Scholarship Development & Outreach Manager

Sacbar; Irvine, Northern (CA, KY); Hybrid; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

University of California, Irvine seeks a Scholarship Development & Outreach Manager within the Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships. This role plans and expands centralized and school-level scholarships, partners with donors and faculty, and drives outreach through marketing campaigns and publications.

You will analyze complex programs, advise departments on optimal fund use, and manage budgets and timelines while ensuring compliance with regulations.

Qualifications

• Advanced knowledge of policies, regulations, and practices for awarding financial aid; specialized knowledge of programs.
• Experience using complex databases and analyzing large data sets.
• Ability to interpret complex policies and ensure compliance.

Responsibilities

• Manage administration, awarding, and revision of centralized and department-specific scholarships.
• Advise academic departments on strategies to identify candidates and optimize fund use.
• Lead scholarship product planning from concept to market rollout and develop roadmaps.
• Oversee scholarship brand management and marketing campaigns from concept to execution.
• Coordinate, implement, evaluate and report on government, agency, university, or donor aid programs.
• Develop policies and procedures to ensure compliant aid delivery.
• Counsel on complex issues and authorize exceptions to policies.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Critical thinking

Communication skills

Customer service

Organizational skills

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

The Division of Enrollment Management at UC Irvine is a key campus thought partner that provides collaborative leadership in university-wide efforts, utilizing systematic, innovative, and synergistic approaches to leverage a data-informed enrollment strategy to improve market distinctiveness, and execute the campus strategic plan. The division comprises the offices of Enrollment Management, Financial Aid & Scholarships, University Registrar, and Undergraduate Admissions.

The Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships is a key contributor to student success and student access in higher education, administering all types of financial assistance for eligible students demonstrating financial need, academic merit, and/or other merit factor(s). This includes, but is not limited to scholarships, grants, loans, and/or work-study awards.

Under the general supervision of the Associate Director of Scholarships, the Scholarship Development & Outreach Manager is responsible for scholarship product planning and marketing. Applies advanced, specialized expertise for financial aid programs & awards and regularly resolves individual, complex financial aid situations. The incumbent is responsible for performing a variety of duties associated with scholarship application review, scholarship candidate selection, enhancement of existing scholarships, development of new scholarships, and all related marketing activities, and outreach. The incumbent requires an excellent knowledge of and ability to administer practices with regard to scholarship processes, in compliance with all applicable regulations. The incumbent works closely with team members from the scholarship unit as well as works closely with faculty and donors to solicit and manage scholarship programs. The incumbent will be dedicated to providing high quality service to all constituencies of the university. The incumbent will exhibit the highest professional standards and ethical principles and will be committed to the tenets of UCI’s mission as well as its goals and objectives related to scholarships.

First Essential Function

Percent of Time: 20%

Manages the administration, awarding, and revision of centralized & school/department specific scholarships, including yield scholarships that support campus goals in enhancing the yield of meritorious students.

Second Essential Function

Percent of Time: 20%

Advises academic departments on strategies in identifying scholarship candidates and provides schools information to assist in maximum utilization of funds, ensuring all scholarships awarded by academic schools and departments meet university eligibility requirements.

Third Essential Function

Percent of Time: 15%

Leads scholarship product planning from concept to market rollout, overseeing opportunity identification, feasibility, design, development, and launch phases. Develops strategy and roadmaps for the scholarship portfolio, conducting market research, competitive analysis, business case development, and fund distribution modeling. Manages budgets, timelines, and risk assessments while evaluating market positioning to effectively target key audiences. Drives the expansion and improvement of the scholarship portfolio by defining requirements, securing approvals, packaging new offerings, and producing supporting publications.

Fourth Essential Function

Percent of Time: 15%

Oversees scholarship brand management, awareness, and positioning while developing and executing long-term marketing strategies aligned with unit objectives. Manages day-to-day marketing activities including online and print campaigns from concept to execution and identifies weaknesses in existing campaigns to optimize performance within budget. Coordinates outreach efforts, presentations, seminars, and workshops to promote scholarships to diverse audiences within and outside the UCI community. Monitors and reports on campaign effectiveness, conducts market surveys, and recommends engaging content for the scholarship website and blog. Champions donor relationship management by leveraging university donor data to assess customer satisfaction and represents the Scholarship Unit at on and off-campus events.

