Senior Business Analyst Budget and Reporting Applications

Job Summary

Reporting to the Director, Business Planning, the Senior Business Analyst, Budgeting and Reporting Applications plays a key role in all aspects of the budgeting, forecasting and reporting process. This includes preparing and working with senior management to initiate the budgeting, forecasting and reporting process and managing the technology needed to take the budgeting, forecasting and reporting cycle to successful completion. The Senior Business Analyst will be responsible for driving continuous process improvement through the streamlining and standardization of existing processes. The integration of data and use of technology will be critical in supporting the various initiatives within the organization effectively.

This role will provide work direction to those providing technical support for the budgeting, forecasting and reporting applications and will lead the requirements analysis, develop and write business specifications, and coordinate and implement test plans for new developments for budgeting, forecasting and reporting. The Senior Business Analyst will work closely with the sustainment team to ensure acceptable toolset performance, system reliability and employment of best practices. This role will perform ad hoc analysis, financial resource utilization and operational reviews and reporting to support the Director, Business Planning.

Duties/Accountabilities

• Leads the analysis of current situation and future requirements of the budgeting process and reporting requirements of financial information to meet the needs of executives, front-line managers, and various executive committees. Identifies, develops and implements appropriate/best practices and standardized reporting tools, such as templates or analysis tools for budgeting, forecasting and reporting. Constantly seeks opportunities to improve processes and streamlines operations by investigating and applying innovative and appropriate solutions for information delivery and reporting submission.
• Develops and writes business specifications for development work. Works with other business planning staff and agency personnel to gather appropriate requirements and ensure stakeholder satisfaction. Negotiates acceptable solutions to improve efficiencies, balancing system maintenance with user needs and requests to deliver sustainable long term solutions.
• Educates and trains financial and non financial employees (senior leaders, agency and department heads) in developing operating and capital budgets, monitoring and interpreting financial and utilization information. Identifies and addresses change management and training issues arising from new technology and process changes to ensure uptake of new technology or process and user satisfaction.
• Leads and provides work direction to assigned staff and consultants for the delivery of specific budgeting, forecasting and reporting requirements, such as new input template development and its associated testing and enhancements of existing templates and reports under specified timelines. Also responsible for administering the technical work for initiation of the budgeting cycle and associated maintenance and data management during the budgeting process.
• Supports the Business Planning Directors and agency and Corporate Analysts by facilitating the reconciliation of inter-agency transactions, liaising with Capital Planning on depreciation impacts to agencies, pre-budget cycle analysis for agencies and lab re-allocation entries.
• Analyzes budgeting assumptions and organizational impact, specifically compensation and benefits and miscellaneous cost pressures and escalations and other ad hoc analysis and reporting as required.
• Performs exception reporting to monitor the consistency and quality of the budgeting, forecasting and reporting cycle and assessment and evaluation of the gaps. Implements strategies to improve the gaps to ensure a robust tool that delivers consistent quality information.
• Works closely with the sustainment team, monitoring the applications, determining when migrations should be performed for new work, when software upgrades and patches should be implemented and ensures best practices are being followed for optimum performance and processes are in place to ensure data integrity. Sets the strategy and schedule for internal releases and enhancements and manages application down time.
• Liaise with IMIT to resolve technical environment issues that impact the budget and reporting applications to ensure that the application is available during critical periods for reporting and the budgeting cycle.

Qualifications

A level of education, training, and experience equivalent to a professional accounting designation (CMA, CGA or CA) or a Masters Degree in Business Administration or a related field of study plus a minimum of 8 years of recent, related senior analyst experience in a large complex multi-site organization. Knowledge and experience working with complex computer based applications and data systems, data integrity process checks and internal controls. Superior writing and presentation skills, including the ability to comprehend complex issues and related data/information and present information in concise meaningful ways and in a non-technical and non financial manner. Strong computer and financial application skills, including demonstrated ability to productively use spreadsheet, word processing, presentation and database applications. Customer focused with an ability to facilitate and encourage co-operation between diversion operational groups and skill sets. Excellent communication skills, including the ability to negotiate and persuade others, superior organizational skills, including the ability to prioritize workload to meet deadlines, ability to work under pressure and multi-task without direct supervision, physical ability to perform the duties of the job.