Business Systems Analyst Lead

Business Systems Analyst Lead

At IHDA we strive to create and maintain a work environment that promotes diversity, recognition and inclusion. IHDA is committed to hiring and investing in individuals of diverse talents and backgrounds to ensure a range of perspectives and experiences inform and guide our work of financing affordable housing in the state of Illinois.

The Illinois Housing Development Authority (IHDA) is one of the Nation's preeminent Housing Finance Agencies and one of the State's ten largest financial institutions. Our mission is to finance the creation and preservation of affordable housing across the state. IHDA oversees more than 20 federal and state programs on behalf of the state of Illinois and serves as one of the state's primary resources for housing policy and program administration. For over 50 years, IHDA has led the state in financing and supporting affordable housing.

The Business Systems Analyst Lead's role is to plan, design, develop, and launch efficient business, financial, and operations systems in support of core organizational functions and business processes. This position assists in development or modification of business procedures and identifying and coordinating solutions to application errors. Responsible for independently creating solutions to system problems, looking beyond the obvious solutions and considering how the solution impacts other variables. This individual will apply proven communication, analytical, and problem-solving skills to help maximize the benefit of IT system investments.

Essential Functions:

• Provide daily triaging and review of the Business Systems Analyst Support ticket queue by monitoring workload, ensuring each ticket has accurate status and clear next steps, and driving timely resolution through proactive coordination and escalation when needed
• Serve as a strategic partner to business units by proactively engaging with stakeholders, understanding their operational needs, and ensuring IT solutions, services, and support align with and business objectives.
• Facilitate communication with business application owners. Gain understanding in as-is system functionality and best practices to establish goals and correctly diagnose technology and process issues.
• Collaborate in the planning, design, development, and deployment of new applications, as well as enhancements to existing applications.
• Partner with IT groups, such as Application Development, Infrastructure and Operations, Security, and Service Desk to plan and align on timeline and resources involved in maintenance and support tickets.
• Gather and document the necessary information on requirements and systems operations to assist in the development or modification of a system. Create and maintain system documentation based on support and maintenance changes for future troubleshooting and planning of support procedures.
• Monitor reported systems problems, assess and troubleshoot issues, generate reports based on the findings, complete with probable causes, and identify appropriate actions or solutions to resolve systems issues.
• Coordinate new functionality review, planning, kickoff and user acceptance testing (UAT) for application updates/releases.
• Monitor and coordinate enterprise application releases to ensure applications are current to support requirements with vendor partners.
• Assist users with development of testing plans for applications under development or maintenance.
• Provide Level 2 and 3 support and identify solutions that can be implemented by our ServiceDesk team.
• Identify trends in support of applications and provide recommendations for system changes, adjustments in training and/or gaps in processes.
• Document and maintain product and process guides, and systems standards and procedures. Ensure documentation is kept current, especially after significant changes to the systems.
• Provide weekly, monthly and as required status reports on the progress of all projects and maintenance.
• Provide support, mentoring and guidance on the overall efforts of all Business Systems Analysts within the team.
• Ensure compatibility and interoperability of in-house computing systems.
• Coordinate and perform in-depth tests, including end-user reviews, for modified and new systems, and other post-implementation support.
• Conduct research on software and hardware products to justify recommendations and to support purchasing efforts.
• Provide suggestions for areas of opportunity to reduce ticket inflow and improve turnaround time on support issues. Improve the quality of our products and services to internal and external customers.
• Proactively find areas of opportunity to reduce technical debt and increase the quality of our products.
• Additional duties as assigned.

Education and Experience Requirements:

• 7-10 years of experience as a Business Systems Analyst or related role. Experience with analytical tools such as PowerBI is a plus
• Experience with Oracle ERP and EPM financials and accounting systems, loan origination and servicing, grant management software is a plus
• Strong prioritization, organizational, time management, and communication (oral and written) skills.
• Proficient in entire Microsoft suite of applications including Visio, Word, and Excel (or related software). SQL and Azure experience a plus.
• Experience with Monday.com, Jira or Microsoft Project is preferred.
• Highly self-motivated and directed. Able to work independently, meet time-sensitive deadlines, and escalate issues and risks.
• Excellent analytical, troubleshooting, and creative problem-solving skills.
• Excellent listening and interpersonal skills.
• Keen attention to detail.
• Ability to communicate ideas in both technical and user-friendly language.
• Ability to effectively prioritize and execute tasks.
• Strong customer service orientation. Ability to manage vendor relationships.
• Experience working in a team-oriented, collaborative environment.

Physical Requirements: Alternating between sitting, standing, and walking. Ascending and descending stairs. Crouching and stooping. Pushing and pulling. Reaching overhead or below. Repetitive task movements (filing, keyboarding, copying). Lifting, carrying, and moving objects of up to 10 -15 pounds.

What we Offer:

• Paid time off, plus paid holidays
• Currently in a hybrid work arrangement, but candidates must reside in Illinois at time of hire
• Medical/dental/vision/life insurance plans
• Short/long term disability
• Tuition reimbursement
• Flex spending
• 401K plan – immediate vesting
• IHDA employees may be eligible for federal loan forgiveness programs
• Salary range: $81,117.41 - $101,396.76

Must be a resident of Illinois or willing to relocate. Flexible scheduling is available, upon completion of a six-month probationary period. EOE