Director, Financial Aid Events Planning

Director, Financial Aid Events Planning

College Board - Higher Ed Membership and Access

Location: This is a fully remote role. Candidates who live near CB offices have the option of being fully remote or hybrid (Tuesday and Wednesday in office).

Role Type: full-time position

About the Team

The Financial Aid Engagement team is composed of six professionals with deep expertise in financial aid, project management, and analytics. The team is collaborative, mission-aligned, and structured to empower each member to lead priority initiatives.

Financial Aid Programs and Services is a unit within the Higher Education Member and Access (HMA) division. The HMA division advances College Board as a global Membership organization of over 6,000 members through three critical areas of work: 1) strategy and operations of a multifaceted governance structure that attracts the profession's best and brightest and offers inspired volunteer leadership opportunities and experiences for members to engage in College Board's work; 2) ensuring that College Board continues to meet the needs of higher education stakeholders and that the higher education community accepts, values, and adopts College Board tools, resources, and assessments in service of our mission; and 3) supporting higher education members and students with innovative financial aid programs designed to deliver access, affordability, equity, and efficiency. Financial Aid Programs and Services manages and delivers a suite of financial aid products (PowerFAIDS, CSS Profile, Institutional Methodology, Net Price Calculator, IDOC, and Institutional Need Analysis System) that support students in the financial aid application process and institutions in the administration of financial aid. Built by financial aid professionals for financial aid professionals, our integrated tools help institutions develop equitable, effective, and efficient financial aid programs.

About the Opportunity

The Director, Financial Aid Events Planning is a strategic leader responsible for designing and executing high impact convenings that elevate College Board's financial aid mission. This role blends strategic oversight with hands-on event delivery, ensuring an exceptional experience for members, partners, and stakeholders. The Director of Financial Aid Events Planning is an integral member of the Financial Aid Engagement and Sales team, part of College Board's Financial Aid Programs and Services which creates and supports all of College Board's financial aid products. The director is responsible for leading and managing the successful planning and execution of on-site, off-site, and virtual professional development and training events for our members and customers. In this role you'll manage planning logistics including gathering and assessing event needs, site and software evaluation/selection, contract review, budget oversight, vendor management, and registration. This is an opportunity to join a mission-based organization and make a significant contribution to educational access, advocacy, and financial aid. This position reports to the Executive Director of Financial Engagement and Services.

In this role, you will:

Strategic Events Planning and Execution (50%)

• Lead the long-range strategy and vision for financial aid professional convenings to advance College Board's mission, strengthen product retention, and drive engagement.
• Lead end-to-end planning and project management for professional development events, including virtual webinars, national conferences, regional sessions, and institutional training.
• In partnership with Director of Financial Aid Marketing and Communications, co-lead conference design and positioning, including defining event goals, content strategy, format, and attendee experience.
• Manage event logistics including vendor selection and management, content development, contracts, onsite support, registration, and audiovisual, committee/speaker travel, and hotel room blocks.
• Identify and execute strategies and new best practices that result in measurable growth of event engagement, customer satisfaction, and conversion.
• Coordinate with internal and external stakeholders to manage speaker engagement, session proposals, content development, outreach, scheduling, content alignment, and preparation to ensure a cohesive and impactful event experience.
• Provide travel support for advisory committees including managing rooming lists, airfare, and reimbursements.
• Drive strategy aimed at streamlining event planning processes and improving the end-to-end attendee experience.
• Oversee site selection and virtual platform setup; manage vendor and venue coordination, registration, day-of execution, and travel support for committee members, presenters, and staff.
• Draft and maintain run-of-show documents, production timelines, and internal staffing plans to ensure flawless delivery.
• Own accountability for meeting event KPIs such as NPS, registration growth, and revenue targets.
• Serve as a thought partner to product and marketing leadership on how convenings can accelerate product adoption and user satisfaction.

