Location:People Capability and Resources, National Office

POSITION DESCRIPTION

Position:Manager IT Business Analysts

Location:People Capability and Resources, National Office

Business Unit:ITApplications

Group:Information Technology

Reporting to:Manager, IT Applications

Issue Date:September 2011

Delegated Authority:Human Resources and Financial

Staff Responsibility:Yes

Our Role

The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) is the lead agency for the social sector. We help the Government to set priorities across the sector, co-ordinate the actions of other social sector agencies and track changes in the social wellbeing of New Zealanders.

The Ministry provides policy advice, and delivers social services and assistance to children and young people, working age people, older people, and families, whānau and communities. We work directly with New Zealanders of all ages to improve their social wellbeing.

We serve over a million people, working out of more than 250 centres around the country. It is likely that every New Zealander will come into contact with the Ministry at some point in their life.

Our work, together with our social sector partners, is essential to achieving a sustainable and prosperous future, where all New Zealanders are able to take responsibility for themselves, be successful in their lives and participate in their communities.

Our Principles

Above all, we do the right thing for New Zealanders.

PositionDescriptionApprovedBy:

______
Chief Information Officer
Date: ……/……/……
Group: People, Capability and Resources is responsible for providing essential support to the entire Ministry for all the work that it does in the areas of Finance, Human Resources (HR), Information Technology (IT), and Property. It has a Ministry-wide view on organisational issues and leads the development of integrated capability strategies across the whole Ministry. It has a strong focus on “backing the business to win”, sustainability and value for money.
Business Unit: The IT Applications unit, part of the wider Information Technology group is responsible for the day to day maintenance and ongoing operation of the Ministry’s IT applications and systems development. This group is also responsible for developing new or enhancing existing applications in response to IT, business or government policy initiatives.
The MSD IT group has moved from an purely outsourced development model to a hybrid of in source / outsource model with vendors working as partners providing the required technical resources to meet the demands of the work program. The IT application business unit in a wider IT context is the software delivery arm of the Information Technology group. The unit is involved in delivery of large scale capital projects to the order of 20 million dollars annually. The IT Applications business unit is the face of IT to the Service Delivery lines and has end to end accountability for delivery of the enhancement and projects including on-going support. This business unit is supported by IT Performance & Risk (program advisor function) and Infrastructure Services team (Testing Services and Deployment functions) to deliver quality solution to the Service lines.
The team is structured as below:

The resource management follows a matrix framework where the resource managers (i.e. Manager IT Business Analyst, Manager Design and Development, Manager Data Warehouse and Manager Release & Environment) have a capability focus to ensure the skills, processes, tools and people are maintained to ahigh standard to enable IT to deliver the program of work. The Application Managers are allocated a portfolio of IT application assets and associated operational and capital budget to manage and apply a best practice asset management approach through the life of the application. They are also the face of IT to the service lines, create and manage the demand of the IT work that needs to be carried out across the service lines.
The matrix model requires a very high degree of partnership between the Application Managers and the Resource Managers to ensure successful delivery. This partnership extends to the other Resource Managers in the wider IT team with Program Advisors, IT Testing Services and the Technology Services team.

The matrix modelabove shows the aspired state the IT group is working towards and shows the Resource Managers as vertical capabilities, with the work (enhancements and projects) as the horizontal streams. The customer engagement team in the model above is the role the Application Managerwho partner with the service lines.
There are some subtle but very important and significant facts about the roles in the IT Applications team:

Any delivery issues are the responsibility of the Application Manager to resolve. This is the person the business holds responsible for the delivery of work.
The Resource Managers are responsible for ensuring the proficiency of people, their familiarity with the technical environment, tools needed to design & develop and the analytical capability required are developed and maintained to a very high standard.
The Data Warehouse Manager is unique in the way that this role controls the entire span of the IT function that is otherwise carried out by I&S for other Business Applications managed by Application Managers. This team has to service its own deployment and production support needs.
The Resource Managers and their team are the main doers in this value chain i.e. the constructors and intellectual property holders.
The Application Manager at any given time manages the capital project budgets and has operational budgets to cover software licensing costs or support costs.
The Resource Managers hold the necessary budget to cover staff salaries and training.
The Application Managers whilst not having any direct reports have a delivery team to supervise on a day to day basis which is determined by the number of projects underway in their portfolio. This includes all skill set across the SDLC i.e. Project Managers, Technical Designers, Developers, Testers, Data Warehouse Analysts.
In essence there is a need for a strong partnership between these roles for IT to be successful as they fill very critical aspects of the SDLC and to make it all happen.

