Associate Director of Financial Aid Systems and Operations

Western Washington University, with over 15,000 students in seven colleges and the graduate school, is nationally recognized for its educational programs, students and faculty. The campus is located in Bellingham, Washington, a coastal community of 90,000 overlooking Bellingham Bay, the San Juan Islands and the North Cascades Mountain range. The city lies 90 miles north of Seattle and 60 miles south of Vancouver, British Columbia. Western has additional sites in Anacortes, Bremerton, Everett, Port Angeles, and Poulsbo. Western is recognized nationally for its successes, such as being named one of the top public master's-granting institutions in the Pacific Northwest for 25 years in a row by U.S. News & World Report.

Western Washington University is committed to achieving excellence through advancing inclusive success, increasing our Washington impact, and focusing on transformational education grounded in the liberal arts and sciences and based on innovative scholarship, research, and creative activity. Western's greatest strength is the outstanding students, faculty, staff, and alumni/ae who make up its community. Western supports an inclusive governance structure for all and provides a learning and working environment in which everyone can thrive. In pursuit of this excellence, individual employees are expected to establish and maintain productive and effective inclusive working relationships amongst diverse populations including staff, faculty, administration, student, and external constituents. Further, individual employees are expected to have the ability to operationalize sustainability concepts (economic, societal, environmental) into all aspects of performing their job duties.

The Financial Aid Department supports Western's mission, which states that together with our students, staff, and faculty, we are committed to making a positive impact in the state and the world with a shared focus on academic excellence and inclusive achievement. We encourage applications from women, people of color, people with disabilities, veterans, and other candidates from underrepresented backgrounds and with diverse experiences interested in this opportunity.

The Associate Director of Financial Aid Systems and Operations has high level leadership responsibility for Western Washington University, directing the Systems and Operations enterprises for Financial Aid. The Associate Director reports to the Executive Director of Financial Aid (ED-Fin Aid), providing strategic administration of student financial aid programs through the effective implementation, configuration, and management of financial aid software for the Financial Aid department and by oversight of application processing flow, systems documentation, and staff training. The Associate Director supervises the Assistant Director for Financial Aid Operations, one IT Business Analyst, and one Senior Financial Aid Counselor, and indirectly supervises three classified program coordinators and one program assistant who serve within the Financial Aid Operations Center. Additionally, the Associate Director coordinates with Enterprise and Application Services.

The Associate Director completes reports and surveys with significant compliance implications for the institution. This leader oversees administration of a number of financial aid programs, has significant responsibility for managing disbursement of millions of dollars of federal and state aid for the institution, and serves as a member of the Financial Aid Leadership Team.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree
• Minimum 1 year of experience with support and maintenance of any Student Information System (SIS) Financial Aid Module
• Demonstrated experience working within Student Affairs/Services at a college or university
• Experience working in a college or university Financial Aid office
• Demonstrated experience learning and applying new technology
• Proven ability to maintain confidentiality and familiarity with the privacy and protection of sensitive data
• Demonstrated relational database experience, writing data queries and reports using query tools such as MS Access and SQL Developer
• Minimum 1 year supervisory or lead experience, with demonstrated ability to effectively plan, organize, prioritize, and delegate tasks to meet deadlines
• Demonstrated ability to accurately interpret and apply regulatory guidance to systems design
• Demonstrated commitment to support a workplace culture in which diversity and differing opinions are honored, respected, and celebrated
• Excellent communication, customer service and interpersonal skills

Preferred Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree or 5+ years of direct, mission-critical software oversight within student affairs/services office(s)
• Proficiency with Ellucian’s Banner Financial Aid module
• Working knowledge of OnBase or other imaging software
• Proficiency with Evisions Argos Report Writer or other report writers
• Project management experience

Hiring range is $105,013 - $120,766/year depending on qualifications and experience.  Through longevity position tops out at $136,517/year.

A cover letter and resume are required and should address your experience related to the position responsibilities and the required and preferred qualifications. Please include the names and contact information of three professional references. References will only be contacted for finalists.

Application review begins October 19, 2026; position is open until filled

Please visit link for more information and to apply.