Job Summary

Under the general direction of the Higher Education Pathways Program Manager (Cal-SOAP Program Manager) the Cal-SOAP Financial Aid & College Access Technician is responsible for knowing, explaining, and marketing complex financial aid and college admissions requirements to students, families, and counselors. This is a classified, full-time, 11-month position. This is a technician level position which requires working on a variety of projects under minimal supervision. The position focuses on planning and implementing programming, with opportunities to support new program development as the department grows to meet community needs.

Examples of Duties

• In collaboration with the Cal-SOAP program manager, provides leadership in developing and advancing the Cal-SOAP College Success Program that assists students and parents in understanding and accessing financial aid resources and college access information to pursue post-secondary education;
• Maintains a working knowledge of complex financial aid systems including federal and state financial aid applications and programming, eligibility requirements, financial aid packaging, and private and public financial aid resources in order to serve as a financial aid expert during Cal-SOAP and community partner events;
• Serves as the point of contact between the Cal-SOAP College Success Program, high school counselors, financial aid and college admissions staff at Cal Poly Humboldt and College of the Redwoods, and students and their guardians;
• Interviews, selects, and coordinates school placements and schedules of student staff;
• Leads and trains student staff to create a college-going school-wide culture and to provide accurate and timely college access information to increase their college eligibility;
• Leads and trains student staff on financial aid topics so that they may provide accurate and timely support to students and families completing financial aid applications including but not limited to the FAFSA or CADAA, CSS Profile, and scholarships with a high degree of financial aid literacy;
• Assists student staff with problem-solving families’ unique financial situations when completing federal or state financial aid applications if needed;
• Plans, coordinates, and expands Cash For College programming to support the comprehensive financial aid application process. Hosts and serves as an expert at Cash for College events;
• Creates and presents financial aid literacy and college awareness presentations and workshops that are tied to California academic standards;
• Using knowledge of financial aid and college admissions requirements, creates extensive informational and marketing materials including but not limited to, handouts for students and parents, college planning guides, website upkeep, weekly social media posts, media releases, newsletters, informational videos, etc.;
• Provides resources and workshops on financial aid to counselors;
• Serves as an expert guest presenter at high school financial aid nights/parent nights/etc.;
• Assists the Cal-SOAP Program & Events Technician as necessary to support the recruitment, intake and reimbursement of student staff;
• Works with partnering school sites to ensure the quality of student staff work performance through meetings, site visit observations, performance reports, goal setting, and providing verbal and/or written corrective action when necessary;
• Collects required student data from schools and enters data into Cal-SOAP database, as well as, develops and maintains supplemental tracking and report systems, as necessary. Ensures that student staff tracking is accurately recorded and stored in a confidential manner;
• Responsible for creating and maintaining local financial aid completion dashboards and data visualization to track FAFSA/CADAA completion for partnering schools and maintain a record of historical data;
• Collects, formats, interprets, and analyzes financial aid completion data weekly, ensures local FAFSA/CADAA completion data is up to date on Cal-SOAP dashboard, and issues weekly WebGrants reports to high school counselors and student staff with data summaries and suggested actions;
• Maintains records in compliance with program and legal requirements and updates the Technician Manual with new policies and procedures, as they are developed;

Minimum Qualifications

Education and Experience

• Graduation from High School or equivalent and 1-year related experience or;
• Bachelor’s Degree in a related field

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience working in a school district or county office of education.

Knowledge of:

• Community College, California State University, and University of California enrollment requirements and timelines;
• Federal Application for Financial Aid (FAFSA), California Dream Act (CADAA), and Cal Grant requirements;
• Financial planning for college;
• Career paths and future related educational opportunities for students;
• Effective strategies for successful academic support services to increase college admissions and Cal Grant eligibility;
• Active listening, coaching and team building, effective organizational and leadership skills;
• Effective marketing and public relations strategies and techniques.

Ability to:

• Understand, explain, and stay abreast of changes to financial aid and college admissions timelines and requirements;
• Create effective informational and marketing materials, including public relations and social media outreach that is accurate and timely;
• Coordinate, direct, and assess the work of college students;
• Align college students’ schedules with school site needs;
• Adjust communication style with different populations, such as, college students, middle and high school students, parents, and school/agency personnel;
• Maintain accurate records for program performance tracking and audits;
• Develop and present training materials for college success coaches;
• Present to small and large groups with poise, confidence and clarity;
• Comprehend, and remember complex requirements, regulations, policies, and procedures;
• Establish and maintain positive, collaborative and cooperative working relationships with both internal staff and agency partners, and communicate effectively via email, telephone, Zoom, and in-person with professionalism, tact, courtesy and sensitivity;
• Organize work and manage multiple projects simultaneously to meet deadlines;
• Follow oral and written directions;
• Work independently and as a member of a team and exercise sound judgment;
• Work effectively under varying degrees of stress and consistently demonstrate strong aptitude and interest in learning.
• Model the same professional dress code as student staff, as outlined in the Cal-SOAP Program Handbook;
• Use Google Suite and Microsoft Office Suite proficiently. Canva, Prezi, Padlet, and social media experience preferred.

Working Conditions

With or without accommodation, this position includes prolonged periods of standing or sitting, frequent walking, and occasional bending, stooping, and reaching. The employee must be able to lift, push, and pull objects up to 30 pounds. Visual and auditory abilities are required to perform essential job functions. Must be able to operate computers and other office equipment.  Periodically required to modify daily/weekly work schedule in a reasonable manner to accommodate the needs of the program (e.g. Cal-SOAP Saturday trainings, evening events/meetings). This position is required to have a cell phone with reimbursement available based on current HCOE policy amount.

Other Requirements

• Must be fingerprinted and a satisfactory Department of Justice records check must be received by HCOE prior to employment.
• TB testing and/or risk assessment will be required upon employment.
• Other requirements as appropriate for the job responsibilities.

• Applicants must possess a valid CA driver’s license, auto insurance and have access to a reliable vehicle to perform certain tasks related to this position.

• The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed. They are not intended to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified.

Range 9 | Revised April 1, 2026