Lead Systems Analyst

Lead Systems AnalystSimon & Schuster is modernizing UOPS, the core order-processing platform that drives order management, fulfillment, partner integration, and financial transactions for the company. The multi-year program, approved by executive leadership in August 2026, replaces legacy COBOL batch processing with modern.NET and SQL solutions using an AI-assisted approach — and its success depends as much on business understanding as on engineering.The Lead Systems Analyst is the bridge between business operations and the modernization engineering team. This is a senior, high-judgment role: the hardest part of modernizing a 40-year-old system is not writing new code — it is understanding what the legacy system actually does, confirming which behaviors still matter to the business, and proving that replacements behave correctly before they take over production. This role owns that judgment.The Lead Systems Analyst works directly with business owners across order management, distribution, EDI, and finance operations to document required behavior, validate what is actually used, prioritize what gets modernized first, define acceptance criteria, and coordinate business sign-off for production cutovers.Please note that this role can be in-person, hybrid or fully remote.Key ResponsibilitiesDiscovery and documentation — Work with business and technical teams to document required functionality, production usage, business rules, interfaces, reports, and dependencies for each modernization module, using AI-assisted analysis and documentation tooling to accelerate the work.Usage validation and retirement analysis — Determine which legacy programs, jobs, reports, and interfaces are still used and still needed; build the evidence case for retiring what is not; obtain business-owner approval for retirement decisions.Requirements translation — Convert business requirements and legacy behavior into clear, testable solution requirements that engineers can implement directly: data mappings, business-rule specifications, acceptance criteria, and edge-case definitions.Prioritization with the business — Run recurring priority reviews with business stakeholders; translate operational pain (failures, delays, manual workarounds) into modernization sequencing.Validation and cutover sign-off — Review reconciliation and parallel-run results (first-pass data comparison is performed by the QA / Test Automation Engineer) from the business perspective: confirm that differences are explained, that required business behavior is preserved, and that edge cases the business cares about are covered. Coordinate business user testing and provide the business sign-off that gates each production cutover.Stakeholder communication — Serve as the credible, consistent voice between the modernization team and the business users who depend on the system daily: what is changing, when, and why it is safe.Required Qualifications7+ years of business/systems analysis experience, including significant experience on large-scale order processing, fulfillment, or supply-chain systems.Experience with EDI, order processing, and shipment-confirmation processing for large-scale distribution or publishing operations — including order intake and acknowledgements, distribution/warehouse orchestration, and invoicing flows.Experience using AI tools for discovery and documentation — e.g., AI-assisted code or system analysis, requirements extraction, or documentation generation — and the judgment to validate AI output against real system behavior.Demonstrated ability to work effectively with both business users and engineers — comfortable eliciting requirements from operations staff in business language and defending those requirements in technical design discussions.Proven ability to translate business requirements into coding/solution requirements — data mappings, rule specifications, and acceptance criteria precise enough for direct implementation and test automation.Strong analytical writing: able to produce documentation that becomes the authoritative record of system behavior.The judgment to distinguish a true business rule from a historical implementation accident.Preferred QualificationsPublishing-industry experience.Experience on a legacy-modernization, system-replacement, or platform-migration program.Exposure to legacy or mainframe-style environments (e.g., COBOL-era batch systems) — enough familiarity to work effectively with legacy specialists when documenting system behavior. No programming or code-reading skills required.Familiarity with SQL — able to read queries and data-reconciliation reports and reason about data-level parity between systems.Familiarity with batch scheduling environments (AutoSys or similar) and overnight batch operations.Experience with warehouse management (WMS), 3PL, or drop-ship integration workflows.Experience coordinating user acceptance testing and production cutover approvals.What Success Looks LikeEngineers rarely need to re-research scope: discovery output is complete, accurate, and actionable.Replacements pass business validation on the first attempt; post-cutover defect rates stay low.Retirement decisions are evidence-backed and business-approved, measurably shrinking the legacy footprint.Business stakeholders report increased confidence in the modernization program.Why This Role, Why NowThis is a rare opportunity to shape the modernization of a business-critical platform from the ground up: executive-sponsored, funded, and already delivering measurable production results. The Lead Systems Analyst joins as one of the first dedicated hires on the program and defines how business knowledge is captured and preserved for the next generation of the platform.Simon & Schuster US is an equal opportunity employer (EOE). At Simon & Schuster US, the spirit of inclusion feeds into everything that we do. From employee benefits/programs and social impact outreach initiatives, we believe that opportunity, access, resources and rewards should be available to and for the benefit of all. We are committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of race, color, national origin, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity or expression), age, citizenship status, marital status, and Veteran status where protected by law or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. The hiring salary range for this position applies to New York City, California, Colorado, Washington state, and most other geographies. Starting pay for the successful applicant depends on a variety of job-related factors, including but not limited to geographic location, market demands, experience, training, and education. The benefits available for this position include medical, dental, vision, 401(k) plan, life insurance coverage, disability benefits, tuition assistance program and PTO or, if applicable. Additionally, employees have access to our industry-first, Broad Based Ownership program, which makes all employees partners in our shared success. We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals in accordance with applicable law. If you need a reasonable accommodation during the application or interview process, please contact us at [insert contact information]. Unrelated emails, such as following up on an application, will not receive a response.Candidates hired for this or any other posted Simon & Schuster role will be employees of Simon & Schuster, LLC, subject to all policies, including the Workplace Privacy Notice, and eligible solely for the benefits plans thereof.