Director, Loan Disbursement

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, 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, 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.

The Director Loan Disbursement Strategy will play a pivotal role in shaping and executing the loan disbursement strategy for Private Student Loan portfolio in their first line of defense controls for Sallie Mae’s. The position will report to the Director Business Analysis.

This position will be responsible for understanding, simplifying, optimizing and strategizing the development, and implementation of best‑in‑class loan disbursement strategies to achieve frictionless loan disbursement, and stratified by target segments while driving cost efficiencies. This role requires a deep understanding of the unsecured lending space, as well as an ability to influence cross‑functional teams and external partners to deliver key financial and operational goals.

An individual in this position will be expected to lead cross‑functional initiatives across high performing teams to build scalable loan disbursement strategy, develop standards to guide and work with internal teams, and legal partners. The role demands a strategic mindset and the ability to execute programs that drive financial performance while maintaining a customer‑centric approach.

This is a data intensive role and will require hands‑on approach. The preferred candidate will have high competency in SAS, SQL & Microsoft Office products. The Director will be responsible for the end‑to‑end development, implementation and compliance.

The position interacts with senior management and will be required to present analysis, reporting and recommendations to Sallie Mae senior executives and governance committees.

• Maintain, Develop and Execute Loan Disbursement Strategy
  • Maintain and simplify the current loan disbursement strategy
  • Design and implement scalable loan disbursement strategy with future expansion
  • Continuously evaluate and enhance the strategy to reduce friction and errors in execution
  • Collaborate with senior leadership to align the strategy with organizational goals and credit risk policies
  • Provide strategy recommendations to drive financial results to senior leaders.
  • Manage key partnerships across the business to influence change.
• First line of defense:
  • Lead project efforts on first line of defense testing and monitoring
  • Lead efforts for defining and implementing testing of new or changed regulations or guidance from Law & Compliance
• Manage reporting and analytics
  • Partner closely with cross functional teams to ensure that the strategies are compliant and data driven.
  • Develop and monitor key success metrics to measure program success
  • Drive continuous improvement in processes, tools, and systems to enhance team productivity and recovery…