Business Systems Analyst

Stanford University; Palo Alto (CA); On-site; USD 125,000 - 141,000; Full time

Job summary

Stanford Graduate School of Business seeks a Business Systems Analyst to lead the design and delivery of two systems that will enhance the use of its alumni network and case-writing operations. You will own projects end to end, from requirements through launch, including AI-assisted search and automated form filing.

The role emphasizes collaboration with internal partners, translating operational challenges into technical solutions, and delivering systems that become integral to how teams across

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree and five years relevant experience or a combination of education and relevant experience.

Responsibilities

• Translate business processes into system requirements and development of systems solutions.
• Analyze new business requirements, assist with feasibility of enhancement requests, system functionality, current system use and user needs.
• Specify functional analysis and design and work with developers and analysts to recommend solutions and resolve system issues.
• Review, research and evaluate software to determine its usefulness and appropriateness as related to existing or proposed business systems; assist or develop preliminary and detailed system design documentation.
• Perform testing of new systems, upgrades and patching of existing systems; plan, conduct and document results of testing.
• Develop instructional materials, training and job aids.
• Advise users requiring assistance in solving complex problems or issues regarding management and business systems.
• Analyze data and provide data sets to users for analysis. May include development of operational and analytical reports for endusers.
• Liaise with external vendors or partners in support of business systems, which may include system development, implementation and/or operations.
• Coordinate the implementation of new or modified business systems.

Skills

Requirements gathering

SDLC knowledge

Stakeholder communication

Systems analysis

Data workflow design

Interviewing skills

Training facilitation

Problem solving

Technical liaison

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) is seeking a Business Systems Analyst to lead the design and delivery of two systems that will significantly improve how the school leverages its institutional knowledge and alumni network. The Grousbeck-Holloway Center for Entrepreneurial Studies (GHCES) produces the case studies taught in classrooms worldwide and maintains a career paths database covering nearly three decades of GSB alumni. This role will modernize the tools we rely on to maximize the value of these resources. This is a one-year, term-limited position (with the option to renew), reporting to the Director of Case Writing and Alumni Entrepreneurship Research, with the opportunity to own two high-visibility projects end to end, from requirements through launch. The first project puts natural-language search in the hands of GSB teams. The GSB Alumni Career Paths Database contains records for more than 13,000 alumni and presents a significant opportunity to improve accessibility through AI-powered search. You will build a natural-language search that enables colleagues across GHCES, the Center for Social Innovation, the Career Management Center, Admissions, and External Relations to quickly find the right alumni for a class, a case, or a mentorship match. Success will be measured by increased adoption across teams and more efficient discovery of relevant alumni. You will also modernize the data refresh pipeline that underpins the database. The second project is to build the operational platform for the GSB case-writing program, bringing together demand intake, contractor capacity, and biweekly actual-versus-budget reporting into a single workflow system. The platform will also incorporate AI-assisted capabilities that streamline routine work and reduce cost per case, such as style-guide checks and automated form filing. We expect this system to be developed iteratively, automating high-value workflows over time. This role is best suited to someone who is self-directed and highly collaborative, with a demonstrated ability to take an ambiguous goal and move it forward independently while working effectively with internal partners. You will collaborate closely with GSB's Digital Solutions team, who host the alumni database and will be key partners on integrations and APIs. You will gather requirements directly from the teams whose work these tools support. In partnership with the Director, who will lead adoption across teams, you will translate operational challenges into technical solutions and build systems that become integral to how teams across the GSB work. By the end of the year, you will have shipped two systems that are in active use across the school: a natural-language alumni search that teams depend on, and a case-writing operations tool that makes demand, capacity, and cost visible and measurably reduces cost per case.

Duties Unique to This Role

• Design and build internal tools and workflow systems from the ground up, taking them from manual, spreadsheet-based processes to systems that people across teams actively use.

• Implement AI and LLM-assisted capabilities, such as natural-language search, entity extraction, and automated tagging.

• Develop recurring operational reporting and dashboards, such as a biweekly actuals-vs-budget view for case writing.

• Develop and maintain data processing pipelines using R or Python (the alumni database's current refresh pipeline is built in R).

The budgeted salary for this position is $125,000 to $141,000.

Core Duties

• Translate business processes into system requirements and/ordevelopment of systems solutions.

• Analyze new business requirements, assist with feasibility ofenhancement requests, system functionality, current system use and userneeds.

• Specify functional analysis and design and work with developersand analysts to recommend solutions and resolve system issues.

• Review, research and evaluate software to determine its usefulness and appropriateness as related to existing or proposed business systems; assist or develop preliminary and detailed system design documentation.

• Perform testing of new systems, upgrades and patching of existing systems; plan, conduct and document results of testing.

• Develop instructional materials, training and job aids.

• Advise users requiring assistance in solving complex problems orissues regarding management and business systems.

• Analyze data and provide data sets to users for analysis. May include development of operational and analytical reports for endusers.

• Liaise with external vendors or partners in support of business systems, which may include system development, implementation and/or operations.

• Coordinate the implementation of new or modified business systems.

Minimum Education and Experience

Bachelor's degree and five years relevant experience or a combination of education and relevant experience.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Knowledge of computer system capabilities, business processes, and workflow.

• Experience with enterprise applications and understanding of database driven applications.

• Strong understanding of the software development lifecycle.

• Knowledge of principles and techniques used in conducting management studies and in systems analysis.

• Current knowledge of rapidly changing computer technology.

• Skill in conducting interviews and facilitating group meetings.

• Skill in developing and conducting training programs.

• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, including the ability to bridge functional and technical resources by communicating effectively with individuals of varying systems expertise and business needs.

• Strong listening, negotiation and conflict resolution skills.

• Ability to design and document complex business systems.

• Proven problem solving and analytical thinking and ability to approach problems logically and systematically.