Budget Management (15%)

• Develop and oversee event budget planning.
• Coordinate payments and reconciliations of events related transactions.
• Develop and maintain event revenue and modeling.
• Make budget recommendations for cost savings and revenue growth based on past event performance and vendor negotiations.

Technology and Training Support (25%)

• Manage event technology platforms (e.g., Zoom, Cvent, etc...) including registration, attendee engagement, and Salesforce integrations.
• Ensure accessibility, consistency, and ease of use across all convening tools.
• Troubleshoot technical issues during events and serve as the primary liaison for platform support and vendor partners.
• Develop and execute attendee surveys and maintain post-event analytics to inform training and support strategies.
• Manage event scheduling and registration logistics.
• Evaluate and recommend software systems to improve operational efficiency and attendee experience.

Staff & Exhibitor Support (10%)

• Work closely with Director of Financial Aid Marketing and Communications to deploy events promotions and align brand presence.
• Develop and maintain exhibiting toolkits and assets.
• Support exhibiting strategies and ancillary meetings including securing conference and events booth space, assets, and contracts.
• Support staff team engagements including securing meeting spaces and coordinating staff travel.
• Lead planning for national exhibiting presence to support sales enablement and customer acquisition strategies.

About You

To qualify for tis role, you must have:

• 5-7 years of related experience working in the fields of event planning, event data management, education management, and membership association management.
• Ability to use data and analytics to drive decision-making.
• Strong organization, project management and prioritization skills and the proven ability to move forward multiple projects in concert, both independently and as a member of the team.
• Adaptable and open to feedback with the desire to learn and grow.
• Able to attend to numerous time sensitive activities at once, i.e., multitask.
• Experience managing team workflows and projects via Monday.com, MS Project or similar tools
• Understands the complexity of large-scale conferences.
• Understanding of the school and college environments and those of educational systems
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to relate to educators and other constituents at a variety of levels.
• Can answer to numerous internal and external audiences with accuracy and grace.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills including proofreading and editing skills.
• Ability to design and deliver effective presentations and training resources.
• Proficient in PowerPoint, Word, Excel, CVent and skilled with web content management systems.
• The ability to travel 3-6 times a year to College Board offices or on behalf of College Board business

All roles at College Board require:

• A passion for expanding educational and career opportunities and mission-driven work
• Authorization to work in the United States for any employer
• Curiosity and enthusiasm for emerging technologies, with a willingness to experiment with and adopt new AI-driven solutions and a comfort learning and applying new digital tools independently and proactively.
• Clear and concise communication skills, written and verbal
• A learner's mindset and a commitment to growth: welcoming diverse perspectives, giving and receiving timely, respectful feedback, and continuously improving through iterative learning and user input.
• A drive for impact and excellence: solving complex problems, making data-informed decisions, prioritizing what matters most, and continuously improving through learning, user input, and external benchmarking.
• A collaborative and empathetic approach: working across differences, fostering trust, and contributing to a culture of shared success.

About Our Process

• Application review will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled. This role is expected to accept applications for a minimum of 5 business days.
• While the hiring process may vary, it generally includes: resume and application submission, recruiter phone/video screen, hiring manager interview, performance exercise such as live coding, a panel interview, a conversation with leadership and reference checks.

What We Offer

At College Board, we offer more than just a paycheck-we provide a meaningful career, a supportive team, and a comprehensive package designed to help you thrive. We're a self-sustaining nonprofit that believes in fair and competitive compensation, grounded in your qualifications, experience, impact, and the market.

A Thoughtful Approach to Compensation

• The hiring range for this role is $80,000-$120,000.
• Your exact salary will depend on your location, experience, and how your background compares to others in similar roles at the College Board.
• We aim to make our best offer upfront-rooted in fairness, transparency, and market data.
• We adjust salaries by location to ensure fairness, no matter where you live.

You'll have open, transparent conversations about compensation, benefits, and what it's like to work at College Board throughout your hiring process. Check out our careers page for more.