Student Financial Aid Consultant, Higher Education & Nonprofit

Workday•Atlanta, GA

7d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Higher Ed/Nonprofit Functional Consulting team partners with colleges, universities, and nonprofit organizations to design and deliver Workday solutions. We lead implementations end-to-end, balancing scope, milestones, and quality across a steady pipeline of projects. Many of us previously worked in higher education or nonprofit organizations, and we understand the realities of shared governance, academic calendars, and public or public-adjacent organizations. We also value creating sustainable ways of working that fit those environments. Our team is highly educated, curious, and always looking for ways to improve how we work. We actively utilize Workday’s AI tools to make our implementations high-quality and efficient, and we share what we learn so the entire practice benefits. As a Student Financial Aid Consultant, you will be responsible for ensuring the successful implementation of Workday's Student solution, with a primary focus on Financial Aid and the flexibility to support Student Financials as project needs require. You will work with customers to understand their challenges, business goals, and requirements around financial aid administration, packaging, compliance, and disbursement, as well as related billing and payment processes within Student Financials. Using Workday's implementation methodology, you will be responsible for designing, configuring, and testing the Workday solution. This job may be located anywhere in the continental United States within reasonable distance to a major airport.

Requirements

Experience (6+ years) with Workday, Banner, PeopleSoft, PowerFAIDS, or similar Financial Aid/Student Information Systems
6+ years of functional experience in Financial Aid, ideally including leadership experience (e.g., Director of Financial Aid, Associate Director, or similar) overseeing financial aid operations, compliance, and staff
Strong technical aptitude (6+ years) with systems and software, beyond functional/policy knowledge alone — comfort with system configuration, testing, and troubleshooting is essential, not just an understanding of financial aid rules and processes
Demonstrated curiosity and comfort (2+ years) with AI-powered tools, with a willingness to incorporate AI into daily workflows to improve efficiency and client outcomes

Nice To Haves

Prior consulting experience is a plus but not required — candidates coming directly from higher education Financial Aid leadership roles are strongly encouraged to apply
Working knowledge of Student Financials processes (tuition billing, payment plans, refunds) and the ability to flex into this area as project needs require
Deep knowledge of Title IV federal regulations, Return to Title IV (R2T4), Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), and financial aid packaging methodologies
Experience with federal and state financial aid systems (e.g., COD, NSLDS, FAFSA, state grant/scholarship portals)
Industry experience in Higher Education
Strong client-facing communication, presentation, and consulting skills, with the ability to translate complex regulatory requirements into system configuration
Relationship Management: Proven ability to build trusted, long-term relationships with Financial Aid and other cross-functional stakeholders in higher education and/or nonprofit environments, including navigating complex governance structures
Task Management: Ability to manage multiple customers in parallel, estimate effort accurately, surface risks early, and coordinate with Engagement Managers and project teams to keep scope, schedule, and quality on track.
Ability to travel up to 50% based on client and project needs, particularly for key implementation milestones such as design sessions and major testing events

Responsibilities

Becoming familiar with the touchpoints between Financial Aid, Student Financials, and other areas of the Workday product suite
Gathering client business requirements related to financial aid packaging, awarding, compliance, and disbursement, as well as tuition billing and payment processes when supporting Student Financials
Configuring the Workday solution to help improve the user, student, and administrator experience across Financial Aid and Student Financials
Demonstrating the configurations through the development of prototype systems
Assisting the client in testing the Workday solution
Assisting the integration consulting team in configuring and testing integrations between Workday and third-party/custom solutions (e.g., federal aid systems, payment processors)
Understanding the Workday Implementation Methodology and using it on all engagements
Working with the client to help convert legacy financial aid and student financials data into Workday
Partnering with the Engagement Manager to plan project activities and time frames, and ensuring project work is tracked and produced on time and within budget
Participating in update training and other events to share product skills with other consultants