Reporting to the Manager, Procurement Systems, the Business Analyst (BA) will work with a diverse team of procurement focused individuals as well as the broader University community, to provide research and analysis services to support the ongoing procurement related activities of the university.  The BA contributes specialized knowledge to the team and has the capacity to receive appropriate training, experience and exposure to technology and business requirements for future areas of specialization. The incumbent provides expertise and oversight in the use of tools for tracking, reporting, analytics, metrics and monitoring of procurement related activities. Working closely with the Manager, Procurement Systems, the BA ensures quality delivery/implementation of applications and process change, along with appropriate communication and training support for effective and enhanced system and business process functionality.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Understand, collaborate, liaise and communicate with both internal and external business units to plan and provide for information systems changes to meet current and future requirements.
• Understand, collaborate, liaise and communicate with business owners, stakeholders and system users as necessary to enhance the adoption and usage of procurement systems for operations (e.g. – reporting, application configuration, workflow processes, system enhancements/upgrades, etc.)
• In collaboration with university clients and other analysts, research, investigate and recommend system and business process improvements.
• Review and edit business requirements, processes and recommendations to meet user needs and system requirements, ensuring necessary level of clarity achieved.
• Perform problem diagnosis, detailed analysis and complete investigation of system failures or issues and provide recommendations for corrective actions.
• Perform detailed query development and report specifications and/or development to support business requirements and information needs and retrieval tools. Ensures high quality standards for data integrity and accuracy, analysis and reporting.
• Complete detailed system functional specifications for reports, interfaces, conversions, modifications, customizations or extensions.
• Maintain an informed understanding of data definitions, data usage within the administrative applications and how to access and retrieve data for inquiry and reporting purposes.
• Ensure updates and changes to any application configurations will meet change management and security specifications.
• Work with business owners and identified training support staff to oversee business process training. May include updating training materials and / or supporting or delivering training in various formats to the business unit.
• Provide reports and analysis that informs a variety of audiences including Procurement and faculty leaders.
• Support the decision-making process when conflicting requirements or processes are identified, through consensus building sessions with business owners.
• Provide procurement system support as required.
• Create multi-level test scenarios by designing test scripts, test plans and test scenarios that test outcomes to validate whether requirements have been met.
• Assist with ensuring issues are identified, tracked, reported and resolved in a timely manner.
• Provide analytical support in quality reviews of team deliverables and ensure adherence to standard project and business analysis methodology.
• Through ongoing analysis, effectively manage risk, anticipate challenges, investigate issues and make recommendations that may have cross-functional impact.
• Inform management of any information that may identify challenges to project schedules, missed project deliverables, incomplete tasks or inaccurate results.
• Remain current on evolving system and business process capability by ensuring technical and business skill competencies are continually developed in relevant area(s) to maximize shareholder value. Make recommendations to the Manager, Procurement Systems for changes designed to enhance reporting and analysis.
• Provide expertise and support to Procurement team members in the use of tools for reporting, analytics, metrics and monitoring of Procurement activities.
• Undertakes other duties as required to support unit / department.

SPECIAL SKILLS:

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to convey information and key messages clearly.
• Ability to deal effectively with diverse groups of people; strong organizational and planning skills; ability to cope with multiple demands and manage competing priorities.
• Demonstrated interpersonal, listening and business relationship skills.
• Effective facilitation and conflict resolution skills. Ensures that one’s own behaviour does not negatively impact others when faced with complex situations.
• Welcomes an inclusive environment and coaches others to address and support those who may feel vulnerable. Ensures the diverse group receives opportunities for fair treatment regardless of background.
• Investigative, research, analytical and problem-solving skills. Provides insight into scope of potential problems and identifies possible solutions.
• Self-motivated with an ability to take initiative and responsibility for projects from beginning to completion.
• Strong analytical, detail oriented and organized approach to work. Understands the details of the problem and identifies solutions. Seeks to understand the nature of new/existing assignments as it relates to own role and the expected results.
• Exercise appropriate judgement and manages risks.
• Strong results orientation with an ability to take initiative and use resourcefulness to work independently on several projects at a time, while applying formal standards.
• Ability to cope with multiple demands, manage competing priorities, and meet deadlines on time.
• Sound knowledge of Microsoft Office software products (Excel, Word).
• Working knowledge of business processes and integration of systems.

DECISION MAKING:

• Makes decisions based on the results achieved through consensus building sessions, which have a direct impact on how requirements and deliverables are established.
• Decide how to best coordinate time and effort between various projects. Assess and evaluate work levels to determine the progress of various projects and decide whether work levels need to be adjusted.
• Determines type and level of information needed by management to support decision making, or if and when escalation is needed.
• Determines most effective method and/or strategy to identify opportunities, present information and gather requirements when working with business owners, conveying potential impact of business decisions on systems and supporting processes.
• Finds solutions to unanticipated problems within Systems’ team parameters and determines how problem and recommended solution may affect information systems and/or business processes.
• Determines appropriate strategy and content when developing training documents based on audience.
• Provides recommendations for business representatives and other analysts.