Purpose of the Position: The role of the Manager IT Business Analystsis to manage the business analystsin IT Applications and manage the associated budget and activities. The role entails:
Resource planning and allocation to projects
Performance planning and reviews
Mentoring and coaching of the BA, providing timely feedback and creating a high-performing team environment
Management of the application development requirements processes and engagement in other application development processes as necessary
Championing the BA practice providing expert advice to projects on techniques that can be deployed to drive excellent results from analysis perspective.
Championing the knowledge and understanding of the IT tools including Enterprise Architect, Rational Rose with a view to ensure consistent use of the tools by the BA community for project and enhancement work.
Conducting periodic reviews of the work being completed by BA’s on projects and providing feedback.
Conducting periodic reviews of the relevant business analysis processes in IT and run initiatives to continuously improve quality of analysis work conducted.
Working closely with Applications Managers to ensure that programmes of work are resourced and that appropriate levels of business analysis is provided to ensure the successful delivery of projects.
Managing key relationships across IT as a service provider of business analysis services.

Working Relationships

Internal:

The Chief Information Officer and staff
Managers and staff across the IT Applications group
Business Unit Managers and staff
All other IT groups; Enterprise Architecture, Infrastructure and Services, Performance and Risk, Customer Service
Managers and staff across PCR and MSD

External:

Vendors
External stakeholders
Employment Agencies (IT)

Key Accountabilities:

Key Result Area / Accountabilities
Resource Management and Development /

Proactively build team ability to achieve consensus and accomplish goals, encouraging sharing of knowledge, skills, ideas
Allocate work resources to and monitor the performance and work progress of all team members
Foster effective working relationships across the team and other business units, managing/resolving conflict as necessary
Negotiate and agree clear performance expectations with staff, inspiring ownership of and commitment to the team plan
Co-ordinate own work to fit in with team requirements to enhance individual and team performance
Provide support and guidance to team members, enabling them to meet work objectives
Inspire and act as a mentor for team members, using appropriate motivational techniques, promoting effective teamwork
Manage all direct reports in a manner consistent with HR policies and procedures
Identify and address training needs of direct reports, with a commitment to continually improve people capability
In collaboration with Applications Managers who will be responsible for setting service delivery objectives, establish performance agreements with and undertake performance appraisals for direct reports,in a fair and timely manner at least annually, providing appropriate ongoing feedback and coaching support throughout performance appraisal period
Undertake staff recruitment as required.
Ensure team members complete relevant HR administrative requirements
Communicate the Ministry’s goals to staff in a manner supporting and encouraging staff to achieve the vision
Establish, manage and communicate work processes, ensuring all team members are aware of and adhere to them
Maintain up-to-date team work plan, ensuring correct priorities as agreed with the business and Manager, IT Applications
Ensure the team work plan is effectively integrated with all other related IT work plans
Execute the team work plan according to appropriate priorities
Ensure quantity of outstanding work remains within agreed levels
Ensure that work carried out follows the application life cycle, and is focussed on value and quality delivery

Relationship /Stakeholder Management /

Co-ordinate and manage the liaison with stakeholder/ IT managers
Liaise with Application Managers and other IT managers to schedule Business Analyst resources for pieces of work, as required
Resolve issues that are escalated to management level, ensuring issue resolution

Actively build and maintain positive and productive working relationships with all stakeholders
Seek and provide feedback on the quality of service provided and address issues raised, achieving continual improvement in level and quality of service provided
Actively build and maintain relationships with vendors.

