Business System Analyst (temporary)

Job Description

The Office of Research & Information Services (ORIS) has an outstanding opportunity open for a Temporary Business System Analyst.

The Business System Analyst (Payroll Title: Pro Staff Temp Position (E S)) is responsible for conducting a variety of activities to support ORIS projects from requirement gathering and needs assessment through design and implementation. The successful candidate works with stakeholders and the project team to design and develop applications that create an efficient process for researchers and administrators to procure and manage research grants.

This position contributes technical systems design and development expertise within a diverse team environment that includes stakeholders from a broad range of campus and administrative units. Successful candidates must interface productively with system end-users and have the flexibility to take on broader responsibilities when necessary.

Technical scope requires deep knowledge of standard software development processes including use case, user story and acceptance test case development, requirements management, quality assurance processes, systems analysis and documentation, database design and data modeling. Successful design of solutions also requires knowledge about the policies, functional processes and procedures, and roles of the University. The scope of tasks to be performed spans all project phases including opportunity analysis, design, implementation, communication, training, and support.

The UW is one of the world’s preeminent public universities. Our impact on individuals, our region and the world is profound — whether we are launching young people into a boundless future or confronting the grand challenges of our time through undaunted research and scholarship.

The responsibilities of the Senior Business Analyst have a direct impact on the UW’s breakthrough research by supporting researchers and research staff in their ability to successfully procure funding and efficiently manage research projects. The person in this position must be able to ask the right questions of the right people and be capable of compiling the data concisely, detailing the requirements needed in a format that enables design, development and quality assurance by the development team. The position also requires an ability to communicate clearly with team members, business partners, and with campus end-users to ensure smooth roll out and successful adoption of new applications or enhancements. The Senior Business Analyst is also expected to contribute enterprise-level analysis and thinking to project plans, needs assessments, solution generation and integrations.

Responsibilities:

Business Analysis (60%)

• Research and analyze end-user needs using user centered design (UCD) practices, and various elicitation techniques, to include structured interviews, surveys, site visits, focus groups.
• Use agile methodologies to break complex feature requirements into manageable chunks of work that deliver value to the end user
• Create artifacts as needed to support clear understanding of business needs, including business process diagrams, use cases, scenarios, and task and workflow analysis.
• Facilitate discussions with stakeholders and subject matter experts, to develop shared understanding of needs and build consensus related to priorities and requirements and develop inclusive solutions that thoughtfully balance trade-offs and benefits among process stakeholders.
• Develop and maintain analysis plans that track all key analysis activities necessary during the opportunity analysis/discovery phase of new projects.
• Critically evaluate information gathered from multiple sources, reconcile conflicts, decompose or abstract up as needed to represent true underlying needs to audiences with different needs and/or levels of understanding.
• Document functional requirements, user interaction requirements, non-functional requirements, specifications, and acceptance criteria to support software development, quality assurance, support and learning materials, and other downstream development support processes.
• Play an active role in the testing and validation of systems to ensure a quality product is delivered.
• Work collaboratively with ORIS staff and business partners to create effective communications on upcoming system and process changes for campus end-users and other business partners.
• Design and facilitate requirements workshops, user research sessions, and collaborative design sessions.
• Perform enterprise-level analysis, identifying business needs and capability gaps, creating business cases, and determining high-level solution approach and scope.
• Serve as mentor and role model to junior-level BAs.

SR. BA SPECIALTY AREAS (20%)

The Sr. Business Analyst is expected to have a high level of expertise in one or more of the following specialty areas.

Project Management Specialist:

• Serve in a project management capacity over moderately complex projects, developing project plans, monitoring progress, and reporting out on project status.
• Lead, organize and influence positively and effectively. Maneuver through unstructured problems and create the necessary structure to drive for results.
• Serve software development team(s) as Scrum Master, facilitating Scrum ceremonies, removing impediments, coordinating feature development, testing, release and communications.
• Identify project issues and risks, escalate as appropriate to leadership, and develop mitigation strategies and options.
• Manage communications to stakeholders and team members around issues and risks.
• Manage competing stakeholder priorities to ensure the highest value is being delivered to the customer

Data/Systems Analysis Specialist:

• Provide system analysis and develop supporting artifacts such as data dictionaries, mapping documents, entity relationship and conceptual diagrams, to support systems integration, data migration, and reporting.
• Translate business requirements into reporting frameworks and technical definitions for development and ongoing enhancement of data collection and management.
• Use querying tools and languages such as T-SQL to analyze data to inform business decisions, validate system behavior, and aid in QA of data.
• Partner with team members in the development of test cases for data and reporting.

