Senior Manager, Financial Aid Refunds

Summary

Reporting to the Vice President of Financial Aid in a multi-campus environment, the Sr. Financial Aid Manager provides leadership and operational oversight for Return to Title IV (R2T4) and tuition refund processing at both West Coast University (WCU) and American Career College (ACC). This role serves as the institutional subject matter expert on all federal and state regulations governing R2T4 calculations, aid eligibility, withdrawal processing, and institutional refund requirements, ensuring compliance across all campuses and academic programs.

The Sr. Financial Aid Manager is responsible for leading highly regulated back-end financial aid operations, including oversight of accurate and timely R2T4 calculations, post-withdrawal disbursements, tuition refund determinations, reconciliation activities, and audit-ready documentation practices. This leader evaluates and recommends policy, procedural, and systems enhancements to improve operational efficiency, compliance integrity, and student outcomes while mitigating institutional risk.

In partnership leaders and departments across University Administration, this role drives cross-functional process improvements and ensures automated processing, data integrity, reconciliation, and regulatory reporting functions perform accurately and timely. The position also collaborates closely with the Student Financial Services UA and campus leadership at ACC and WCU, to implement strategic initiatives, resolve complex compliance matters, and influence organizational changes impacting financial aid operations and student finance processes.

Additionally, this leader monitors and interprets new and changing federal and state regulations, translates regulatory guidance into operational practices, develops internal controls, and ensures adherence to institutional policies, accreditation standards, and Title IV compliance requirements.

The Sr. Financial Aid Manager fosters a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, customer service excellence, and regulatory compliance while leading and developing a high-performing refund operations team.

Essential Functions & Responsibilities

• Provides direct leadership, supervision, and operational oversight of Financial Aid Specialists, serving as the first level of escalation for guidance, training, performance management, and daily operational support.
• Ensures all team members demonstrate a thorough understanding of applicable policies, procedures, regulatory requirements, and operational expectations related to their assigned functions.
• Develops, implements, and maintains comprehensive training programs, reference materials, and job aids to support consistent, high-quality onboarding, cross-training, and ongoing professional development for all Financial Aid Specialists. Promotes a culture of accountability, continuous improvement, operational excellence, and compliance-focused service delivery.
• Ensures strict adherence to all federal and state financial aid regulations, institutional policies, accreditation standards, and internal compliance controls. Oversee the accurate and timely execution of all assigned back-end financial aid processes, including Return to Title IV (R2T4), tuition refund calculations, reconciliation activities, and other regulatory processing functions, while mitigating institutional risk and supporting positive student and campus experiences.
• Maintains and updates applicable sections of departmental policies and procedures to ensure alignment with current regulations, operational practices, and organizational objectives.
• Prepares, analyzes, and maintains operational reports, compliance metrics, and processing data for departmental leadership and other organizational stakeholders to support informed decision-making and operational transparency.
• Serves as a subject matter expert and operational resource for campus Financial Aid and Student Financial Services leadership by providing guidance, reporting, regulatory interpretation, and support related to complex processing and compliance matters.
• Effectively prioritizes, delegates, and monitors workflow assignments to ensure all operational responsibilities are completed accurately and within established timelines, while proactively balancing processing volumes, regulatory deadlines, staffing resources, training needs, and organizational priorities.
• Maintains proactive communication with University Administration leadership regarding operational concerns, staffing needs, processing risks, and compliance trends. Identifies and communicates error patterns and performance gaps impacting both centralized and campus-based teams, providing actionable recommendations to improve training effectiveness, operational outcomes, compliance accuracy, and student service delivery across WCU and ACC.
• Continuously evaluates operational workflows, systems, and organizational processes to identify opportunities for increased efficiency, automation, compliance integrity, and service improvements. Provides strategic recommendations regarding policy and procedural enhancements not only within their direct area of responsibility, but also across interdependent departments including Student Affairs, Registrar, Student Financial Services, and campus Financial Aid operations.
• Monitors team and individual performance metrics to ensure all staff consistently meet or exceed established productivity, quality assurance, compliance, and customer service expectations. Conducts regular team meetings, coaching sessions, and performance discussions to communicate operational updates, reinforce expectations, address challenges, and foster collaboration and employee development.
• Actively participates in departmental and cross-functional meetings to remain informed of organizational initiatives, regulatory updates, and operational priorities.
• Collaborates with colleagues across functional areas, including Information Technology and Accounting, to research and resolve complex data and systems issues, improve operational processes, and enhance the effectiveness and integrity of financial aid systems and reporting functions.
• Adheres to College/University policies and procedures and conducts job responsibilities in accordance with the standards set out in the College/University’s Code of Ethical Conduct, Compliance Agreement, Sexual Harassment Policy or any of its policies and procedures, applicable federal and state laws, and applicable professional standards.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum and Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university required.

Experience & Skills

• 7 years financial aid
• 7 years financial aid focused leadership experience
• 5 years customer service experience
• May not be in default on a federal student loan or owe repayment on a federal grant.
• Ability to retain information and apply learned concepts to similar or new situations appropriately.
• Ability to demonstrate the use of good judgment when making decisions regarding day-to-day leadership of their team and all the processes their team is responsible for, including those governed by strict regulations and including situations where the leader is confronted with competing or conflicting regulation or sources of information.
• Ability to make evidence-based, student-centric, and ethically-sound decisions; and take accountability for same.
• Evidence of strong leadership and managerial skills, including strategic planning, assessment, and evaluation skills, motivate their team and influence others, manage performance and conduct appropriate coaching to improve performance, ability to demonstrate commitment to WCU’s mission and values.
• Ability to communicate effectively and professionally with others both verbally and in writing.
• Ability to interact professionally with colleagues, leadership, and external agencies and serve as a positive role model for staff while supporting organizational culture and values.
• Experience using student information systems and government platforms including COD, Partner Portal, and NSLDS preferred.

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