Project Management /

Lead, organise, control and monitor Business Analyst resources effectively to achieve project goals efficiently
Liaise with project business sponsors and other relevant project stakeholders promptly regarding project resourcing issues
Liaise with IT groups as required to support effective project integration across all MSD stakeholders
Monitor and report performance to appropriate audience regularly, against budget, schedule and quality targets
Co-ordinate external and internal project resources
Adhere to Ministry’s Governance, project management, HR, Financial and other work management policies and standards
Manage multiple projects with conflicting demands and timeframes, maintaining priorities and quality standards

Financial and Budget Management /

Plan and establish appropriate budget to ensure area of responsibility is resourced to effectively deliver agreed outcomes
Monitor and manage finances to remain within acceptable variances and provide required, accurate financial reporting on variances/expenditure
Provide accurate reporting on team and project performance against budget goals
Review and approve (within delegated responsibilities), contractor & vendor invoices
Adhere to Finance group standards and procedures

Business Analysis Practice Management and Development /

Lead the Business Analysis practice in MSD promoting the Industry best practice approaches
Proactively maintain an external focus with a view to improve the practice and actively participate in industry BA practice events
Actively own and improve the various business analysis processes and tools
Actively promote the adaptation of the ensure consistency in application of the practice across the application portfolio
Actively identify, develop and manage the application specific (e.g. Curam, SWIFTT) or specialised analysis skills (e.g. Usability, integration) need to meet the needs of the application portfolio.
Implement and develop processes, forums, Special interest groups to support the Business Analyst Community within MSD
Develop and maintain appropriate skill inventory needed for the practice
Review and develop training plans best suited to the various levels of Business Analysis.
Maintain relationship with training providers, software vendors with a view to meet the needs of the application portfolio

IT Application Business Analysis and Support /

Provide guidance for the effective analysis of a business problem and opportunity across the application portfolio
Direct business analysis leadership at a senior level to team of Business Analysts encouraging cross-skilling, self-motivation, ownership, multi-tasking, lateral thinking, problem solving
Ensure minimal disruption to programmes of work as a result of resource changes
Ensure the effective implementation and use of efficient and standardised processes for Business Analysis across the full SDLC, maintaining effective relationships with interfacing process areas within and external to the IT Applications group
Proactively contribute to the effective and efficient transition of new applications from project mode into application support mode, following a standardised, thoroughly documented, structured method
Lead projects to enhance resource capability, supporting the MSD IT Strategic and Business Plan objectives

Business Development and Marketing /

Identify and promote best practice industry standard approaches
New initiatives and opportunities are raised and implemented for enhanced service improvement
Contribute to the effective integration, acceptance and implementation of delegated processes
Demonstrate professionalism and commitment to industry and Ministerial ethics and standards

Health and Safety /

Understand and implement your manager accountabilities.
Ensure health, safety and security policies and procedures are understood, followed, implemented by all employees.

Technical/Professional Knowledge and Experience

A tertiary degree in computer science or Information Systems, or relevant experience
Extensive experience in the IT industry, ideally within a resource management context
Experience of application development, systems integration, business analysis, data modelling
Applications experience within the following environments / products / technologies is advantageous: client/server, Oracle, Unix, Web-logic middle-ware, Java J2EE, Java, web applications
Software management tools/methods experience preferred: Oracle software tools: including Designer 2000, Rational suite, Function Point Analysis
Proven experience working with a complex, integrated multi-platform environment, from mainframe to client/server, including mid-tier
Successful IT project management experience
Proven, strong experience in managing all aspects of successful vendor relationships, including SDLC, procurement and performance measurement via metrics
Experience in working in a large and complex organisation
Strong process and standards commitment with process development experience
Sound understanding of the software development life cycle
Experience in liaising between IT and the business
Demonstrated understanding of the application of technology solutions into the business environment
Able to provide effective business analysis guidance, knowledge of methodologies/case-tools preferred
Keeps abreast of current application development technologies and trends
Able to undertake work management in a multi-stream environment

Attributes/Success Factors

Strong leadership/management skills with ability to motivate high-performing teams, within both business and technical IT environments
Excellent verbal and written communication, facilitation and relationship management skills
Strong analytical skills - clarity of thinking, defines problems well, gathers all necessary information and produces thorough, objective and methodologically sound advice.
Excellent documentation skills –able to develop, document and communicate process manuals, guidelines and standards
Highly effective interpersonal skills – able to adapt to suit the needs of the audience
Excellent relationship management skills – able to establish, build and maintain effective working relationships at all levels of an organisation
Exercises sound judgement and political sensitivity
Strong client focus – able to understand the needs of stakeholders/business representatives and prioritises or incorporates these as required
Welcomes and values diversity, and contributes to an inclusive working environment where differences are acknowledged and respected

Other Requirements

Willing to travel to fulfil job requirements
Holds current drivers licence and is prepared to drive the Ministry’s vehicles if required.

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