Business & Configuration Analyst

Job Summary

The University of British Columbia ("UBC") is a global centre for teaching, learning and research, consistently ranked among the top 20 public universities in the world and recently recognized as North America's most international university.

UBC is a diverse environment, with almost every industry vertical represented from healthcare, education, food and beverage, legal, media, real estate, etc.

and with more than 70,000 members of the community UBC's service providers need to be able to meet a variety of stakeholder needs with both robust and mature operational capabilities combined with the agility and innovation required to meet the ambitious objectives laid out in its new Strategic Plan :

Shaping UBC's Next Century.

The Integrated Service Centre ("ISC") maintains, continuously improves and enhances the systems and processes that support operational functions of UBC, including human resources, finance, payroll, and student services.

Team members within this unit will work cross-functionally with other departments / units across UBC. The vision for the ISC is to provide integrated services that create an enriched user experience for UBC faculty, staff and students.

The Business and Configuration Analyst leads the assessment of client needs in an effort to align business initiatives with information technology and solutions, and manages the configuration and implementation of the HR, Finance, Payroll, and Student products.

This role provides expertise in the areas of requirements definition, business process analysis and design, functional design, data, functional specifications for integrations and reporting configuration, implementation, testing, training and documentation to deliver enterprise solutions to the UBC community.

Leads the translation of business requirements to technical specifications and manages implementation projects. Leads complex prototyping;

review, approval, configurations and unit-testing for releases, enhancements and changes for the enterprise system. This role has a high degree of complexity, influence, and impact, as our solution is designed for the majority of constituents in the UBC community.

Organizational Status

Reports to the Product Manager. Works in partnership across the Product Team and the ISC to provide effective configuration analysis subject matter expertise, leadership and support, and to deliver an integrated solution for all stakeholders.

Frequently engages with teams and team members across the broader ISC and UBC community to understand project requirements, including interdependencies and impacts.

Work Performed

• Manages the end-to-end enhancement implementation process for the HR, Finance, Student and Payroll applications within the ISC product from requirements gathering and prioritization through configuration and functional testing to change management and implementation.
• Analyses the impacts of proposed changes to technology to services and / or processes within the UBC community.
• Understands key technical environments to effectively identify integration, security, scalability, and performance requirements.
• Leads the assessment of client needs utilizing a structured requirements process (gathering, analyzing, documenting, and managing changes) to identify business priorities and recommends options.
• Analyzes metrics to ensure for client satisfaction.
• Leads short-term and long-term planning sessions to implement integrated business process improvements and documents discussion and agreements.
• Identifies continuous service improvement opportunities and remedial action to minimize risk, identifying the potential impact or degree of change for the UBC Community and Administrative Super-users.
• Reproduces, tests, resolves and documents software bugs, defects and problems.
• Resolves highly complex Tier 2 & 3, Service Centre tickets, engaging the product vendor for support when necessary.
• Manages and provides technical subject matter expertise and advice through every phase of the configuration life cycle in support of ongoing updates and evolution of the Workday product(s) for the UBC community.
• Manages the execution of configuration related to access management, data management, tenant management, integrations, and security for the application over its lifecycle.
• Develops, maintains, and socializes complex configuration policies, guidelines and procedures for the ISC. Creates and maintains technical documentation and training support for the internal knowledge inventory and overall customer service material development.
• Analyzes emerging trends in Workday’s functionality, offerings, technology and configuration, evaluates alternatives, completes feasibility studies, and identifies customer-driven opportunities, provides recommendations to leadership and business owners to inform future strategic product initiatives.
• Develops and maintains effective partnerships across the ISC and the broader UBC community, and thereby advocates for a partnership that moves UBC's practices from "system of record" to "platform of engagement" through collaborative and innovative efforts
• The Incumbent is the configuration subject matter expert and main point for configuration inquires across the ISC and technical professionals across campus where it relates to the ISC;

collaborates across the ISC to align work, priorities and practices and to assess design needs for continuous improvement.

• Partners with UBC IT to support the definition of business needs, processes, and interdependencies in which guide the ISC's configuration.
• Develops user test cases, executes test cases and validates test results during user acceptance testing and system acceptance testing stages.

Typically leads the end-to-end functional testing process.

• Participates in and contributes to the UBC Operational Excellence community of practice.
• Actively promotes best practices in the security and privacy of personal information and data; makes recommendations to improve processes and procedures where necessary.
• Performs other related duties as required.

Consequence of Error / Judgement

Decisions and actions taken by the Functional and Configuration Analyst will have a direct impact on how efficiently and effectively the systems and processes will perform and function.

Errors in judgment, poor analysis, or failure to act decisively could have a detrimental effect and adversely impact the university community, affecting up to tens of thousands of students, faculty and staff, and could result in lost productivity, funding and revenue.

