Senior Manager, Education Operations

When you join Sallie Mae, you become a champion for all students.

We’re on a mission to power confidence as students begin their unique journey. To help them plan their higher education, successfully finish, and prepare for life after school. To help them Start smart. Learn big.

Students need guidance navigating this important time in their life. They need someone who acknowledges that their education path is unique. They need a partner willing to evolve and not only meet but surpass their expectations. We’re changing. Because students need a better way.

We’re looking for people who are excited to drive this transformation. To break barriers and think of new ways to adapt, help, and create better experiences for students—and for each other.

This is where diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and perspectives matter. It’s where you’re empowered to bring your authentic self to work.

Feeling your best allows you to do your best. Our benefits take care of the whole you—from physical and mental to financial and professional. You’ll get opportunities to further your education and career, support for you and your family (including your pets!), paid time off to volunteer for the things that matter to you, and more.

We’re obsessed with impact and making a real difference. For us, that means putting relationships first, asking “why not?” when tackling challenges, and continuously learning new skills.

Come do more than join something, change something. For students, for future generations, for the future of education.

What You’ll Contribute

The Senior Manager, Operations Education is responsible for developing and leading the education strategy that builds employee capability, strengthens operational performance, and supports an exceptional customer experience across Operations. This role provides strategic leadership for new hire education, continuing education, and ongoing skill development, ensuring learning programs are aligned with business priorities, regulatory requirements, organizational changes, and evolving workforce needs.

The Senior Manager partners with Operations leadership, Quality Assurance, Voice of the Customer, Compliance, Risk, Process Management, and other key stakeholders to translate business needs, performance trends, and emerging risks into effective education strategies. This role leads the evolution of Operations Education from traditional training delivery to a proactive, data-informed capability-building function.

What You’ll Do

Education Strategy & Leadership

• Develop and execute the Operations Education strategy and roadmap, aligning learning priorities with organizational goals, operational performance, customer experience, risk, and workforce needs.
• Establish a comprehensive learning framework encompassing new hire education, on-the-job learning, continuing education, skill development, and ongoing reinforcement.
• Anticipate future capability needs and develop education strategies that prepare employees for changes in processes, technology, products, regulations, and customer expectations.
• Serve as a strategic education partner to senior Operations leaders, providing recommendations regarding workforce capability, learning priorities, and performance improvement opportunities.
• Establish standards and governance for Operations education programs to promote consistency, quality, scalability, and effectiveness across business areas.

Business Performance & Learning Effectiveness

• Partner with Operations, Quality Assurance, Voice of the Customer, Compliance, Risk, and other stakeholders to identify trends, performance gaps, customer experience opportunities, and emerging learning needs.
• Translate performance data and business insights into targeted education strategies designed to improve employee capability and operational outcomes.
• Establish measures for evaluating learning effectiveness, including knowledge acquisition, skill application, performance improvement, and business impact.
• Analyze education and operational performance data to identify trends, evaluate program effectiveness, and recommend adjustments to learning strategies.
• Create reporting and insights that demonstrate the effectiveness and business value of Operations Education to senior leadership.
• Promote a culture of continuous learning by ensuring education extends beyond initial training and reinforces knowledge throughout the employee lifecycle.

Learning Program Oversight

• Provide strategic oversight for the design, development, implementation, and continuous improvement of Operations learning programs.
• Ensure curricula and learning experiences are aligned with business requirements, established procedures, compliance expectations, and customer experience standards.
• Guide the development of instructional approaches that incorporate instructor-led learning, virtual learning, simulations, practical application, digital learning, and performance support where appropriate.
• Establish standards for curriculum design, assessments, learning materials, and instructional delivery.
• Ensure education programs evolve based on learner feedback, performance results, stakeholder input, and changing business needs.

Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead, coach, and develop Education leaders and professionals, building a high-performing team capable of supporting evolving Operation’s needs.
• Establish expectations for instructional excellence, stakeholder partnership, accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Develop talent and succession plans that strengthen the long-term capabilities of the Education organization.
• Build subject-matter expertise within the Education team while ensuring sufficient cross-functional knowledge to respond effectively to changing business priorities.

Strategic Partnership & Change Enablement

• Build strong partnerships with Operations leaders and subject matter experts to ensure learning priorities align with business objectives.
• Serve as a key partner during large-scale operational changes, helping determine education requirements and workforce readiness needs.
• Develop education approaches that support successful adoption of new processes, systems, policies, products, and technologies.
• Partner with AI Enablement & Content to identify opportunities to incorporate technology and point-of-need knowledge into the broader employee learning experience.
• Represent Operations Education in cross-functional initiatives requiring learning, workforce readiness, or capability-building expertise.

Governance & Operational Management

• Manage education resources, capacity, priorities, and budgets to ensure alignment with organizational needs.
• Establish processes for prioritizing education requests based on risk, customer impact, business value, and organizational priorities.
• Oversee education project portfolios, timelines, and resource allocation.
• Ensure appropriate controls and documentation are maintained for education programs where required.
• Monitor external learning trends, emerging technologies, and industry practices and determine where they can improve Operations education.
  

The above information is intended to describe the general nature and level of work performed by employees assigned to this job; it is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities and qualifications required of employees in this role.

What You Have

Minimum Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience leading learning, education, training, organizational development, or workforce capability programs within a complex operational environment.
• Proven ability to develop and execute learning strategies aligned with organizational priorities and measurable business outcomes.
• Strong leadership experience, including developing teams, managing competing priorities, and influencing across organizational boundaries.
• Demonstrated ability to use operational data, quality results, employee performance information, and other insights to identify capability gaps and develop appropriate solutions.
• Strong understanding of instructional design, adult learning principles, curriculum development, facilitation, and learning evaluation.
• Experience leading large-scale learning initiatives and organizational change efforts.
• Strong project and program management capabilities with demonstrated experience managing multiple complex initiatives simultaneously.
• Excellent written, verbal, presentation, and executive communication skills.
• Strong consultative and relationship-management skills with the ability to influence senior leaders and cross-functional partners.
• Experience managing budgets, resources, capacity, and learning priorities.
• Ability to translate complex business requirements into practical and scalable education solutions.
• Demonstrated ability to operate strategically while maintaining appropriate oversight of execution and results.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in education, Learning and Development, Organizational Development, Business Administration, Organizational Management, Change Management or a related field.
• Progressive leadership experience within corporate learning, Operations education, learning and development, or a related discipline.
• Experience supporting large-scale contact center or customer-facing Operations organizations.
• Experience partnering with Quality Assurance, Compliance, Risk, Customer Experience, and Operations functions.
• Experience with learning management systems, e-learning platforms, instructional design technology, and emerging AI-enabled learning or performance-support capabilities.
• Professional certifications related to learning and development, instructional design, project management, or change management are a plus.
  

The Americans with Disabilities Act

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) prohibits discrimination by employers, in compensation and employment opportunities, against qualified individuals with disabilities who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the “essential functions” of a job. A function may be essential for any of several reasons, including: the job exists to perform that function, the employee holding the job was hired for his/her expertise in performing the function, or only a limited number of employees are available to perform that function.

• Competitive base salaries 

• Bonus incentives 

• Generous PTO, Floating Holidays and 12 Federal Holidays observed

• Support for financial-well-being and retirement 401k with employer match

• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, hospital indemnity, critical illness, pet insurance and more

• Employer paid short-term/long-term disability and basic life insurance  

• Flexible hybrid working arrangements.

• Paid parental leave and adoption reimbursement programs

• Free access to on-site staffed fitness centers (in Delaware) and gym subsidy (for locations outside Delaware) 

• Confidential counseling support (EAP), Health Advocacy services and Wellness program with financial incentives

• Tuition Reimbursement and Family Scholarship Programs

• Career development and training opportunities

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