BUSINESS ANALYST

New York, New York - Posted on: Thursday 02/21/13

Description


- Investigate software issues reported by the Level 1 and 2 end user support or escalated to FISA Business Teams by our Oversight Agencies. Follow through on reported issues may include some or all of the following actions below:
- Proposing and authoring refinements to policy and procedure documentation.
- Proposing and authoring refinements to training material.
- Escalating to the development team the need for a programmatic resolution.
- Proposing end user (or oversight) workarounds to the usage issues (when appropriate),
(for complex usage scenarios) providing education and / or guidance when the system is not being used as designed / intended.
- Escalating to the Business team management the need for correction / enhancement to the software.
- Informing the Level 1 and 2 end user support teams of the resolution and communicating to those teams any instructions that need to be relayed to the individual who reported the issue.
- Analyze and document business requirements and the related non-functional requirements of the solution (e.g., operational, security, timing, etc.) as prioritized by the FISA Entity Manager. Solutions are provided that implement new and change existing components of the Financial System - in the form of: new reports, enhancements to existing reports, data fixes, mass data
changes (as a substitute for large scale data entry), new batch processes and enhancements to batch processes, simple and advanced data configuration bundles, definition of new online transactions and inquiries, changes to existing online transactions and inquiries, etc.
- Under the direction of Sr. team staff, the candidate will author functional design documents that capture the details of the solution in all aspects (e.g., workflow requirements, business validations to be performed on data entry forms, formulas to be applied in calculations on inquiries and reports, presentation layer requirements on inquiries and reports, definition of inputs / outputs and business logic of new / modified batch processes, configuration profile, application data configuration changes required to enact the business or processing change, etc.,). The documentation produced will follow FISA's standard for functional designs.
- Work with technical analysts to research problems and find and implement solutions as assigned by the FISA Entity Manager.
- During periods of peak testing (e.g., major releases)  or as directed by the FISA Entity Manager the candidate will test software to ensure it meets specifications and identify any defects. This task is done by using the online application, performing data analysis through the use of a reporting tool, and, in certain scenarios, through the execution of batch scripts. The candidate will also be expected to review and expand on business scenarios for the System Test team to test program modifications made to functional processes and Business Events programs.
- The candidate will be expected to take primary testing, coordination and scheduling (i.e., management) responsibilities for business data fix and mass data changes.
- Support and execute functional business events. This task is done by using the online application, performing data analysis through the use of a reporting tool, and, in certain scenarios, through the execution of batch scripts.    
- Run simulations of business event processing and provide: detailed status reporting on progress, detailed inventory of defects
identified and in the scope of regression testing for the event, very detailed reporting on transactional failures once the event has been simulated.
- Manage business event execution in production, which entails: assignment of tasks to participating parties, collection of status of assigned tasks, execution of tasks assigned to the candidate (e.g., reconciliation via data queries, plotting of numbers from executed reports onto reconciliation worksheets, review of transaction processing success rates, escalation of transaction rejections to individuals assigned for data correction or end users), dissemination of  post event processing the results (in terms of document counts, dollar value, and qualitative analysis of document processing results). Business events are generally executed during times when the system is offline for batch processing or maintenance. The candidate is expected to be able to provide evening or weekend support for business event execution.
- Attend scheduled meetings where RM’s (change control tracking items) are reviewed with the individuals from the development organization(s) supporting the Financial Management System. The candidate will have an assigned portfolio of RM’s assigned and is expected to be prepared to speak to the business need in production date, requirements of the fix requested of the
development organization, status of testing (if the candidate is performing user acceptance testing on behalf of the end users).
- Update assigned RM's in a timely and complete manner such that the development organizations and release management staff are able to assess the assign, estimate and schedule the ticket / work item effectively.
- Provide written status reports and timelines for the project management office when work tracks have graduated to the level of a project and require centralized reporting. The candidate may be expected to speak to the status of 'mini-projects' in management meetings as necessary.
- Perform independent research and document findings on topics pertinent to the business of the Financial Systems division – as requested by the FISA Entity Manager.

With a fair degree of latitude for independent judgment, the Business Analyst is expected to perform the above activities for simple, medium and problems and complex business problems - with support from Sr. members of the team as necessary.

Qualifications

1. A master's degree in computer science from an accredited college and three years of progressively more responsible, full-time, satisfactory experience using information technology in computer applications programming, systems programming, computer systems development, data telecommunications, database administration, planning of data/information processing, user services, or area networks at least 18 months of this experience must have been in an administrative, managerial or executive capacity in the areas of computer applications programming, systems programming, computer systems development, data telecommunications, data base administration, or planning of data processing or in the supervision of staff performing these duties; or
2. A baccalaureate degree from an accredited college and four years of experience as described in "1" above; or
3. A four-year high school diploma or its educational equivalent approved by a State's department of education or recognized accrediting organization and six years of experience as described in "1" above; or
4. A satisfactory combination of education and experience equivalent to "1", "2" or "3" above. However, all candidates must have at least a four-year high school diploma or its educational equivalent approved by a State's department of education or recognized accrediting organization and must possess at least three years of experience as described in "1" above, including the 18 months of administrative, managerial, executive or supervisory experience as described in
"1" above.
Qualification Requirements (continued)
NOTE: The following types of experience are not acceptable: superficial use of preprogrammed software without complex programming, design, implementation or management of the product; use of word processing packages; use of a hand held calculator; primarily the entering or updating of data in a system; the operation of data processing hardware or consoles.
Preferred Skills
- Excellent oral and written communication skills.
- Proven analytical and problem solving skills.
- Ability to work independently with minimal direction and under pressure with tight deadlines.
- Hands-on proven experience balancing and reconciling financial data.
- Demonstrated proficiency with MS Access; MS Excel; and other Microsoft tools such as Word, PowerPoint and Visio.
- Knowledge of and experience with TSO and JCL or submitting korn shell scripts (preferred but not required).
- Ability to speak in front of a user group and clearly describe how business functions are executed from within the FISA Financial System software and exception process / usage scenarios.
- Ability to orchestrate an end user meeting with the goal of: gathering requirements, gaining consensus between parties on
business issues, taking and publishing meeting minutes, presenting deliverables developed by the candidate for review.
- Knowledge of some or all of the following is required: FMS Accounting, FAMIS and FMS/3 System Assurance Processes.
- Minimum 3 years hands-on experience in a business analyst position for an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project working with budget and/or procurement and/or contract functionality, preferably Advantage ERP accounting system with demonstrated experience using tools such as SQL, Crystal Reports, MS Access, and Excel.
- Minimum 3 years experience implementing a full System Development Lifecycle for an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system for a large, complex organization.
- Minimum 3 years experience developing test scripts and performing system / user testing for budget and/or procurement and/or contract functionality, preferably Advantage ERP system.

Related Links

Interested candidates please apply online at: https://a127-jobs.nyc.gov/