Public Affairs Program Analyst

Administrative / Clerical

Harrisburg, PA

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ID: 504-369

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Full-Time/Regular

PHEAA is a nonprofit student aid organization that holds a mission of providing affordable access to higher education.

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Salary: Pay Grade 13

Shift: Monday through Friday 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Location: Harrisburg, PA. Hybrid work schedule

Department: State Grant and Special Programs

This role is responsible for the administration and management of programs which support access to higher education through financial aid delivery systems and materials. Programs including scholarships, grants, matching funds and other awards, and are generally funded through state or federal appropriations. Program Administration is accomplished through procedure development, process documentation and analysis of financial and non-financial program data. The Program Analyst ensures compliance with established eligibility requirements, program policy, and guidelines. This role also manages relationships with customers and stakeholders to ensure program management is upheld.

*Previous financial aid experience is highly desired for this role*

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

Program Administration & Analysis

Procedure development and system and/or workflow process documentation for program operations including eligibility, financial processing and adjustments, vendor management, and school and student communication.

Perform moderate to complex analysis of financial and non-financial documents and other supporting documentation provided to make determinations in eligibility and compliance.

Identify and/or manage program actions and deliverables to ensure service and milestones in administration are completed.

Conduct detailed and extensive research on audits or program reports to resolve any challenges or inefficiencies and recommend changes.

Perform moderate to complex analysis and develop recommendations for program administration, including customer experience and efficiency at the student, application, school, or program level.

In-depth understanding of multiple program policies, guidelines, laws and regulations and their part in creating access to higher education.

Broad understanding of the Federal Student Aid Handbook and the federal financial aid guidelines.

Develop and track reports on programs for current and historical data used for monitoring program performance and managing program processes including, but not limited to: manual tasks, cash management/financial reconciliation, statistics, etc.

Provide preventative solutions of known or suspected program liabilities, risks or deficiencies including the analysis of customer needs and perform call monitoring observations for qualitative and quantitative analysis.

Collaborate with Program Integrity and Customer Service staff to identify opportunities for program improvement, knowledge gaps, and operational efficiencies including staffing capacity plans, processing priority reports and disbursement schedules.

Internal & External Communications/Training

Effectively and formally communicate deadlines, requirements, changes and other pertinent needs for multiple programs to internal and external audiences.

Provide program level support on questions from staff and/or schools, institutions, etc. and provide prompt, accurate responses using independent judgment and extensive knowledge of program policies and having evaluated long term impact.

Develop informative material for internal and public use.

Support the development of training material regarding specific program processes, modules, and operational schedules.

Provide peer cross training to other staff members as needed.

Technical Responsibilities

Maintain and update system schedules, parm cards, job schedules and code look-up values for systems that support PHEAA programs

Identify system changes/demand based upon business needs; enhance or develop functionality for program administration, increase automated controls to ensure compliance, create reporting that is aligned with the division’s strategic goals.

Act as a point-of-contact, when assigned, for program software changes to ensure effective and efficient financial aid deliver through enhancements, maintenance or other changes. This includes participation in scope planning with management, customers, collaborative meeting to provide technical requirements/business rules and other post production needs.

Participate in end-user system testing of technical modifications or updates, including development of test plans, review and approval of user stories.

Assist Information Technology (IT) or Senior Analysts with set up and configuration of test environments and test records/scenarios to ensure successful execution of established test plan.

Work with Production Support to troubleshoot system issues.

Utilize agency resources such as Acuity, Confluence, Jira, access databases and/or PeopleSoft for scheduling, monitoring and reporting purposes.

Other Duties and Responsibilities

Assist in quality assurance and document processing as needed.

Complex data entry, adjustments for special programs applications, financial documents and other forms when required.

Troubleshoot minor computer and equipment issues and work with IT to resolve issues.

Comply with the Agency’s enterprise security and privacy policies and departmental procedures.

Other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Required Skills

Bachelor’s degree, Management Information Systems or Political Science preferred, and two years of experience in a program management role or any equivalent combination of experience, training, and/or certification(s).

Knowledge of with the Agency’s software development life cycle process and tools, including Service Desk Tickets, Confluence, and Jira.

Track record of paying attention to details.

Excellent written and oral communication skills.

Demonstrated exemplary customer service.

Demonstrated ability to conduct research and summarize the results.

Proven ability to manage multiple activities and varying priorities while ensuring accurate and timely results.

Exposure to project management.

Preferred Qualifications: Master’s Degree and knowledge of higher education industry and experience in procedure or workflow development. Previous financial aid experience.

PHEAA’s environment welcomes and supports our employees, customers, and stakeholders; we seek out and value differing perspectives and contributions. Our organizational culture promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion at all levels of the organization.

Required Experience

Bachelor’s degree

This position is located at 1200 N 7th Street, Harrisburg, PA. View the Google Map in full screen.

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