The Systems Analyst job family forms part of the Application Development and Field Support tracks within the IT function. Systems Analysts are responsible for participating in applications development, maintenance, and enhancement of IT projects. They provide specialized technical knowledge.  The Systems Analyst is part of the NA Architectural Coatings (AC) IT team and will contribute to the achievement of business objectives by identifying opportunities for effective use of SAP BI technology and developing, implementing and supporting solutions on time and on budget.

 

Position Description

 

A SAP implementation project is underway to transform and standardize the recently acquired AkzoNobel and base Architectural Coatings business on SAP.  The implementation dates are set for August 2014 and early 2015.  This role can reside in either the NA AC headquarters in Cranberry Township, PA or in the Longueuil, Quebec AC office.  The SAP project team is working from the Architectural Coatings Strongsville, OH office near Cleveland.

 

Business and Technical

 

The Systems Analyst must provide analytical and technical expertise for the  SAP BI solution as a member of the SAP BI project team.  The role of the SA is to interpret and align business processes and process changes to the SAP BI solution.  The SA works closely with company customers, SAP BI team members, the global SAP Center of Excellence, IT colleagues, and other stakeholders to define and implement customer analytical and reporting requirements into SAP BI.   SAs will also provide second level support for the SAP BI solution.  They must be able to prepare detailed specifications from which applications will be written.  Often they create, modify, and test programs themselves or provide technical consulting support on projects or system issues.  Within AC, SAs maintain knowledge of various business processes used within the systems application portfolio, with a focus on the SAP platform.  In this capacity, they must maintain awareness of current and planned IT projects within AC and especially BI initiatives to champion and promote application awareness and BI capability across the organization.  SAs must be familiar with project management techniques including defining the project scope and tasks, prioritization of tasks and resources, contingency planning, project tracking, and project reporting.  SAs duties may include evaluating application software packages by working collaboratively with the global SAP Center of Excellence, team members, other IT colleagues, and other SAP BI colleagues from around the globe in order to make recommendations to management.  SAs are also required to fully support and comply with departmental procedures for established methodologies and practices.

 

Interpersonal

 

SAs coordinate solutions and clarify interdependencies so that systems and BI appear seamless to customers. Incumbents must forge relationships with the business as well as maintain rapport with other IT groups. Negotiation, influencing and getting to consensus are additional attributes of the successful Systems Analyst. SAs generally do not directly supervise others.  SAs may on occasion provide direction to other project team members and potentially members or the Global Center of Excellence. SAs should possess good coaching skills to improve the capabilities of other project team members and to raise the BI competency of the IT team. 

 

 

 

 

Minimum Qualifications

 

• A Bachelorâ??s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related discipline.
• 4 - 7 years of experience working with the SAP BI 7.x platform across at least three functional areas (Purchasing, Demand Planning, Production Execution, Sales and Distribution, Logistics Execution, and Finance and Controlling).
• 4 - 7 years of extensive experience in the configuration and development of BI reporting using the Business Explorer tool suite.
• 4 â?? 7 years of experience transforming business processes for reporting and analysis into viable BI solutions.

 

Preferred Qualifications

 

Knowledge the of the SAP BI tool suite including the Business Objects suite or other BI tools against large data volumes, both structured and unstructured, is desirable.

 

Skills

 

• Solid technical knowledge and ability to express complex concepts in terms that is understandable to the business.
• Track record of participation on multidiscipline, high-performance work teams.
• Strong problem solving skills.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and effectively participate in teams.
• Project management skills, including defining, organizing, planning, and executing projects from vision through implementation.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to communicate effectively across all levels within the organization, technical writing, and developing of End User training materials.
• Ability to be comfortable in a nonhierarchical, flat organization and, if required, operate under a dual reporting relationship; ability to thrive in a somewhat unstructured handsÃ?­ on environment that demands a consultative approach and solutions that span multiple environments in a business area

 

Success Factors

Prime Success Factors (focus on results, drive change, promote teamwork, build trust & respect, and understand market & customer perspective) in addition to the following:

 

• Functional Expertise within the business and its IT structures
• Manage Complexity
• Communicate and Share Information
• Plan and Organize
• Take Responsibility