Functional Support Analyst

Overview

Reporting to the Senior Functional Support Analyst, the Functional Support Analyst is responsible for providing process and system support for critical operations and projects within the Finance division. This includes collaborating with various business partners across the organization to resolve information/data flow challenges, technical issues and system requirements and processes specific to finance. The Functional Support Analyst provides business analysis and functional expertise on Lawson Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) production, implementation, and upgrade projects.

The Functional Support Analyst ensures that functional MPI ERP system issues are resolved effectively and efficiently and identifies and assesses opportunities to maximize system functionality to support ongoing business process improvement. The position is the first point of contact on ERP systems issues for the designated business users, working with the user base to streamline and standardize processes and implement best practices.

The analyst works closely with Enterprise Systems Support (ESS) and Information Technology (IT) to address technical issues and in collaboration with business partners across the corporation to mitigate risk around shared elements and critical system dependencies.

Responsibilities

• Develops and maintains knowledge of the Lawson modules, and their interdependencies with other modules, in order to provide technical leadership, support, and documentation of Lawson Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) for the Finance division and the broader user base.
• Develops and maintains an understanding of finance processes and the information/data generated and required by the systems and processes. Understands the computer application functionality required to support activities that enhance, improve, and maximize the cost-effectiveness of these processes.
• Documents process flows using Visio to support architectural understanding of integrations and business processes.
• Builds and maintains positive end user relationships by developing an understanding of their business and project needs.
• Partners with various operational teams within the Finance division (i.e. Payroll, accounts receivable, accounts payable, banking, Financial Reporting, Budgeting, procurement), Human Resources (HR) and information systems teams, as well as business partners throughout the organization to resolve information/data flow challenges and system requirements specific to finance, for overall integration given system and process dependencies.
• Conducts detailed problem definition, critical analysis, and research to identify the source and nature of issues and works closely with ESS and IT to troubleshoot functional application issues.
• Leads complex initiatives to analyse current behaviour, gather and validate requirements, and present recommended solutions to the user and creates detailed documentation including requirements, analysis and design/development where applicable, testing, and any implementation details.
• Reviews, documents, and determines/assigns a priority level to escalated issues and defects.
• Assesses the efficiency of financial systems and procedures and provides recommendations for improvements. Enhances business processes and creates efficiencies through enterprise application systems and other financial applications and interfaces.
• Provides assistance in the development of scheduled and ad-hoc financial reports through reporting tools, such as Crystal Reports and Lawson Business Intelligence, based on existing and emerging user needs.
• Provides support in the evaluation of overall systems functionality to identify areas of opportunity for improvement and anticipates future needs.
• Keeps current with new and upcoming system functionality.
• Conducts ERP system audits to ensure data integrity, including the investigation and resolution of data integrity issues between systems and spreadsheets. Creates and maintains resulting defect reconciliations.
• Conducts periodic reviews of reporting content, system functionality, and existing ERP applications to ensure user requirements are met.

Qualifications

• Degree in Commerce, or a related discipline, with supplementary formal coursework in Intermediate Management Information Systems or Intermediate Computer Science.

OR

• Degree in Computer Science, or a related discipline, with supplementary formal coursework in Intermediate Accounting.
• Four years of related analytical experience supporting financial systems, tools, and databases, including conducting process analysis, documenting system requirements, and performing complex data analytics.
• Experience with ERP systems and toolsets is required.
• Working knowledge of the functional aspects of ERP accounting systems, including financial management, supply chain management, and human capital management.
• Working knowledge of generally accepted accounting and auditing principles, and common accounting terminology.
• Advanced communication skills to prepare and present information effectively to various audiences (e.g. training materials and its presentations).