Business Analyst SAP HCM / Payroll

Job description
The Senior Business Analyst is a key position in the discovery and delivery of business solutions from information technology. The Senior Business Analyst, through continuous consultation with the functional areas, has a deep understanding of business operations and is capable of articulating solutions in business terms and not technical jargon. The Senior Business Analyst is typically involved in the more complex projects and enhancements and is capable of envisioning potential value for new IT solutions. This position is complementary with the IT Business Partner position and will overlap duties in moderately complex project activity. He or she also assists in the development of the business case to justify the new investment. While a Senior Business Analyst has a deep understanding of specific business areas, that expertise is set into a broader context of understanding of the business processes that may cross functional boundaries.

The Senior Business Analyst is an individual contributor who is a key informal leader in the IT Demand organization. This position is typically involved in more complex and difficult projects, responsible for the gathering of business requirements to ensure business objectives are met by the new IT solutions and is often a team member during the design, development and execution of projects. The Senior Business Analyst must ensure the full systems lifecycle process is adhered to, overseeing solutions through the entire implementation process. He or she must be proficient in Project Management disciplines from requirements gathering through implementation of the functional solution. This includes communicating requirements and issues effectively to the technology team to resolve issues in a timely manner. The Senior Business Analyst is the advocate for their clients and acts as the single point of contact for incident management, new services and resource allocation.

This position reports to the Portfolio Manager and supports IT Business Partners. They typically are aligned to specific business functions or organizations. They are responsible for developing and maintaining a trusted business relationship driving the greatest possible business value from IT investments.

Specific areas of responsibility and influence includes

Gathers and performs thorough analyses of all the information available.
Maintains client relationship within client groups
Works closely with clients, to quickly understand new requirements or problems, and then suggest a possible solution.
Participates in solution design activities with client groups in a specific business area to create and to document the business requirements.
Develops business cases, considering financial, resource, and technological constraints; develops cost estimates with consideration to business impacts and risks.
Oversees and follows up enhancements and small projects implementation activities including development and testing; working with functional and technical developers to ensure business requirements are clear and development activities are on schedule.
Develops test cases and performs testing to ensure requirements are met for system modifications or data extracts.
Consults with the clients on appropriate change management activities to achieve organizational readiness for the implementation of changes.
Demonstrates leadership by coordinating the requirements, specifications, and user acceptance testing efforts.
Participates in development of short and long term plans.
Supports incident and problem management for assigned functional areas and clients groups in support of on-going operations ensuring compliance with stage gate and internal controls and the quarterly enhancement cycle process.

Distinctive Competencies

Leadership, Communication and Relationship

Go-to support person for their specific functional area.
Outstanding communication skills, both verbal and written.
Goal driven, action oriented.
Business acumen.
When needed, can say “no” by offering meaningful alternatives.
Understand the drivers of organizational change and interdependencies among all the moving parts.
IT Savvy and Value Oriented

Clearly identifies business problems and challenges, shaping the IT Demand – stimulating, surfacing and articulating value-add business requirements.
Organizationally savvy understanding the key groups and individuals to influence project success.
Value Oriented, understands technology is a tool with overriding goal of business success.
Prioritize and align the service/project investment portfolio with business strategy.
Partners closely with business partners to analyze new projects and readiness for governance decisions and provides transparency of portfolio investments.
Understand available capabilities and services and work with supply to ensure business needs are met effectively and cost efficiently.
Well-grounded in Service Management – represent IT to the business.
Communicate and defend IT policies and standards, and understand how IT services benefit the business.
Coordinate/act as a broker of services and suppliers, including Enterprise Architecture, Solution Delivery, Service Management, etc.

Required experience, skills, professional attributes and qualities include the following

10+ years of solutions and multiple domain experience with increasing levels of leadership responsibility in systems analysis, defining technical requirements, and performing high level design for complex solutions for SAP Human Resources/Payroll
10+ years of work experience in a roles that had a high level of client or end-user engagement with experience in both support and formal or informal leadership
Experience supporting international payrolls such as UK, France, Germany, Spain and Italy.
5+ years SAP experience
Experience in configuration, coding, testing, debugging, documenting, and implementing enhancements and break fix solutions to SAP HR/Payroll/Time Management modules with very complex Payroll Schemas in support of production activities
Experience in the application and testing of SAP notes and support packs.
Knowledge of integration between Time Management, Payroll and FICO
Experience in the Petrochemical Industry with strong business acumen
Bachelor's Degree in related discipline with specialized leadership training and/or demonstrated capability to perform job responsibilities through previous experience and education

This position conducts business in more than 6 countries or in areas/communities that have strong, unique ethnic/cultural traditions. Domestic and international travel of 5 % is anticipated.