Supervision Received

Reports to the Product Manager. Works in partnership on a team with wide latitude across the ISC. Must be able to work independently as well as contribute actively and collaborate openly as a team member.

Work is reviewed in terms of execution quality, achievement against objectives, and focus on collaboration and innovation.

Supervision Given

Acts a mentor or coach to peers as required.

Minimum Qualifications

Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline. In-depth knowledge of applications and the business requirements supporting them.

Minimum of five years of related experience, or the equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Willingness to respect diverse perspectives, including perspectives in conflict with one’s own
• Demonstrates a commitment to enhancing one’s own awareness, knowledge, and skills related to equity, diversity, and inclusion

Preferred Qualifications

Undergraduate degree in a relevant discipline. Relevant Disciplines include : Computer Science and Management Information Systems, Finance, Payroll or Human Resource Management or Business Administration.

Experience working in a complex, academic and multi-union environment is preferred.

• A minimum of five years of experience, in-depth knowledge of applications and the business requirements supporting them or the equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Demonstrated experience administering and upkeeping an Enterprise Resource Planning system throughout periods of significant change.
• Experience working in ERP implementation / configuration is required.
• ITIL certification (minimum basic level) is an asset.
• Experience working with Workday in an HR, Finance, Payroll, or Student function is strongly preferred.
• Experience working in complex, academic environments is preferred (and specifically within UBC).
• Demonstrated ability to engage with stakeholders and to analyze and provide insight regarding a range of products.
• Proven knowledge of business process re-engineering / improvement, data analysis, and data modeling (conceptual, logical).
• Demonstrated knowledge and proven experience in producing business requirements, use cases, user scenarios, user stories, and business process maps.
• Demonstrated experience collaborating on cross-functional teams to meet critical, time-sensitive deadlines and communicating to diverse audiences.
• Demonstrated experience in Change Management and working within an innovative, fast-paced environment.
• Proven experience in end-to-end configuration practice within an evolving, complex product.
• Experience working a variety of software including Jira, Confluence and ticketing systems, such as ServiceNow.
• Demonstrated ability to recognize indicators of product performance and actions required to improve the performance.
• Proven knowledge of HR, Payroll, Student and / or Finance operational business processes and related interactions within complex organizational contexts.
• Working knowledge of quality assurance disciplines including best practices for continuous improvement.
• Proven ability to take initiative to drive team alignment throughout an evolving configuration and analysis strategy.
• Demonstrated ability to work in a collaborative and inclusive manner, fostering equitable experiences and a respectful environment through reflection, empathy, sensitivity, and curiosity towards differences across teams.
• Proven experience working on cross-functional teams and communicating to a diverse audience (technical and nontechnical).

Excellent interpersonal skills including active listening, written and verbal communication, and conflict management.

Collaboration : Actively solicits ideas and opinions from others to efficiently and effectively accomplish specific objectives targeted at defined business outcomes.

Openly encourages other team members to voice their ideas and concerns. Shows respect for differences and diversity and disagrees without personalizing issues.

Utilizes strengths of team members to achieve optimal performance.

Communicating for Results : Conducts discussions with and writes memoranda to all levels of colleagues and peer groups in ways that support troubleshooting and problem solving.

Seeks and shares relevant information, opinions, and judgments. Handles conflict empathetically. Explains the context of interrelated situations, asks probing questions, and solicits multiple sources of advice prior to acting when appropriate.

Problem Solving : Applies problem-solving methodologies and tools to diagnose and solve operational and interpersonal problems.

Determines the potential causes of the problem and devises testing methodologies for validation. Shows empathy and objectivity toward individuals involved in the issue.

Analyzes multiple alternatives, risks, and benefits for a range of potential solutions. Recommends resource requirements and collaborates with impacted stakeholders.

Analytical Thinking : Coordinates the information gathering and reporting process. Reviews trends and compares to expectations.

Conducts research to define problems and prepares responses to anticipated questions. Prioritizes multiple issues and opportunities.

Identifies relationships and linkages within several information sources. Anticipates issues that are not readily apparent on the surface.

Identifies root causes and effects. Defines priorities within performance objectives. Reports and identifies areas that need guidance in order to resolve complex issues.

Anticipates the possible outcome of potential solutions.

Information Systems Knowledge : Resolves escalated problems of technical support. Identifies root causes. Sets up and integrates new and enhanced information systems.

Identifies customer needs and determines the appropriate approach to apply and ensure resolution. Solicits the input of appropriate technical experts and managers as required.

Thoroughness : Demonstrates operational agility. Uses organizational systems that result in multiple critical activities to be identified and completed on time.

Renegotiates priorities as necessary. -Puts systems in place and uses them to monitor and detect errors and problems. Tests and inspects outputs and applies quality checks prior to work submission.