Fifth Essential Function

Percent of Time: 10%

Coordinates, implements, evaluates, and reports on very complex, specialized government, agency, University, or donor aid programs. Serves as expert resource on specialized programs and related regulations and policies.

Sixth Essential Function

Percent of Time: 10%

Works with internal and external organizations to develop program policies and coordinate procedures. Interprets regulations and develops or recommends procedures to ensure compliance and accurate aid delivery.

Seventh Essential Function

Percent of Time: 5%

Provides individual counseling on and recommends resolution of extremely sensitive, specialized and / or complex issues. Exercises professional judgment to authorize exceptions to policies, changes in financial aid awards or additional funding.

Eighth Essential Function

Percent of Time: 5%

Performs needs analysis, assesses eligibility, and exercises professional judgment to determine allocation of aid awards under complex, specialized regulations or for escalated cases. Recommends packaging policies and strategies for allocation of awards to groups of students.

Other Working Conditions

• Primarily a remote position. However, occasional on-campus presence is required to meet with students and families, collaborate with university partners, and represent the financial aid office at campus events
• Must be available to work occasional evenings, weekends, and special events
• Must complete and pass a US Department of Justice background check
• Performs other duties as assigned
• This job description is not intended to be a complete list of all responsibilities, duties or skills required for the job and is subject to review and change at any time, with or without notice, in accordance with the needs of the organization
• Complies with all policies and standards

Required:

• Advanced knowledge of policies, regulations, and practices for awarding financial aid; specialized knowledge of particular programs.
• Working knowledge of federal, state, university, UC Office of the President, and other internal and external agencies packaging policies and practices.
• Advanced knowledge of University policies, processes, and procedures.
• Advanced knowledge of advising and counseling techniques.
• Ability to interpret complex policies and develop procedures to ensure compliance.
• Ability to calculate and reconcile financial aid with attention to detail and accuracy. Experience using complex databases and analyzing large volumes of data.
• Organizational skills and ability to prioritize work and manage competing deadlines. Ability to quickly act to changing deadlines and manage multiple complex projects concurrently.
• Advanced written and verbal communication skills to interact with diverse groups of people. Active listening, persuasion, and negotiation skills. Possesses advanced customer service orientation skills.
• Advanced ability to assess processes and implement improvements. Excellent interpersonal skills. Strong social perceptiveness abilities.
• Advanced proficiency with standard office software as well as internet and email applications. Thorough knowledge of common University specific computer application programs.
• Maintain security and confidentiality of information and records
• Advanced problem identification, critical thinking, and problem solving skills; judgment and decision-making ability.

Preferred:

• Experience using Student Financial Planning and/or Student Billing Systems
• Knowledge and experience with processes and implementation methodologies of product planning and marketing as well as project management
• Familiarity with online content marketing and social media development

Other:

See job id # 151065 on UC Irvine's Careers Website.

Conditions of Employment:

The University of California, Irvine (UCI) seeks to provide a safe and healthy environment for the entire UCI community. As part of this commitment, all applicants who accept an offer of employment must comply with the following conditions of employment:

• Background Check and Live Scan
• Employment Misconduct*
• Legal Right to work in the United States
• Vaccination Policies
• Smoking and Tobacco Policy
• Drug Free Environment

*Misconduct Disclosure Requirement: As a condition of employment, the final candidate who accepts a conditional offer of employment will be required to disclose if they have been subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct; received notice of any allegations or are currently the subject of any administrative or disciplinary proceedings involving misconduct; have left a position after receiving notice of allegations or while under investigation in an administrative or disciplinary proceeding involving misconduct; or have filed an appeal of a finding of misconduct with a previous employer.

The following additional conditions may apply, some of which are dependent upon business unit or job specific requirements.

• California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act
• E-Verify
• Pre-Placement Health Evaluation