Supervisor Program Management

PHEAA is a nonprofit student aid organization that holds a mission of providing affordable access to higher education.
 
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Salary: Grade 14, Commensurate with experience starting at $53,393.00
 
Shift: Monday through Friday 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM Hybrid 1-2 days a week on-site
 
Location: 1200 North 7th Street, Harrisburg, PA. 
 
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 Supervisor, Program Management also has direct oversight of and leads a team of PA Program Analyst, ensuring compliance with established eligibility requirements, program policy, and guidelines. This role also serves as a backup the Senior PA Program Analysts.

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.

•    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 Senior Program Analysts, 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.

•    Backup to Senior Program Analysts, maintaining a functional knowledge of various State Grants and Special Programs and providing professional support where appropriate.

Staff Management 

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

•    Interview and recommend prospective candidates for open departmental positions.

•    Recommend and/or make decisions in personnel related matters (performance review, disciplinary actions, and terminations).

•    Liaison between PA Program Analysts and management staff.

•    Review, analyze and provide feedback on team output to ensure support of department policy and strategy.

•    Provide recommendations for improving the program analyst team, department performance, efficiency or workflow.

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.

•    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 DTS 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 Service Desk Tickets, 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.

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

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

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

•    Troubleshoot minor computer and equipment issues and work with Digital Technology Services (DTS) to resolve issues.  

•    Other duties and responsibilities as assigned.

Required Skills

Bachelor’s degree,  two to four years of experience in a program management role or the equivalent training and applicable experience, and zero to four years of supervisory experience. 

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

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

•    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.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT

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

•    Remain sedentary for significant periods of time.

•    Must be able to perform analysis and draw conclusions.

•    Must be able to perform basic math.

•    Must be able to use a personal computer.

ADDITIONAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

•    Ability to analyze and interpret written and moderately complex numerical information. 

•    Ability to exercise judgment and discretion in developing, applying, and interpreting regulations, guidelines, and procedures.  

•    Ability to manage and prioritizes multiple assignments and competing priorities in a rapidly growing, fast paced environment.

•    Ability to develop and promote effective working relationships with all levels of internal management as well as externally.

•    Must possess excellent written and verbal communication skills.

•    Proficient use of Microsoft Office.

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

•    Ability to work effectively in a team environment.

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,  two to four years of experience in a program management role or the equivalent training and applicable experience, and zero to four years of supervisory experience.