Dir - Business Analysis - 11439

Description Standard & Poors, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE:MHP), is the worlds foremost provider of financial market intelligence, including independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data. With approximately 8,500 employees, including wholly owned affiliates, located in 21 countries, Standard & Poors is an essential part of the worlds financial infrastructure and has played a leading role for more than 140 years in providing investors with the independent benchmarks they need to feel more confident about their investment and financial decisions.      The Sr. Business Analysis Director will be responsible for the leadership, management and oversight of business analysis effort on strategic initiatives and related projects, both as owner and as supervisor over staff. This position will manage and assign the Business Analysis workload across the initiative, and will directly supervise the Business Analysis team for that initiative.   ·         The Sr. Business Analysis Director works in partnership with the business sponsors and champions, as well as the project team leaders (Project Manager, IT Service Delivery Manager, and Business Champion) as well as other service organizations (Data Services, etc.).   The Sr. Business Analysis Director will respond to requests from staff across all areas of the business to adhere to established standards, processes and procedures for performing business analysis, including data collection, data analysis and classification, transactional and workflow analysis.    ·         Specifically, the Sr. Business Analysis Director will be responsible for the following: ·         Supervise all BA work associated with supporting a business unit or program office. Work closely with the business or Program Director to provide staff for requirements development and prioritization, assist PM staff with identification of key project deliverables in order to meet business case objectives; support the testing and training efforts for projects by providing staff and oversight from project initiation through to closure. (70%) ·         Own and be accountable for project financials related to business analysis efforts, in partnership with Segment Finance. Explain variances, develop forecasts, and ensure all open requisitions are filled in a timely manner to ensure project success. ·         Demonstrate expertise in business unit needs and outcomes; leverage partnerships beyond the project team to include stakeholders across the business unit. ·         Leverage expertise to mentor and coach BA staff. Advise and manage business analysts to achieve business outcomes and project objectives. ·         Responsible for contracting and managing third party data suppliers and outsourced services when needed by projects     ·         Support and assist in strategy development, in partnership with our Business Champions, to grow our business efficiently without sacrificing data quality, accuracy or timeliness of the data; demonstrate the ability to negotiate effectively, through the following activities: ·         Demonstrating a solid understanding of existing operational, transactional and data management needs as well as existing platforms and architectures, in the development of new workflows and business solutions ·         Demonstrating an understanding of the use of technology to increase efficiency, improve product quality and timeliness and reduce costs; liaison with IT application development team and Software QA to assure that business needs can be met with a feasible technical solution ·         Understanding and using the tools, processes and methodologies that support the PMO, such as SharePoint (PINE), Mercury, or any other methods used by the PMO to initiate, plan, execute, control and close out projects through the Project Life Cycle (PLC) and Business Analysis Life Cycle (BALC) ·         Staying abreast of developments in the business analysis tools workspace; attending conferences and other training to ensure a broad and timely knowledge of business analysis and project management tools and methodologies on an ongoing basis. ·         Supports the development of  program business cases  Qualifications

• Bachelors degree in Finance (or a related field); ongoing coursework/certification in Business Analysis encouraged; additional certification in finance or project management also encouraged
• Advanced degree preferred (MBA, CFA, etc.)
• Minimum 8 years experience in a financial services environment, 10+ years of professional experience
• Supervisory experience required; 2+ years of experience managing a full time staff of 2 or more people.

·         Experience leading a Business Analysis (BA)   team through the entire BA lifecycle of at least 2 Policy 33 projects. ·         Accountable for partnering with Business Champions and Sponsors to deliver on stated business benefits and outcomes. ·         Manage staff: perform performance reviews on time, develop team bench strength, and demonstrate the ability to motivate staff to deliver on assignments on-schedule, on-scope and on-budget. ·         Responsible for staff adherence to standard project life cycle methodology (PLC) and segment-wide process and procedure (e.g. Data CoE Life Cycle, Finance Life Cycle, IT Standard Process) for program and project initiation, funding, planning, execution, control and closure. ·         Demonstrate honesty, integrity and ethics in all communications and interactions. ·         Act as ambassador and advocate for the PMO when interacting with business partners and other staff across the organization.

• Solid knowledge and understanding of the following areas, and a demonstrated ability to expand this understanding through coursework, seminars, conferences, etc. in the following areas:
  • Equity Analysis
  • Structured Finance
  • Corporate Credit Analysis
  • Ratings Process
  • Finance/Accounting