Sr Assistant Director - Student Financial Services

JOB SUMMARY

Reporting to the Director of Customer Experience and collaborating closely with the Dean and Student Financial Services (SFS) management team, the Senior Assistant Director for Customer Service at NU Oakland oversees service delivery for student aid, accounts and employment, across in-person, electronic, and telephony interactions. This position monitors customer traffic patterns and service demand to ensure the team consistently meets service level expectations for response times, communication clarity, informational accuracy, and issue resolution. The Senior Assistant Director provides direct customer support, resolving both routine inquiries and complex or escalated cases with professionalism and expertise.

This position manages on-ground operations by recruiting, training, and supervising a small, dedicated team of two frontline staff who address student inquiries related to financial aid, student accounts, and student employment. This role also includes oversight of student workers who provide on-site triage and check-in support.

As the Oakland campus point of contact for SFS, the Senior Assistant Director coordinates daily with Boston-based SFS staff, unit leaders, and management to maintain operational alignment and service consistency. This role requires comprehensive knowledge of SFS policies, procedures, workflows, and regulatory requirements, along with sound judgment to determine when to handle inquiries independently versus when to escalate matters to centralized support teams.

The Senior Assistant Director actively participates in recruitment and yield events, delivering presentations and supporting outreach programming, tabling initiatives, and campus engagement activities.

This position requires on-site presence five days per week.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree required; Master's preferred
• 3 years of progressive experience in student financial services, financial aid, student accounts, student employment or higher education customer service
• Supervisory experience, including hiring, training, and evaluating staff and student workers
• High-volume, multi-channel customer service experience (in-person, phone, electronic) with strong conflict resolution skills
• Experience with ServiceNow, Banner, Workday, PowerFAIDS, and/or Slate preferred
• Proven ability to deliver equitable, culturally competent service to diverse student populations while ensuring strict adherence to federal regulations (Title IV, FERPA) and institutional policies
• Strong organizational, operational, time management, and prioritization skills with ability to work autonomously under pressure
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Strong independent judgment and decision-making abilities

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES & ACCOUNTABILITIES

1. Oversees service delivery for student aid, accounts, and employment across in-person, electronic, and telephony channels. Monitors customer traffic patterns and service demand to ensure consistent achievement of service level expectations for response times, communication clarity, informational accuracy, and issue resolution.
2. Provides expert customer service by resolving routine inquiries and managing complex or escalated cases with professionalism and subject matter expertise.
3. Recruits, trains, supervises, and evaluates two frontline staff members and a team of student workers, ensuring high-quality service delivery and professional development.
4. Maintains comprehensive, current knowledge of SFS policies, procedures, workflows, and regulatory requirements to ensure accurate guidance and compliant operations.
5. Exercises sound judgment to determine appropriate case ownership, effectively triaging inquiries between local resolution and escalation to centralized support teams.
6. Actively participates in recruitment and yield events by delivering presentations, staffing information tables, and supporting outreach programming and campus engagement initiatives.