"Associate Director Financial Aid"

Job Details

Department: Financial Aid

Summary

Michigan Technological University is seeking an Associate Director, which requires a dynamic, student-oriented, creative and critical thinker. This position is responsible for the overall administration and awarding of institutional, sponsored, and external scholarships and grants. Besides awarding aid, this position manages scholarship tracking, billing, reporting, and updates and maintains Banner records. The individual in this position is expected to act collaboratively with campus and community partners in order to support student recruitment and success.

Responsibilities and Essential Duties

• Strategically track and award endowed and demand sponsored scholarships based on the donor agreement.
• Support all aspects of on-campus scholarship competitions and events.
• Collaborate with Admissions and University Marketing and Communications to create scholarship applications, media, and publicity.
• Lead the design and production of the financial aid award package for incoming first-year students.
• Supervise the financial aid counselor position who is assisting with awarding of sponsored, foundation, and institutional scholarships and grants.
• Collaborate with the Michigan Tech Fund and Advancement in creating and maintaining donor agreements and records.
• Works across campus to ensure accurate and timely selection of scholarships including merit based scholarships, leading scholar awards, Global Campus awards, and other entities across campus involved in scholarship processes.
• Collaborate with academic departments to strategically award and renew departmental sponsored scholarships.
• Collaborate with high school counselors to strategically award and renew high school specific sponsored scholarships.
• Support the culture of philanthropy by overseeing the thank you note process for all recipients of sponsored scholarships.
• Manage the scholarship renewal, reinstatement, and appeal processes.
• Ensure the security and integrity of confidential student data.
• Meet with current and prospective students and families as needed and assist them with understanding the financial aid process.
• Provide excellent customer service and demonstrate empathy, understanding, and care in all student and family interactions.
• Perform various need analysis functions using financial aid information submitted by applicants utilizing established federal, state and University standards and guidelines to determine financial need.
• Commit to learning about continuous improvement strategies and applying them to everyday work.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES:

This position supervises one professional staff member. Functional supervision may be exercised over student assistants.

Required Education, Certifications, Licensures

Bachelor’s Degree

Required Experience

• Experience working with the field of financial aid, higher education student services, finance, banking, or closely related field.
• Skill and experience in project management and organizational effectiveness while maintaining strict attention to detail.
• Experience using advanced features of word processing and spreadsheet/ database software.

Desirable Education and/or Experience

• Experience using Banner.
• Master’s degree in accounting, business, education, or related field.

Required Knowledge, Skills, and/or Abilities

• Excellent interpersonal, customer service, and written/oral communication skills.
• Demonstrated knowledge of proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation.
• Demonstrated ability to explain and convey complex information.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and take initiative to solve problems.
• Demonstrated ability to organize and prioritize work assignments independently in a complex work environment.
• Demonstrated ability to work with accuracy and attention to detail.
• Demonstrated ability to use appropriate judgement when dealing with highly confidential information.
• Demonstrated ability to work well with others in a team environment.
• Demonstrated ability to learn new computer skills and features.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively across cultural boundaries and work harmoniously with diverse groups of students and staff.

Work Environment and/or Physical Demands

• Evening and weekend work will be required.
• The employee is occasionally required to lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.
• The noise level in the work environment is usually low to moderate.
• The work environment is that of a typical office setting.

Required Training and Other Conditions of Employment

Every employee at Michigan Technological University will receive the following training courses:

• Employee Safety Overview
• Annual Data Security Training
• Anti-Harassment, Discrimination, Retaliation Training
• Annual Title IX Training

Additional training will be required by the department on a periodic basis.

Background Check: Offers of employment are contingent upon and not considered finalized until the required background check has been performed and the results received and assessed.

Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) % (1=100%): 1

FLSA Status: Exempt

Appointment Term: 12 months

Pay Rate/Salary: The minimum salary for this position is $52,000. The final salary will depend on experience and qualifications.

Title of Position Supervisor: Director

Posting Type: Internal & External

Dependent on Funding: False

Special Instructions to Applicants: Please provide Cover Letter and Resume. Full consideration will be given to internal applicants who apply by Friday, September 5, 2025.

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Other Conditions of Employment: Please note that successful applicants are responsible for ensuring their eligibility to work in the United States (i.e. a citizen or national of the United States, a lawful permanent resident, a foreign national authorized to work in the United States without the need of an employer sponsorship) on or before the effective date of your appointment, and maintain eligibility without sponsorship throughout your appointment. Michigan Technological University is an Equal Opportunity Educational Institution/Equal Opportunity Employer that provides equal opportunity for all, including protected veterans and individuals with disabilities. If you require any auxiliary aids, services, or accommodations during Michigan Tech’s hiring process please notify the Human Resources office at 906-487-2280 or hr-help@mtu.edu.