NDS Program Office IT Program Administrator - Governance

About the role

The position lives in the Nelnet Diversified Services (NDS) Program Office, within IT Process Governance & Atlassian Products. It involves ensuring NDS's SDLC stages include AI-specific gates, artifact requirements, and approval checkpoints, and verifying AI-specific requirements at SDLC checkpoints.

Responsibilities

• Ensure NDS SDLC stages include the AI-specific gates, artifact requirements, and approval checkpoints required by the Nelnet AI Governance Policy and Acceptable Use Policy.
• Maintain the NDS AI-extended SDLC (AISDLC), updating it as policy, regulation, or technology changes.
• Evaluate submissions for accuracy and completeness of AI-specific requirements.
• Verify NDS associates are using approved AI tools at correct data classification levels.
• Build and maintain the NDS AI compliance evidence package, keeping it current and audit-ready.
• Maintain a current inventory of all AI systems in development, deployed, and retired within NDS, including owners, risk tier, and system type.
• Ensure development teams understand their AI governance obligations, and hold them accountable when requirements aren't met.
• Represent NDS in enterprise AI governance conversations and working groups.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent combination of education and relevant experience.
• 2+ years in a role combining process, compliance, governance, or audit work with meaningful exposure to AI or emerging technology.
• Genuine, demonstrable fluency in the current AI landscape.
• Conceptual understanding of how agentic AI systems work — what agents are, how they use tools and memory, and what makes them different from traditional software from a governance standpoint.

Qualifications

• Experience evaluating an AI system description or impact assessment and identifying what's missing, understated, or inaccurate.
• Hands-on experience with Jira, Confluence, or Atlassian products, including platform health monitoring and troubleshooting.
• Familiarity with NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001, or similar AI governance frameworks.
• CMMI process area knowledge.
• Exposure to CFPB, FCRA, UDAAP, or FSA regulatory requirements.
• Relevant certifications: AIGP, CIPP, CISA, CRCM, or equivalent AI/compliance credentials.
• Experience building or reviewing agentic AI systems, LLM integrations, or AI-assisted workflows.
• Change management experience or certification (Prosci, CCMP, or equivalent).

Skills & Competencies

• Follow AI news, model releases, and regulatory developments without being asked.
• Comfortable telling a team they're not meeting a requirement, in a way that results in compliance, not conflict.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills across all organizational levels.
• Excellent interpersonal, consensus-building, and analytical skills.
• Highly self-motivated and proactive, with a strong sense of ownership.
• Low ego about what you don't know, high confidence about what you do.