401(k) with employer match
Comprehensive medical, dental, and vision coverage
Hospital indemnity and critical illness coverage
Pet insurance
Employer-paid short-term and long-term disability insurance and basic life insurance
Flexible hybrid working arrangements
Paid parental leave
Adoption reimbursement programs
Free access to on-site staffed 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