Senior Business Systems Analyst - Information Technology (MF)

MacArthur Foundation; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

The MacArthur Foundation in Chicago seeks a Senior Business Systems Analyst in Information Technology to translate business needs into IT solutions, lead Agile IT projects, and act as Product Owner across multiple systems. The role requires coordinating with executives, PMO, vendors, and SMEs to deliver high-quality services.

The Sr. BSA will elicit requirements, manage backlogs, create training and change management plans, and drive continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience; advanced degree preferred.
• 7+ years IT experience; 5+ years in Business Systems Analysis and Project Management.
• Experience across Applications Development, Architecture, PM, or QA.
• Agile Product Owner coaching for business staff.
• Knowledge of SharePoint and Salesforce capabilities.
• Experience with BI reporting, Cloud/SaaS, and web design.
• Strong communication and collaboration with executives.

Responsibilities

• Elicit and document business requirements.
• Create work plans, backlogs, and status reports.
• Act as Product Manager/Owner for IT projects.
• Lead Continuous Improvement for products.
• Coordinate with PMO, vendors, and technical leads.
• Develop training plans and materials.
• Prepare test scripts and execute tests.
• Ensure effective IT delivery and stakeholder satisfaction.

Skills

Agile methodologies

Product Owner

Requirements elicitation

Vendor management

SQL

Test design

Training materials

Education

Bachelor's degree

Advanced degree preferred

Tools

SharePoint

Salesforce

Job description

Senior Business Systems Analyst - Information Technology (MF)

Posted on October 07, 2019

About Us

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation supports creative people, effective institutions, and influential networks building a more just, verdant, and peaceful world. MacArthur is placing a few big bets that truly significant progress is possible on some of the world’s most pressing social challenges, including over-incarceration , global climate change , nuclear risk , and significantly increasing financial capital for the social sector . In addition to the MacArthur Fellows Program , the Foundation continues its historic commitments to the role of journalism in a responsible and responsive democracy, as well as the strength and vitality of our headquarters city, Chicago .

MacArthur is one of the nation's largest independent foundations. Organizations supported by the Foundation work in about 50 countries. In addition to Chicago, MacArthur has offices in India , Mexico , and Nigeria .

About the Department

The Information Technology team is responsible for supplying and supporting all technology and systems used by the Foundation. The core team’s capabilities include project management, application development and support, cyber security, and end user support. The team works with suppliers, consultants, and software vendors to provide a global set of solutions for the Foundation.

The Senior Business Systems Analyst (Sr. BSA) elicits, clarifies and translates business requirements into use cases, stories, lists, logs, specifications and conceptual designs from which applications and solutions are developed. The Sr. BSA acts as a liaison for end users and ensures that their needs are documented and appropriately provides coaching for various projects and service implementations, including a client’s role and responsibilities within the Agile methodology. The Sr. BSA leads projects, including developing work plans, backlogs, communication, and training plans. Additionally, the Sr. BSA runs various project meetings; produces status reports, and documents risks, issues, and action items. The Sr. BSA also acts as a Product Owner for various assigned products and will lead the Continuous Improvements teams for those products.

He/She coordinates activities with the Manager of the PMO, vendor project manager, support lead, training lead, and technical lead on communication, training, and launch planning to ensure a positive user experience and successful adoption of new services. The position requires the ability to effectively communicate and partner with executives to meet business needs with technology solutions. Additionally, this role has significant collaboration responsibilities with clients to ensure full integration and leverage of Information Technology services.

Job Description

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Work with business partner to elicit requirements that capture business needs
• Clearly articulate and document business requirements
• Promotes and follows the Foundation’s Governance process to achieve strategic objectives
• Provide project management and change management for projects including the creation of work plans, backlogs, communication and change management plans, running project meetings, creating status reports, and tracking risks, issues, and action items
• Act as a Product Manager or Product Owner for Agile IT projects
• Lead Continuous Improvement teams for assigned products
• Manages ongoing relationship with business partners to improve satisfaction with IT delivery
• Coordinates project delivery by participating in design reviews and walk-throughs to communicate systems designs and validate proposed solutions
• Obtains key inputs from the Director of Development & Architecture and/or technical SMEs and identifies solution interdependencies
• Engages with subject matter experts to incorporate usability and user interface needs when designing systems
• Works with vendors to define statements of work, manages relationships, and monitors vendor deliverables to ensure quality and a positive business outcome
• Understands and recognizes obstacles to achieving business results and ensures that the appropriate mitigating actions are being taken to resolve any impediments
• Analyze practices and processes with business owners to ensure effective use of Information Technology services and new solutions
• Participate in the discussion and decisions regarding project methodology, processes and technology solutions
• Create test scripts and test execution
• Create training materials and lead training delivery
• Perform other duties as assigned

Qualifications:

• A bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in a related field; an advanced degree or certifications in a related field preferred
• A minimum of seven years of professional IT experience; plus, 5 years of Business Systems Analysis and Project Management experience
• Broad IT domain experience in two or more of the following areas IT areas: Applications Development, Architecture, Project Management, or Quality Assurance
• Previous Agile framework experience acting as a Product Owner providing coaching to business staff for story development
• Knowledge of the SharePoint application, its capabilities, and experience updating sites; knowledge of a CRM (e.g. Salesforce) application, its capabilities, and experience implementing services
• Previous project experience with Business Intelligence report design, Cloud/SaaS environment, and web-site design and development
• Knowledge of project management principles and methodology
• Understanding of database structures and SQL
• Professional and effective written and oral communication skills
• Able to effectively converse with, listen to, and collaborate with all levels of users to understand their environment and the impact of system changes
• Self-starter with initiative who can manage multiple tasks and adapt and respond quickly to opportunities for increased and more effective services
• Able to apply principles, practices, and procedures and complete moderately complex assignments with knowledge of Business Systems Analysis
• Understanding of policy and the application of policies to Information Technology activities