BUSINESS SYSTEMS SPECIALIST (MS Co-Pilot)
McMaster University
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Job summary
McMaster University seeks a Business Systems Specialist to support the Microsoft Copilot Premium Pilot within the UTS Digital Experience team. You will coordinate pilot activities, engage stakeholders, and lead a team of Business Systems Analysts throughout the project life cycle.
The role requires a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Business, or related field and at least 5 years of relevant experience. This is a one-year limited-term assignment with a typical Mon-Fri schedule.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Business, or a related field
- 5 years of relevant experience required
- Experience guiding technology adoption and organizational change
- Ability to develop adoption plans for different user groups
Responsibilities
- Provide ongoing technical direction to Business Systems Analysts and junior staff
- Lead on-site coordination, planning, and scheduling of work across projects
- Develop training for end users and measure adoption outcomes
- Partner with developers to align technical vision with business needs
- Manage entire testing lifecycle and documentation of requirements
Skills
Education
Tools
Job description
Regular/Temporary
Temporary
Location
Central Campus
Open Date
2026/11/02
Job Type
Limited Term (=12 month)
Close Date
2026/11/15
Employee Group
Unifor Unit 1, Staff
Favorite Job
Department
UTS Digital Experience
Full/Part Time
Full-Time
Salary Grade/Band
Grade 11
Salary Range
$41.99 - $59.09 (hourly)
Job Code
JD0630
Existing Vacancy
Yes - Newly Created Position
Contract Duration
12.3 Months
Target Number of Openings
1
35
Monday - Friday, 8:30 am - 4:30 pm
Flexible work arrangements available
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Business, or a related field of study
Requires 5 years of relevant experience
December 2026
Should the successful applicant be a Unifor Unit 1 bargaining unit member, who meets the eligibility conditions of Article 19.02 of the Unifor Unit 1 Collective Agreement, then the Limited Term Assignment will be defined as a Career Growth Opportunity in accordance with Article 19 of the Unifor Local 5555 Unit 1 Collective Agreement.
McMaster University fuels curiosity, inquiry, and discovery. Every day, we push the boundaries of knowledge through our world-class research, our ground-breaking approaches to teaching and learning and our commitment to operational excellence. We are seeking a talented Business Systems Specialist to support the Microsoft Copilot Premium Pilot.
Are you passionate about helping people get the most out of technology? Join Digital Experience, Design and Delivery, a team within University Technology Services (UTS) dedicated to providing exceptional service and support to the McMaster community. We value transparency, innovation, and accountability in everything we deliver, and our work directly supports McMaster University's strategic vision, Bolder Together .
The Business Systems Specialist acts as a technical and consulting resource to various University departments and units with respect to the planning, implementation, and maintenance of information technology systems. Supports the University's academic and administration departments throughout the Project Life Cycle for medium to large projects, including post-production support and ongoing maintenance.
For the Microsoft Copilot Premium Pilot, the role will support pilot coordination, adoption, training, communications, ticket triage, stakeholder engagement, and the measurement and reporting of pilot outcomes. The role continuously gains an understanding of the University's operations and processes and how systems support those operations and provides lead-hand supervision to a team of Business Systems Analysts.
This is a one-year opportunity.
- Experience supporting technology adoption and organizational change.
- Ability to develop adoption plans for different user groups.
- Ability to identify barriers to adoption and recommend interventions.
- Experience facilitating communities of practice and user sessions or similar engagement activities.
- Familiarity with change-management approaches such
- Experience developing and delivering technology training for users with varying levels of technical proficiency.
- Familiarity with Copilot Studio, Power Platform, Power Automate, Power Apps and Power BI would be an asset.
The Business Systems Specialist acts as a technical and consulting resource to various University departments and units with respect to the planning, implementation, and maintenance of information technology systems. Supports the University's academic and administration departments by acting in a functional capacity in all phases of the Project Life Cycle for medium to large projects, including post-production support and ongoing maintenance. Continuously gains an understanding of the University's operations and processes and how systems are used in support of those operations. Provides lead-hand supervision to a team of Business Systems Analysts.
- University's operations and processes and how systems are used in support of those operations. Provides lead-hand supervision to a team of Business Systems Analysts.
- Duties and Responsibilities
Provide ongoing technical direction to Business Systems Analysts within the team and periodically to other technical staff assigned to relevant projects.
Coach and mentor junior staff in order to ensure a highly motivated and technically competent team.
Act as an on-site team lead responsible for planning, coordinating, and scheduling work assignments to ensure the completion of assigned projects.
Evaluate work product to ensure adherence to established functional and operational specifications.
Conduct in-depth client interviews to determine business process flows and rules.
Manage work assignments of internal staff and schedule and monitor adherence to procedures, protocols, and standards.
Accountable for the clarification, rationalization and documentation of project requests.
Approve production migrations according to project involvement.
Develop and lead end user training.
Partner with the technical team to maintain the information technology issues database, create new issues, and track the status of open issues.
Participate in the development of capital project charters and cost justifications.
Serve as the primary contact point with the user community.
Responsible for integration and release management.
Ensure appropriate business participation in information technology projects.
Utilize the appropriate control tools to coordinate projects according to Project Management Office methodologies.
Develop success criteria and risk assessments for projects and changes.
Develop, implement, and document best practices to align with departmental and University strategies and processes.
Work independently with users to define concepts.
Drive and challenge business units on their assumptions of how they will successfully execute their plans.
Collaborate with developers and subject matter experts to establish the technical vision and analyze tradeoffs between usability and performance needs.
