Scholarship Operations Assistant (Arizona)

Earn to Learn is hiring a Scholarship Operations Assistant to join our service driven team. This is a full time, benefits eligible, remote position that requires residency in the state of Arizona. Earn to Learn has one (1) opening for a Scholarship Operations Assistant. We use multiple postings for greater reach to find the best candidates.

At Earn to Learn (ETL) you will work with incredibly passionate, talented people with an unwavering commitment to bring our mission to life: Empowering students to achieve their goals and be workforce ready with little to no student debt.

At ETL we foster an inclusive, employee-centric, feedback driven, challenging environment. Our Values speak volumes about our culture and who we are: Integrity, Innovation, Empathy, Empowerment, Adaptability and Collaboration.

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Scholarship Operations Assistant provides direct support to the Program Manager of Scholarship Operations in the daily operational efforts of the matched-savings scholarship program through a variety of program implementation tasks. This includes acting as front-line staff support to students and their families in the implementation of the student application and eligibility verification process. This also involves tracking the opening of Matched Savings Accounts (MSA), assisting students with MSA issues that arise, and tracking approvals for student applications. The Scholarship Operations Assistant will be responsible for reporting on the progress and outcomes to the Program Manager and works collaboratively with the Success Coach Team in transferring students for continued ETL services. This individual also helps maintain open lines of communications with collaborating financial institutions, community partners, colleges, and universities. The ideal candidate can manage department projects that support improvement, expansion, and excellence and can set individual goals that align with ETL’s mission and organizational goals. 

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Assist in efforts to track and manage the flow of applicants, ensuring capacity and funding limits are not exceeded through regular audits
• Track application submissions, determine approvals/denials and support student Matched Savings Accounts openings and deposits 
• Utilize database system (Vistashare Outcome Tracker) to enter and maintain records for scholarship applicants and participants, as well as use reports to track, monitor, and communicate program metrics    
• Assist in processing student requests for changes to their scholarship, such as deferrals, program withdrawal, transferring to another educational partner, etc. 
• Support student scholarship tracking status along with educational partners to ensure students receive the scholarship disbursement(s), are exited from the program when appropriate, and monitor appeal submissions 
• Assist in the scholarship disbursement reconciliation efforts, confirm accurate database records between ETL and collaborating colleges and universities, and support wire transfers of ETL’s matching scholarship commitment from philanthropic and private sector funds   

OTHER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• In partnership with the Program Manager, assist in preparing monthly meetings with collaborating colleges and universities, take notes at meetings, and coordinate any follow-up communication or tasks      
• Collaborate with department staff to manage and update program communications as needed by creating or providing feedback on student facing messaging, organizing scripted messages, implementing, and maintaining future message timelines and needs, and communicating with teammates as messages are sent 
• Attend staff workshops, webinars, and other community provided trainings as required                                                                                                                                          
• Maintain security and confidentiality of all participant information and communications
• Other duties and responsibilities as assigned

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS: (Required unless stated as “preferred”, “a plus” or “desired”)

Education/Formal Training/Certifications:

• High School Diploma or GED
• Associate degree or Vocational school certificate in a related field such as business administration or accounting preferred 

Experience:

• 3+ years’ administrative support experience
• 2+ years’ experience using an access-based or query-able database system and data tracking experience desired 
• 2+ years direct service experience with low and moderate-income populations desired
• 1+ years’ experience in accounting, business administration or project management a plus 
• 1+ years’ experience working in a remote/virtual setting desired 

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Comfortable in a “virtual office” environment using virtual systems to communicate with a geographically dispersed team
• Familiarity with and a desire to increase competency with online software and platforms 
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced and evolving marketplace that requires flexibility and adaptability 
• Exudes a positive outlook and is willing to accept challenges and changes
• Continuously solicits feedback for improvement and goal achievement
• Competency with Outlook, collaborative chat, conferencing environments (Microsoft Teams), and cloud-based document storage platforms (OneDrive/SharePoint) 
• Strong communications skills (non-verbal, verbal, interpersonal, written & listening) 
• Bi-lingual – Spanish speaking, grammar, and composition (a plus, but not required) 
• Highly proficient with Microsoft Excel (formatting, use of basic formulas including “if” functions, data sorting, etc.) 
• Strong team-player and collaborator, as a team approach is core to ETL 
• Able to work and produce results with limited day to day supervision 
• Comfortable conducting presentations to small groups with minimal training 
• Sensitive to the issues of multicultural and multigenerational individuals and their families 
• Fast learner with the ability to troubleshoot minor problems 
• Exemplary time and task management skills 
• Interest in interacting within the community as an ambassador of ETL to promote our services 
• Highly disciplined and organized 

           Other relevant experience may be considered as substitutes for above qualifications.

REMOTE WORK REQUIREMENTS

Earn to Learn is a fully remote organization. The Scholarship Operations Assistant works from a remote home office in addition to occasional onsite work. The following are required for remote home office work: 

• Dedicated private, quiet, professional appearing home office space for hosting webinars and conducting virtual video meetings
• Reliable, password protected, high-speed home internet (at least 10 Mbps for a single user)

TRAVEL AND AVAILABILITY

The ELT program serves low-income students and their family members. In general, the Scholarship Operations Assistant is expected to be available Monday through Friday 9am – 5pm and it is essential that team members be sensitive to the schedules of our participants and are flexible in allocating their time. Weekly schedules may vary somewhat depending on program cycles. Evening and weekend work may be required occasionally.  Occasional travel within the office location’s county may be required. Travel within the state of Arizona, including to statewide meetings, training, etc. will be required rarely. 

BENEFITS

This position is eligible for Earn to Learn’s competitive benefits package including, but not limited to medical, dental, life, short and long term disability, a 403(b) retirement plan, pet health care, and generous paid time off programs such as sick, vacation, jury duty, bereavement, and holidays (including an extended holiday hiatus in December).