Sr Loan Operations Analyst

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

Give back tomorrow by joining us today!

Salary: Grade 15, Commensurate with experience starting at $60,860.00

Shift: Monday – Friday 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM Monday through Friday. Hybrid 2 days a week onsite.

Location: 1200 North 7th Street, Harrisburg, PA 17102.

Department: Operations and Client Support

JOB PURPOSE AND SUMMARY

This role is responsible for the administration of new and existing loan products, the translation of complex program requirements, performing system table configurations within the Loan Program Definition tables, as well as serving as technical liaison to internal business units, Remote Clients, and Third-party Clients. This position will also be responsible for researching client issues, complex account concerns, technical and data related questions, or any identified configuration issues. This position will be expected to develop and design performance improvements to complex projects, mentor fellow Loan Operations Analysts, and act as an independent leader and champion for the Remote and Third-party lines of business. Exceptional communication and project management skills will be essential to effectively perform configuration related work. Additionally, this position may supervise a team of Loan Operations Analysts responsible for maintaining PHEAA’s Loan Program Definition table structures and Serv

PRIMARY DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Client Support

Analyze, capture, and understand the true needs of the client, gathering information efficiently by interviewing customers using probing questions, to understand the nature of a problem to find a mutually beneficial resolution.

When necessary, interact with clients to determine present and future needs and discuss progress toward solutions.

Manage new business initiatives by attending conference calls; as well as ensuring data mapping is completed by staff with DTS collaboration.

Facilitate and/or lead internal/external discussions concerning the technical elements needed to convert new business onto the servicing platform.

Serve as subject matter expert for the Loan Program Definition tables, as well as research problems and identify solutions, to assist clients with a general understanding of the nature of a problem and to advise of the resolution.

Review promissory notes, servicing guidelines/amendments, while coordinating and gathering best practices with business units, and provide unified comments on the servicing systems ability to accommodate requests.

Review and research past/present servicing guidelines/amendments and highlight potential impact to proposed servicing guidelines.

Maintain a library of past and present servicing guidelines and amendments.

Maintain configurable Loan Program Definition tables which directly impact servicing functionality.

Quality assures Loan Program Definition records to ensure accuracy and desired results.

Recommend improvements or enhancements regarding existing Loan Program Definition tables.

Communicate with internal/external customers ensuring a consistent understanding of the servicing system’s functionality.

Provide alternatives for meeting client requests for system enhancements to meet deadlines through workarounds, modification to processes/programs within current system functionality.

May provide supporting documentation for system change requests for new or modified functionality; and may participate in defining the business requirements for system changes or new functionality.

Proactively recommend enhancements to processes or issue resolution.

Create and Maintain Knowledge Resources.

Organize information and complete writing assignments according to established standards regarding order, clarity, conciseness, style, and terminology.

Proofread, edit, and format documents for accuracy and consistency according to department and agency writing style guidelines.

Review published materials and recommended revisions or changes in scope, format, content, and methods of publication, recognizing opportunities where new knowledge content is required. 

Follow prescribed process flow to ensure all knowledge resources are properly reviewed by Subject Matter Experts, approved by designated stakeholders, and required versioning is retained.

Finalize knowledge content and prepare PDFs and articles for publication.

Monitor inboxes, incidents, and content feedback to ensure timely and accurate responses to requests.

Communication and Prioritization 

Provide guidance to Loan Operation Analysts, BSSA’s and others regarding system configuration.

Assist in complex high-level discussions, collaboration and direct interaction with external parties and internal stakeholders. This will be accomplished by gathering statistics of key client issues and managing the reporting and responses to these issues.

When necessary, develop client communication relating to any configuration/system issues and resolutions.

When necessary, lead internal/external discussions and meetings regarding configuration/system issues.

Collaborate with Business System Support Analysts (BSSAs) and Client Relationship Managers (CRMs) on escalated issue resolution and work with internal stakeholders to ensure the escalation is communicated and resolved timely.

Establish priority of work and delegate to less senior employees.

Perform ongoing management of client projects in terms of system configuration.

Determine and manage tasks, issues, risks, projects, and research related requests.

Monitor quality and rate of progress. 

Develop and maintain project scopes, plans, and priorities.

Using agile methodology values, principles, and practices to plan, manage, and deliver solutions.

Train, mentor, and support teams to follow agile values, principles, and practices.

Schedule and facilitate prioritization events, meetings, and decision-making processes.

