Business Analyst

General Functions and Scope

The Business Analyst will be a vital link between IT and our business objectives using analytics to assess processes, determine requirements and deliver data-driven recommendations and reports to executives and stakeholders.The role will turn data into information, information into insight and insight into business decisions. Using techniques from a range of disciplines, including computer programming, mathematics, and statistical analysis, the role will draw conclusions from data and business systems to describe, predict, and improve business performance. The role will be responsible for all aspects of business analytics, including mining data, generation, and visualization.

Essential Functional Areas of Responsibilities

• Identifies, collects and analyzes relevant data to meet business needs; interprets the results of the analysis.
• Works closely with key stakeholders in Sales, Business Development and Supply Chain to understand and maintain focus on their analytical needs, including identifying critical metrics and KPIs, and delivering actionable insights to support corporate decision-making.  
• Uses statistical tools to interpret data sets.
• Prepares reports for management that effectively communicate trends, patterns and predictions using relevant data.
• Collaborates with peers and organizational leaders to identify opportunities for business process improvements, recommend system modifications, and develop policies for data governance.
• Performs root cause/gap analysis.
• Manages and improves existing reporting systems.
• Performs complex analyses.
• Provides consulting and analytic services to leadership.
• Identifies new sources of data and methods to improve data collection, analysis, and reporting.
• Creates reports, dashboards, and other visualizations on data associated with suppliers, customers, business processes, market economics, and more to provide insights to senior management and business leaders in support continued innovation & growth. 
• Develops data collection systems, data analytics and other strategies that optimize statistical efficiency and quality.
• Acquires data from primary or secondary data sources and maintain databases/data systems
• Works with management to prioritize business and information needs.
• Locates and define new process improvement opportunities across multiple departments, e.g., sales, supply chain, and marketing.
• Identifies, analyzes, and interprets trends or patterns in complex data sets.
• Creates and maintains rich interactive visualizations through data interpretation and analysis integrating various reporting components from multiple data sources.
• Builds scripts that will make our data evaluation processes more flexible or scalable across data sets.
• Facilitate broad collaboration with clear communication and documentation.
• Any other duties assigned by supervisor

Skills & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree inBusiness Administration, Mathematics, Finance or Information Technology
• Minimum of fiveyears of industry or related field experience
• Distribution and/or Manufacturing organization experience strongly preferred
• Sage X3 ERP experience is preferred
• One or more of the following certifications is preferred:
  • Associate Certified Analytics Professional (aCAP)
  • Certified Analytics Professional
  • Cloudera Certified Associate (CCA) Data Analyst
  • Microsoft Certified Data Analyst Associate
  • SAS Certified Advanced Analytics Professional Using SAS 9
  • Tableau Desktop Certified Professional
  • Tableau Server Certified Professional
• Strong mathematical skills to help collect, measure, organize and analyze data 
• Technical expertise with data models, database design development, data mining and segmentation techniques
• Knowledge of programming languages like SQL, Oracle, R, MATLAB, and Python
• Technical proficiency regarding database design development, data models, techniques for data mining, and segmentation
• Experience in handling reporting packages like Business Objects, programming (JavaScript, XML, or ETL frameworks) and databases
• Proficiency in statistics and statistical packages like Microsoft Excel, SPSS, SAS to be used for data set analyzing
• Adept at using data processing platforms like Hadoop and Apache Spark
• Knowledge of data visualization software like Tableau, Qlik and Microsoft BI
• Experience creating slide decks and presentations with Microsoft PowerPoint 
• Advanced MS Excel skills including Vlookups and pivot tables
• Knowledge of how to create and apply the most accurate algorithms to datasets in order to find solutions
• Excellent problem-solving skills
• High level of accuracy and attention to detail
• Strong verbal and written communication skills to engage with the business to understand business objectives and gather requirements
• Ability to write routine correspondence
• Ability to speak effectively before groups of employees
• Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide all units of measure—using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals. Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent; and to interpret graphs
• Ability to apply common-sense understanding to carry out detailedwritten, or oral instructions.
• Ability to deal with problems involving a few concrete variables in standardized situations

Core Competencies

To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:

• Quantitative Analysis – understands behavior through the use of mathematical and statistical modeling, measurement, and research
• Critical Thinking – the analysis of facts to form a judgment
• Problem Solver – focuses on the problem as stated and works to synthesize information and knowledge to achieve a solution
• Stakeholder Management – the ability to establish, monitor and improve stakeholder relationships
• Oral communication – Speaks clearly and persuasively in positive or negative situations; listens and gets clarification; responds well to questions; participates in meetings
• Written communication – Writes clearly and informatively; edits work for spelling and grammar; able to read and interpret written information
• Teamwork – Balances team and individual responsibilities; contributes to building a positive team spirit; supports everyone’s efforts to succeed
• Business acumen – Understands business implications of decisions
• Diversity –shows respect and sensitivity for individuals’ differences
• Judgment – Displays willingness to make decisions; exhibits sound and accurate judgment; supports and explains reasoning for decisions
• Efficiency – Completes work in timely manner; works quickly
• Planning/Organizing – Prioritizes and plans work activities; uses time efficiently; sets goals and objectives; organizes schedule and tasks
• Professionalism – Approaches others in a tactful manner; reacts well under pressure; treats others with respect and consideration regardless of their status or position; accepts responsibility for own actions; follows through on commitments
• Quality – Looks for ways to improve and promote quality; demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness; looks for ways to improve and promote quality; applies feedback to improve performance; monitors own work to ensure quality
• Initiative – Volunteers readily; undertakes self–development activities; seeks increased responsibilities; looks for and takes advantage of opportunities; asks for help and offers help when needed
• Innovation – Displays original thinking and creativity; meets challenges with resourcefulness
• Change management – Develops workable implementation plans; communicates changes effectively; builds commitment and overcomes resistance; prepares and supports those affected by change; monitors transition and evaluates results
• Quality management – Looks for ways to improve and promote quality; demonstrates accuracy and thoroughness