Senior Functional Business Analyst

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Position Context:

The Senior Functional Business Analyst will be fully dedicated to the University's ERP Modernization Program, with a focus on the Student Information Systems (SIS) project. This transformational initiative aims to modernize the technology, processes, and services that support the student lifecycle.

The University's current ERP system, Ellucian Banner, has been in place for many years and includes significant customization. As a result, many business processes and rules have evolved around the system and may no longer reflect current business needs. The Senior Functional Business Analyst will work closely with stakeholders to understand existing processes, identify underlying requirements, and distinguish business-driven needs from legacy practices.

Working in partnership with Functional Analysts (FAs) and technical teams, the Senior Functional Business Analyst will develop a deep functional and hands on knowledge of Banner, including system configuration business rules, workflows and functional dependencies. The Senior Functional Business Analyst will actively participate in solution design, configuration, validation and troubleshooting, and will progressively develop the expertise required to support long-term functional ownership of the solution.

This role requires an experienced professional with strong business analysis capabilities who can bridge business needs, operational processes and system functionality, understand cross-functional impacts, facilitate decision-making, and support stakeholders through organizational change. The Senior Functional Business Analyst will remain engaged throughout the project lifecycle, from business analysis and process design through solution development, testing, implementation, and business acceptance, ensuring that solutions meet intended business outcomes.
The Senior Functional Business Analyst will combine strong business analysis capabilities with hands-on functional expertise, translating business needs into practical system solutions and helping ensure that business processes and system configuration remain aligned.

Main Responsibilities:

• Develop a strong understanding of current student administration processes and the Ellucian Banner environment, including business rules, exceptions, dependencies and legacy customizations.
• Provide senior professional expertise in the examination and definition of objectives for existing and future systems.
• Work with stakeholders to uncover underlying business needs, challenge existing practices, and identify opportunities to simplify, standardize or redesign processes rather than replicate the legacy environment.
• Partner closely with Functional Analysts and technical teams to understand system capabilities, perform fit-gap analyses, and evaluate solution options, with a preference for standard functionality and configuration over customization.
• Develop hands-on expertise in the assigned Banner functional area and participate directly in system configuration, functional solution design, prototyping and validation. Configure and maintain business rules, workflows and functional settings within the FBA's area of responsibility, escalating highly complex configuration or technical requirements where appropriate.
• Maintain an end-to-end perspective across the Student Information Systems landscape, identifying cross-functional dependencies, impacts, priorities and trade-offs.
• Be accountable for functional solutions within their area align with approved business requirements and intended outcomes, and for proactively identifying and escalating gaps or risks.
• Act as a trusted advisor and senior reference for business processes within the functional area, facilitating complex discussions and decisions across business and project teams.
• Provide ongoing functional ownership and stewardship for the assigned area, including complex functional support, configuration management, impact assessment of system changes and releases, and identification of opportunities to improve processes and system utilization. Serve as a senior functional escalation point for Champions, Super Users, faculties and administrative sectors.
• Manage the Focus Group for the functional area by facilitating user sessions, gathering feedback, and prioritizing enhancement requests from the university community.
• Sign off on functional designs for integrations with third-party vendors and ensure solutions align with business requirements and objectives.
• Remain engaged throughout the project lifecycle to ensure business requirements and intended outcomes are reflected in solution design, testing, implementation and business acceptance.
• Maintain requirements, key business decisions, acceptance criteria, and traceability throughout the lifecycle (gathered requirements, solution design, configuration, testing, and ultimately business acceptance).
• Support business data definitions, mapping, migration/conversion validation, identification of data-quality issues, and reconciliation to ensure that the data within their functional area supports the intended business processes and outcomes.
• Support and perform function and configuration testing, validating system behavior, business rules, workflows and end to end processes against approved design and intended business outcome. Develop business test conditions and scenarios, support user acceptance testing, investigate function defects and work with Functional Analysts, technical teams and system integrators to validate that implemented solutions meet business needs.
• Actively participate in knowledge transfer and capability building with system integrator functional specialists, progressively developing deep expertise in Banner configuration, functional design, troubleshooting and administration. Apply this knowledge throughout implementation and establish the internal capability required for post-implementation functional ownership and continuous improvement.
• Ensure that relevant privacy, security/access, audit, records management, and institutional policy requirements are identified and incorporated into the functional solution.
  

Minimum Requirements:

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Information Systems, Computer Science, Engineering or a related field, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Minimum seven (7) years of relevant business analysis experience, preferably supporting complex business transformation or enterprise system initiatives.
• Demonstrated hands-on experience with ERP/SIS functional configuration, solution design, testing, troubleshooting and/or application administration.

Other Skills and Expertise:

• Demonstrated experience with a major ERP, Student and Finance Information System (SIS and FIS), or comparable enterprise implementation, with involvement across the full project lifecycle.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to move between strategic objectives and detailed processes, identify impacts and dependencies, and connect information across functional areas.
• Experience transforming complex or highly customized legacy processes into simpler, standardized future-state processes, including fit-gap analysis and evaluation of solution alternatives.
• Ability to quickly understand complex business processes and enterprise application capabilities and collaborate effectively with business stakeholders, Functional Analysts, and technical specialists.
• Strong facilitation, negotiation, and communication skills, with a demonstrated ability to challenge assumptions constructively, influence without formal authority, and guide diverse stakeholders toward decisions.
• Demonstrated experience working across multiple business areas, managing complex priorities, dependencies, and cross-functional decision-making.
• Business Analysis certification (e.g., CBAP, CCBA, PMI-PBA) and knowledge of business process modelling techniques are considered assets.
• Experience with Ellucian Banner or another higher education Student Information System, and/or knowledge of student administration processes, is a strong asset.
• Knowledge of French and English. McGill University is an English-language university where day to day duties may require English communication both verbally and in writing.
• AI fluency, including the ability to effectively and responsibly use generative AI and AI-enabled productivity tools to enhance business analysis, process discovery, requirements development, documentation, testing, research and problem-solving. Ability to critically evaluate AI-generated outputs and apply appropriate professional judgement, data privacy, security and institutional governance practices
  
  As one of Montreal's Top Employers, here is what we offer:

• Competitive benefits package (Health, Dental, Life Insurance) (if eligible)
• Defined contribution pension plan (with employer contribution up to 10%) (if eligible)
• Group Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) and Tax Free Savings Account (TFSA)
• Competitive vacation policy
• Two (2) personal days
• Two (2) floating holidays
• Nine (9) "Summer Fridays" - paid days off between the St-Jean Baptiste holiday and Labour Day
• Paid time off over the December holiday period
• Tuition waiver for regular employees and their dependents
• Up to two (2) days of remote work per week where the position permits

Before applying, please note that to work at McGill University, you must be both authorized to work in Canada and willing to work in the province of Quebec at the campus where the position is based / located.

Knowledge of English: McGill University is an English-language university where day to day duties may require English communication both verbally and in writing. The level of English required for this position has been assessed at a level # 4 on a scale of 0-4.

For a definition of our language proficiency levels, please click here.

Job Profile:

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