Analytics, Documentation, and Production Support

Oversee the complex research and analysis of client submitted concerns and ensure the correct internal stakeholders evaluate the concerns for accurate resolutions and responses.

Manage the creation and maintenance of analytics for configuration related issue resolution.

Evaluate audit scope questions and oversee the development of the applicable response(s) to observations and findings.

Resolve risk assessments.

Manage the development and implementation of corrective action plans needed to resolve compliance concerns identified through internal/external compliance testing and audits.

Document audit and risk assessment topics

Participate in and document all industry-wide conference discussions concerning student loan interest rates when applicable.

Document process practices, improvements, and procedures

Provide process/technical expertise, such as streamlining processes using Structured Query Language (SQL)/Advanced Query Tools (AQT), to clients and internal stakeholders as it relates to system functionality.

Create and execute queries to identify system discrepancies and potential issues, as necessary.

Research and identify root cause of production errors encountered during production and testing processing.

Recommend workarounds or needed changes and communicate to impacted users internally and externally. 

Provide feedback and proactively make recommendations to achieve process/system improvements.

Mentor/Leadership

Build a highly capable, efficient, and cost-effective team that is passionate and committed to helping the business achieve goals.

Develop and manage a high performing team, ensuring succession plans are in place.

Provide on-going guidance, mentorship, feedback, and motivation to staff to ensure competent performance while adhering to department and PHEAA’s policies and procedures.

Interview and recommend prospective candidates for open departmental positions.

Make decisions in personnel matters (accountable for managing performance, performance reviews/feedback/coaching, disciplinary actions, and terminations). This includes monitoring attendance, leave requests, ensuring accuracy of hours worked and adherence to PHEAA’s policies and procedures.

Oversee staff workload and provide opportunities for cross-system training.

Evaluate staffing and training needs, and implement, in anticipation of upcoming business initiatives.

Ensure the continued professional development of the department.

Lead and collaborate with other peers on the highly analytical process of creating, maintaining and/or changing loan programs within the servicing platform.

Assist Loan Operations Analysts to complete the translation of loan program requirements, and to prepare mapping documents for Digital Technology Solutions (DTS) department, so the loan programs will be serviced accurately on the servicing platform.

Develop, analyze, and make recommendations based on metrics, to understand and reduce department liability (including root cause analysis), increase customer and client satisfaction and quality assurance to improve results.

OTHER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 

Provide documentation/information or prepared demos for RFP response for potential new clients, as needed.

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

Sponsor production remediations on behalf of Remote and Third-party clients, as needed. 

Stay current in industry specific knowledge.

Other duties and projects assigned.

Required Skills

Bachelor’s degree and three to five years of professional business administration experience or any relevant combination of training, experience, and/or certification(s). 

Strong leadership and interpersonal skills, be very detail oriented, have strong organizational and time management skills with proven track record of leading a team toward successful completion with constraints.

Advanced research, analytical and problem-solving skills.

Advanced verbal and written communication skills with the ability to communicate with staff at all levels within and outside the organization.

Advanced ability to challenge the status quo, identifies issues, and provides viable suggestions to improve.

Advanced ability to delegate routine and important tasks and decisions clearly and comfortably.

Advanced ability to defuse tension among a project team when needed.

Proven attentive and active listening skills.

Demonstrated attention to detail.

Effective time management, organization, and prioritizing ability.

Proven ability to meet deadlines and deliverables.

Proficient intermediate level knowledge of Microsoft Excel.

Proven experience compiling and analyzing data of moderate complexity.

Proven experience with project management.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT

Sedentary work (office environment).

Perform work required for this position in an office environment and/or via remote or hybrid arrangement.

Frequently requires repetitive motions (substantial movements of the wrist, hand, and/or fingers).

This position is a 24X7X365 on call position as required for extenuating business circumstances. On call requires carrying a cell phone and responding to calls within the agreed upon timeframe set within PHEAA’s standards as well as after-hours on-site support. Internet connection from home is required as part of the on-call rotation.

Must be able to use a personal computer.

ADDITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

Strong writing and verbal communication skills.

Ability to focus attention on details, compile and analyze moderately complex data.

Ability to learn quickly and adapt in a changing environment.

Ability to promote and support a consistent, professional, customer focus.

Ability to juggle tasks and prioritize work effectively and efficiently.

Must be a team player.

PHEAA’s environment welcomes and supports our employees, customers, and stakeholders; we seek out and value differing perspectives and contributions.

Required Experience

Bachelor’s degree and three to five years of professional business administration experience or any relevant combination of training, experience, and/or certification(s).