Business Process Specialist:

• Work with customers to define current- and future-state business processes, using process modeling tools and techniques that allow for easy visualization and consumption by varied audiences invested or affected by the changes.
• Facilitate stakeholder groups to consensus regarding new business process designs.
• Assess the impact of business process changes within people, systems, operations and management, and identify linkages to business strategies.
• Utilize techniques for assessing root cause analysis and value stream mapping to ensure focus is on the issues that can affect positive change and add business value most directly.

Communications and Relationship Development/Management (15%)

• Establish and foster good working relationships with business partners, stakeholder groups, and fellow team members by providing ongoing communication and check-ins throughout the design and implementation phases to ensure products are adequately meeting the business need before release.
• Work collaboratively with ORIS staff and business partners to create effective communications for upcoming releases.
• Provide trainings and presentations on new products/features, as required.
• Serve as advocate and advisor to business units, helping them better clarify and articulate business needs, within the context of the broader product strategy and vision.

Other Duties as Assigned (5%)

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS:

• Bachelor’s Degree in computer science, business administration, information science or other technical area.
• Minimum 4 years of experience performing progressively more complex and responsible tasks.
• Knowledge and experience with UCD practices to fully understand business needs and successfully translate business needs into appropriate documentation for system implementation.
• Demonstrated diagnostic and problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and as part of a team in a cooperative effort.
• Strong customer focus and management of client expectations; ability to establish and maintain a high level of user trust and confidence.
• Fluent knowledge of MS Visio, PowerPoint, MS Office Suite, Google G Suite.
• Strong working knowledge of a broad range of BA tools and techniques used for requirements elicitation, analysis, documentation and modelling, and validation.
• Exceptional skills in written and verbal communication, to include fostering a shared understanding of requirements, successful conflict resolution, group facilitation, and status reporting.
• Deep knowledge and experience developing and implementing a variety of desktop and distributed software systems involving web-based user interfaces, relational databases (transactional and data warehouses) and SQL in support of administrative applications.
• Demonstrated competency in BA planning and requirements management.
• In-depth knowledge of software development processes outside of the BA domain, such as quality assurance, data modelling, database design.
• Experience working on multiple project types (COTS, new product development, maintenance), and multiple business areas.
• High level of competency in 1 or more specialty areas: business process analysis, data and systems analysis, project management.

Equivalent education/experience will substitute for all minimum qualifications except when there are legal requirements, such as a license/certification/registration.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Experience working in a university and/or a consensus driven environment.
• Knowledge of lean/agile software development practices including Kanban and scrum.
• Knowledge and experience analyzing and implementing enterprise system solutions such as portal, workflow, content management, and/or data warehouse.

Working Conditions:

This position contributes in a collaborative teamwork environment. Collaboration among the software developers, website team members, business analysts, project managers, editors, quality assurance, support and others is done in a shared space working environment through ad hoc meetings focused on problem-solving, and the use of synchronous and asynchronous communication tools. Inflexible deadlines are common and non-standard working hours can be necessary. This position will primarily be expected to work standard working hours, aligned with Pacific Time zone where the office is based, and may require off-hours work for go-lives, incidents, and other deployments.

Compensation, Benefits and Position Details

Pay Range Minimum:

$114,000.00 annual Pay Range Maximum:

$117,120.00 annual Other Compensation:

Benefits:

For information about benefits for this position, visit https://www.washington.edu/jobs/benefits-for-temporary-per-diem-and-less-than-half-time/ Shift:

First Shift (United States of America) Temporary or Regular?

This is a temporary position FTE (Full-Time Equivalent):

100.00% Union/Bargaining Unit:

Not Applicable About the UW

Working at the University of Washington provides a unique opportunity to change lives – on our campuses, in our state and around the world.

UW employees bring their boundless energy, creative problem-solving skills and dedication to building stronger minds and a healthier world. In return, they enjoy outstanding benefits, opportunities for professional growth and the chance to work in an environment known for its diversity, intellectual excitement, artistic pursuits and natural beauty.

Our Commitment

The University of Washington is committed to fostering an inclusive, respectful and welcoming community for all. As an equal opportunity employer, the University considers applicants for employment without regard to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, citizenship, sex, pregnancy, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, disability, or veteran status consistent with UW Executive Order No. 81 .

To request disability accommodation in the application process, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 or dso@uw.edu .

Applicants considered for this position will be required to disclose if they are the subject of any substantiated findings or current investigations related to sexual misconduct at their current employment and past employment. Disclosure is required under Washington state law .