Critically evaluate information gathered from multiple sources, reconcile conflicts, decompose high-level information into details, abstract up from low-level information to a general understanding, and distinguish user requests from the underlying true needs.
Conduct gap analyses.
Ensure that projects meet specified functionality requirements.
Perform advanced levels of analysis, problem solving and research skills to formulate solutions to complex business needs.
Perform the functional analysis for production support activities and advise business users in the analysis of less complex issues.
Work with project stakeholders to understand project scope and create test documents.
Manage all phases of testing including, but not limited to, system, integration, acceptance, regression, and performance.
Document system functionality, particularly related to new enhancements.
Develop and maintain information technology process flow, methodology, and control documentation.
Assist with the development of project proposals and estimates.
Elicit requirements using interviews, document analysis, requirement workshops, surveys, site visits, business process descriptions, use cases, scenarios, business analysis, and task and workflow analysis.
Analyze information needs and functional requirements and deliver artifacts such as functional requirements, business process models, use cases, screen and interface designs, test plans and test cases.
Take ownership of functional issues by identifying underlying problems, analyzing potential solutions and implementing system resolutions, including workarounds.
Provide Level III post implementation support to users regarding functional issues.
Work with the development team to determine technical approaches and technical risks for project testing.
Develop requirement specifications according to standard templates, using natural language.
Work closely with testing team members to ensure that requirements are testable.
Prepare and assist other testers with the creation of test cases.
Identify and manage defects identified during all phases of a project.
Review test cases created by testing team members to ensure that the test cases adequately define the business processes.
Resolve problems in the test, production implementation, and post-implementation phases in coordination with other technical and business groups.
Review systems, processes, and information and provide recommendations to supervisor.
Serve as the conduit between the Project Management Office and development teams through which requirements flow.
Liaise between the technology and support teams.
Communicate project, issue, and system status to others.
Communicate testing results to other stakeholders.
Facilitate effective dialog between technical staff.
Interact with and exchange information with colleagues.
Follow a test script and document defects.
Prepare and review recommendations and other project initiation documents.
Prepare and review end user and operations documentation, training materials, and timelines.
Maintain information technology process flow, methodology, and control documentation.
Work with others to prioritize and schedule issues resolution.
Plan, schedule, and monitor own work within short time horizons.
Organize individual time, work and resources to accomplish objectives in the most effective and efficient way.
Understand and use appropriate methods, tools, and applications to complete work tasks.
Demonstrate a rational and organized approach to work and identify development opportunities.
Absorb technical information when it is presented systematically and apply it effectively.
Use measurement methods to monitor progress toward goal attainment, tenaciously working to meet or exceed those goals, while deriving satisfaction from the process of goal achievement and continuous improvement.
Ensure that the internal and external customer perspective is a driving force behind decisions and activities.
Follow service practices that meet customers’ and University needs.
Interact with others in a way that gives them confidence in one’s intentions and those of the University.
Work collaboratively with others to achieve departmental and institutional goals. Actively participate as a member of a team to move the team toward the completion of goals.
Perform a range of varied work activities in a variety of structured environments.
Successfully engage in multiple initiatives simultaneously.
Apply and enforce department change control policies and procedures.
Acquire and maintain a basic understanding of Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing principles.
Read and understand complex Business Process Diagrams and develop basic (Level II) models.
Read and understand a complex project plan and develop simple project plans.
Remain current with relevant development and project methodologies.
Provide lead hand supervision and is responsible for the quality and quantity of work of others
Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Business, or a related field of study
Requires 5 years of relevant experience
McMaster University is located on the traditional territories of the Haudenosaunee and Mississauga Nations and within the lands protected by the “Dish With One Spoon” wampum agreement.
The diversity of our workforce is at the core of our innovation and creativity and strengthens our research and teaching excellence. In keeping with its Statement on Building an Inclusive Community with a Shared Purpose, McMaster University strives to embody the values of respect, collaboration and diversity, and has a strong commitment to employment equity.
The University seeks qualified candidates who share our commitment to equity and inclusion, who will contribute to the diversification of ideas and perspectives, and especially welcomes applications from indigenous (First Nations, Métis or Inuit) peoples, members of racialized communities, persons with disabilities, women, and persons who identify as 2SLGBTQ+.
As part of McMaster’s commitment, all applicants are invited to complete a confidential Applicant Diversity Survey through the online application submission process. The Survey questionnaire requests voluntary self-identification in relation to equity-seeking groups that have historically faced and continue to face barriers in employment. Please refer to the Applicant Diversity Survey - Statement of Collection for additional information.
Job applicants requiring accommodation to participate in the hiring process should contact:
To ensure an ongoing and vibrant University community that meets the needs of our students, staff and faculty and supports the University mission, ability to work on-site continues to be a requirement for most University positions. The University is supportive of exploring flexible work arrangements that effectively balance operational needs and employee interests.
At McMaster University, we believe in a comprehensive and inclusive interview process. Our interview methods encompass a variety of approaches that allow our hiring teams to provide a flexible and accessible experience for engaging with our candidates. Throughout your recruitment process at McMaster, you may be requested to participate in a variety of formats, that may include in-person, virtual or recorded interviews. If you have any questions as you move through the hiring process, please reach out to talent@mcmaster.ca or the HR contact associated with your position of interest.
McMaster and its third-party partners may use AI tools to screen, assess, or select applicants during the hiring process. Please note that currently our recruitment platform does not use AI nor is it part of our current recommended recruitment process.
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