Sr. System Analyst

About the Opportunity

Job Description:

Northeastern is a dynamic environment operating on a global scale; the Sr. System Analyst for Academic Systems is charged with capitalizing on short-term, emerging opportunities while simultaneously enabling a long-range vision of critical systems in the Registrar’s Office. Each system upgrade, enhancement request, and routine update provides an opportunity to think ahead to how an exceptional student experience can be served our academic systems. The incumbent assumes accountability for creating a shared understanding of problems, opportunities, and the path forward for enabling an exceptional student experience in the Global University System.

Reporting to the Deputy Registrar for Solution Delivery and Strategic Reporting (SDSR), the Sr. System Analyst is responsible for collaborating with stakeholders internal and external to the Office of the Registrar to ensure product functionality of third-party academic systems aligns with the business and functional needs of stakeholders. Products falling within the Academic Systems Product Portfolio include, but are not limited to, course and curriculum management; classroom inventory; and degree audit. The incumbent will work with product governance and Registrar product owners to define a technical roadmap that aligns with functional needs, and business and strategic goals. The incumbent will partner with fellow registrar colleagues and broader teams supporting Operations, the Network and Student Services teams, and ITS, among others. A key function of this role is to develop productive and sustainable relationships with vendor partners to adopt the right features at the right time, and to find opportunities to engage in proof-of-concept engagements. Working with the Registrar Leadership team, the Sr. System Analyst will have direct oversight over vendor budgets, SOWs, and contracts.

The Sr. System Analyst also serves as the Product Owner for the prioritization and project management tool used by the Registrar’s Office. The incumbent will work teams to extend its adoption and fully-utilize features to track and meet the office’s strategic goals.

Through the needs discovery process, the Sr. System Analyst will also identify opportunities for data and reporting initiatives leveraging third-party systems and work in partnership with the Senior Associate Registrar for Strategic Reporting to define preliminary scope (i.e., “Definition of Done), user base, and dependencies.

This position must collaborate with a diverse set of stakeholders (e.g., Student Financial Services, Financial Aid, Office of Global Services) whose processes depend on academic systems data. This position does not have any current direct reports yet may oversee temporary resources and/or full-time project staff, as needed. This is a fully remote position; occasional travel to University campuses may be required based on project needs.

Sr. System Analyst responsibilities include:

• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to define academic systems needs and align short- and long-term opportunities with strategic goals and vision.
• Gather and prioritize requirements from diverse users of academic systems and data to translate them into actionable user stories, working in close partnership with product owners, SDSR, and the Registrar Leadership team.
• Manage contracts, SOWs, license duration, and budgets allocated for products.
• Identify data and reporting needs and partner with the Senior Associate Registrar for Strategic Reporting on the “definition of done,” user base, and dependencies.
• Serve as the product owner for the office’s prioritization and project management tool.
• Work with SDSR team and others on business process mapping and requirements documentation.
• Stay up-to-date on product functionality and best practices; bring opportunities back “home” to Northeastern.
• Work closely with Solution Delivery and Strategic Reporting leadership on unit goals and strategy.
• Deliver outcomes for unit priorities, providing necessary direction to temporary resources to achieve the goals identified by the Deputy Registrar
• Ensure continuous process improvement, integrity, documentation, and compliance standards are met within the unit to ensure business continuity and sustainable business practices.
• Enable unit peers to deliver business critical organization-wide processes and tasks.
• Serve as an active participant on a variety of registrar and network projects and task forces, as directed by the Deputy Registrar.
• As new opportunities and shifting priorities are realized, maintain an agile, nimble, and forward-thinking outlook, including reprioritization the workload and sequencing with existing initiatives and work.
• This description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of responsibilities; the position may encounter responsibility shifts based on the needs and direction of the university.

Qualifications:

The ideal candidate will have many or all the following attributes and demonstrated abilities:

• Bachelor’s degree is required.
• Minimum 5 years of experience in a medium to large university or related institution, with experience working with products and data relevant to the role. Experience working in the Office of the Registrar ais strongly preferred.
• Previous experience in a similar role, working at the intersection of business and technology.
• Demonstrated experience created and delivering presentations to a variety of stakeholders (e.g., academic leadership, advisers, analysts).
• Experience with Agile frameworks and participation in Agile ceremonies; experience with Asana is strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to manage and deliver sequenced and concurrent projects that will support functional, operational continuity, and risk management.
• Demonstrated ability to work with diverse constituents with shifting workloads and priorities.
• Experienced analytical and creative thinker, one who leverages relationships to get buy-in and support for solutions and enhancements, with a focus on root cause analysis and solutioning.
• Must possess the ability to solve problems collaboratively and quickly, deescalate situations, maintain curiosity, and demonstrate empathy.
• Demonstrated proactive and consultative customer and student service orientation.
• Knowledge of operational and project best practices, systems, policies, and procedures in a fast-paced, complex, and dynamic setting, including strong analytical skill and data management.
• Strong ability to breakdown company-level objectives to clearly show how they are related to the broader unit's tasks and functions. Able to candidly explain organizational goals, priorities, and decisions in a clear and balanced way.

Job Duties:
50%

• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to academic systems needs and align short- and long-term opportunities with needs, goals, and visions; establish governance where necessary.
• Work with product owners to prioritize backlog to adapt to changing needs and emerging opportunities.
• Lead operational projects, ensuring they are managed effectively using Registrar Office tools and standards; provide regular project updates to the Office and other stakeholders as needed.
• Manage contracts, SOWs, license duration, and budgets allocated for products.
• Stay up-to-date on functionality and best practices by staying engaged with vendor partners and external communities, proactively bringing opportunities “back home” to Northeastern for consideration by stakeholders as solutions to their greatest needs.
• Work closely with Solution Delivery and Strategic Reporting leadership on unit goals and strategy.
• Serve as a strong partner to ITS colleagues.

20%

• Serve as the work management tool product owner for the Office of the Registrar, coordinating access and continuous improvement of the tool.
• Support ongoing operational excellence of the office-wide prioritization process, making improvements based on feedback and best practices.
• Collaborate with internal and external stakeholders at all levels to ensure tool capability is being used to maximize transparency and engagement.
• Create standards and best practices for office-wide adoption.

20%

• Collaborate on business process mapping to determine as-is and to-be functionality for products.
• Support creation of business and functional requirements, checking for understanding as needed with subject matter experts.
• Ensure continuous process improvement, integrity, documentation, and compliance standards are met within the unit to ensure business continuity and sustainable business practices.
• Serve as an active participant on a variety of registrar and network projects and task forces, as directed by the Deputy Registrar.

10%

• Partner with the Registrar’s Office leadership to develop and deploy a unified vision and strategy that aligns within the Provost’s Office goals, the University’s academic plan. Support the other unit’s work within the Registrar’s Office to find the best outcome, considering totality of the work and the student experience.

Position Type

Information Technology

Additional Information

Northeastern University considers factors such as candidate work experience, education and skills when extending an offer.

Northeastern has a comprehensive benefits package for benefit eligible employees. This includes medical, vision, dental, paid time off, tuition assistance, wellness & life, retirement- as well as commuting & transportation. Visit [https://hr.northeastern.edu/benefits/> for more information.

Northeastern University is an equal opportunity employer, seeking to recruit and support a broadly diverse community of faculty and staff. Northeastern values and celebrates diversity in all its forms and strives to foster an inclusive culture built on respect that affirms inter-group relations and builds cohesion.

All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply and will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, religion, color, national origin, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

To learn more about Northeastern University’s commitment and support of diversity and inclusion, please see www.northeastern.edu/diversity.