AI Enrollment Operations Specialist

If you're passionate about building a better future for individuals, communities, and our country-and you're committed to working hard to play your part in building that future-consider WGU as the next step in your career.

Driven by a mission to expand access to higher education through online, competency-based degree programs, WGU is also committed to being a great place to work for a diverse workforce of student-focused professionals. The university has pioneered a new way to learn in the 21st century, one that has received praise from academic, industry, government, and media leaders. Whatever your role, working for WGU gives you a part to play in helping students graduate, creating a better tomorrow for themselves and their families.

The salary range for this position takes into account the wide range of factors that are considered in making compensation decisions including but not limited to skill sets; experience and training; licensure and certifications; and other business and organizational needs.

At WGU, it is not typical for an individual to be hired at or near the top of the range for their position, and compensation decisions are dependent on the facts and circumstances of each case. A reasonable estimate of the current range is:

Job Description

Responsibilities

• Develop and refine conversation flows using NLP tools (e.g., Hugging Face Transformers) to address student inquiries (e.g., program eligibility, transcript submission, financial aid deadlines, etc.)

• Create scripts tailored to WGU's personas (e.g., Maria, James, Aisha) for multilingual and accessible interactions.

• Serve as a liaison between Enrollment Operations and product/engineering teams to translate business requirements (e.g., enrollment processes, compliance needs) into technical specifications for the AI's tech stack (React/Tailwind CSS, Python/FastAPI, PostgreSQL, AWS).

• Participate in Agile sprints, provide feedback on API development (e.g., for Enrollment & Student Portal integration), and ensure alignment with WGU's enrollment workflows.

• Coordinate with engineering to achieve scalability (e.g., 10,000+ concurrent users, <1s response time) and reliability (99.9% uptime).

• Monitor AI performance

• Conduct regular testing to validate responses against WGU's program data (e.g., GPA requirements, enrollment deadlines, etc.).

• Update AI models with new program details or policies, ensuring compliance with FERPA and NWCCU standards.

• Work with Enrollment Counselors to ensure seamless handoffs for complex cases.

• Collaborate with WGU's EdTech team to maintain system integrations and compliance.

• Engage with prospective students during user testing to refine usability for diverse personas

• Drive the AI Enrollment Advisor project, managing timelines (e.g., 4-6 weeks for prototype, 6-8 weeks for AI training) under the direction of Enrollment Operations Management.

• Prioritize high-priority features (e.g., eligibility checks, transcript guidance) in collaboration with product and engineering teams.

• Document progress and report to business unit leadership on scalability, performance metrics, and enrollment impact.

• Performs other job-related duties as assigned.

This job description includes a general representation of job requirements rather than a comprehensive inventory of all required responsibilities or work activities. The contents of this document or related job requirements may change at any time with or without notice.

Qualifications

• Proficiency in Python, React, or similar for reviewing code and collaborating on UI/UX (e.g., Tailwind CSS).

• Strong understanding of NLP and recommendation algorithms (e.g., scikit-learn) for conversation flow design.

• Project management skills (e.g., Agile, Jira) to drive cross-functional deliverables and align with business unit goals.

• Excellent communication to bridge enrollment needs (e.g., FAFSA deadlines) with technical teams.

• Knowledge of FERPA, GDPR, and NWCCU standards for compliance.

• Align AI features with WGU's enrollment goals (e.g., scalability, fraud prevention) under business unit leadership.

• Ensure 99.9% uptime and accurate AI responses for 185,000+ students.

• Bridge Enrollment Management Operations, product, and engineering teams to deliver a seamless AI solution.

• Address technical constraints (e.g., API rate limits) and student pain points (e.g., Aisha's technical unfamiliarity).

Bachelor's degree in Instructional Design, Computer Science, Data Science, Education Technology, or related field.

Experience

• 3+ years in education technology, or AI-driven customer support, preferably within higher education.

• Experience with chatbot development or NLP platforms (e.g., Hugging Face Transformers, Dialogflow).

• Proven ability to collaborate with product and engineering teams on API-driven projects (e.g., FastAPI, CRM integrations) to translate business needs into technical solutions.

• Familiarity with higher education processes (e.g., admissions, financial aid, transfer credits, FERPA compliance).

Experience in lieu of education

Equivalent relevant experience performing the essential functions of this job may substitute for education degree requirements. Generally, equivalent relevant experience is defined as 1 year of experience for 1 year of education and is the discretion of the hiring manager.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in Enrollment/Admissions

• Experience with WGU's competency-based model or similar online education platforms.

• Spanish Language to support bi-lingual flows

• Familiarity with AWS for scalability and cloud-based hosting.

• Prior experience communicating & reporting to a business unit (e.g., Enrollment Management, Student Services) while partnering with engineering teams.

• Prior experience working in autonomous capacities with proven success

• Graduate education in a relevant field (e.g., M.S. in Data Analytics).

Working Conditions:

• This is a Full-Time role co-located in either the Salt Lake City or Phoenix office, Monday through Friday during regular business hours.

Position & Application Details

How to Apply: If interested, an application will need to be submitted online. Internal WGU employees will need to apply through the internal job board in Workday.

Additional Information

Disclaimer: The job posting highlights the most critical responsibilities and requirements of the job. It's not all-inclusive.

Accommodations: Applicants with disabilities who require assistance or accommodation during the application or interview process should contact our Talent Acquisition team at recruiting@wgu.edu.

Equal Employment Opportunity: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to any protected characteristic as required by law.