Senior Portfolio Strategy & Analytics Lead - NDS

Nelnet is a diversified and innovative company committed to enriching lives through the power of service as a student loan servicer, professional services company, consumer loan originator and servicer, payments processor, renewable energy solutions, and K-12 and higher education expert. For over 40 years, Nelnet has been serving its customers, associates, and communities.

The perks of working at Nelnet go beyond our benefits package. When you join the Nelnet team, you're part of a community invested in the success of each individual. That support comes through in our work, as we are united by our mission of creating opportunities for people where they live, learn, and work.

The Senior Portfolio Strategy & Analytics Lead serves as a senior analytics expert for student loan portfolios, responsible for deeply understanding portfolio performance, designing advanced analytical frameworks, and translating complex data into clear insights that inform portfolio strategy and decision‑making. The role partners closely with Data Analytics teams to design data structures, define portfolio metrics, and build analytical reporting and visualization solutions.

While this role supports and evaluates portfolio strategies and initiatives, its primary focus is on measurement, analysis, and insight, rather than day-to-day initiative execution or program leadership.

External applicants must reside within 30 miles of the below office locations:

• Centennial, CO
• Lincoln, NE
• Sidney, NE
• Madison, WI

Nelnet believes in a hybrid work environment that accommodates both in‑office and remote work. This model promotes a positive work‑life balance and culture, enabling in‑person collaboration when possible while also providing benefits associated with remote work. The standard hybrid work schedule includes 24 hours of in‑office work each week, for associates that reside within 30 miles of an office. This is subject to change, based on manager discretion.

• Develop and maintain deep analytical understanding of student loan portfolio performance, including repayment behavior, delinquency, default, cure, and lifecycle transitions.
• Conduct complex portfolio analyses across programs, cohorts, and borrower segments to identify performance drivers, risks, and emerging trends.
• Serve as a primary analytical resource for portfolio performance questions from senior leadership, Finance, Operations, and Strategy teams.

• Design analytical frameworks to track, measure, and evaluate portfolio strategies, pilots, and initiatives.
• Define success metrics, baselines, and evaluation methodologies in partnership with Data Analytics and business stakeholders.
• Perform post‑implementation analysis to assess effectiveness, quantify impact, and identify unintended consequences.
• Translate analytical findings into evidence‑based recommendations to inform future strategy decisions.

• Define, standardize, and evolve portfolio‑level metrics and KPIs to ensure consistency and analytical rigor.
• Partner with Data Analytics teams to:
  • Design and enhance analytical data models and portfolio‑specific datasets
  • Define data requirements for new portfolio metrics, analyses, and reporting
  • Ensure data quality, lineage, and scalability for portfolio analytics use cases
• Align portfolio metrics with Finance, Risk, and operational measurement frameworks.

• Partner with Data Analytics to design, develop, and enhance portfolio dashboards, reports, and visualizations.
• Drive the evolution of executive‑facing portfolio views to emphasize trends, drivers, and forward‑looking indicators.
• Ensure reporting solutions are analytically sound, scalable, and aligned with standardized metric definitions.
• Leverage visualization to tell clear, accurate stories about portfolio performance and strategy outcomes.

• Independently perform advanced portfolio analyses using SQL and analytical programming tools.
• Utilize Python for data analysis, modeling, automation, and exploratory analytics where appropriate.
• Design, build, and maintain analytical content in…