Lead Business Analyst, PLM Specifications

The J.M. Smucker Co. • Orrville, OH, United States • $200k - $250k / year • 1m ago

Your Opportunity as the Lead Business Analyst, ITP Commercial Operations/Specifications PLM

The J.M. Smucker Co. Information Services, Transformation & Portfolio (ITP) department enables people, process and/or technology solutions for capabilities that help our business perform, transform, and grow. The Lead Business Analyst, on the ITP Commercial Operations Team, realizes this purpose by serving as a subject matter expert, key partner and relationship manager for the Commercial business function specifically including Quality, Operations, R&D and Co-Packaging business areas. This role demonstrates in-depth knowledge of the business and business analysis, including the ability to translate needs, pain points and requirements related to business processes and systems into proposed projects and actionable specifications that can be understood by solution delivery teams. The Lead Business Analyst role also utilizes project management skills to organize and deliver efforts, often involving multiple teams. As a leader within the business analysis discipline, this role is looked upon to coach others on skills required to enable change and be an effective liaison between technical and non-technical audiences. This hands-on position requires limited guidance, strong relationship building and communication skills, a customer service mindset, critical thinking, and a commitment to quality deliverables.

Location: Orrville, Ohio (Close proximity to Cleveland/Akron)

Work Arrangements: Hybrid, 30% minimum in office expectation

In This Role You Will

Cultivate relationships and learn the business

Serve as the subject matter expert and/or liaison from the Specification Management/PLM Center of Excellence to the business areas of Quality Compliance, Plant Quality, Packaging and Co-Packaging.
Build positive, trusting relationships with business customers and develop a deep understanding of how they operate and what they need.
Foster strong, collaborative relationships with internal team members and vendors in helping to address business priorities.
Understand the process, systems and data landscape in the business areas, including security and compliance needs.

Initiate, manage and deliver projects

Support business areas with new project generation/continuous improvement work while constructively challenging ROI, priority, and connection to business and technical roadmaps.
Consult with subject matter experts to document existing process and business capabilities, research best practices and propose future process in the spirit of continuous improvement.
Define requirements based on translation of business needs and gaps collaboratively with stakeholders, leading to solution design.
Contribute to software vendor evaluation and selection activities.
Create and/or influence deliverables such as project plans, business process flows, change impacts, solution requirements, test plans, cutover plans and support plans.
Collaborate with delivery teams on solution design, identifying appropriate actions based on guidelines and acting as a champion to ensure delivered solutions meet the intended design.
Identify ongoing support needs and ensure proper transition to steady state.
Incorporate risk management into project activities and model best practices regarding audit and security controls.
May serve as a project manager on medium to large efforts pertaining to directly supported business areas, applying standard project methodologies used at Smucker.

Support and maintain existing solutions

Serve as point of contact for business partners regarding Prodika access and support and periodically meet to review progress. Engage adjacent ITP teams where additional skill sets and knowledge are required.
Facilitate review of software licenses, risk profile and ITP general controls compliance pertaining to third-party vendors.
Participate in planning and execution of x-large initiatives such as implementing and adopting a new PLM system.

Strengthen the Business Analysis community

Mentor and guide others to help advance business analysis within Smucker as a discipline, community of practice and profession.
Serve as a contributor to the Business Analyst Center of Excellence, seeking opportunities to lead change and share knowledge broadly.

The Right Place for You

We are bold, kind, strive to do the right thing, we play to win, and we believe in a strong community that thrives together. Our culture is rooted in our Basic Beliefs, and we believe in supporting every employee by meeting their physical, emotional, and financial needs.

Minimum Requirements

What we are looking for:

5+ years of relevant work experience with either a Bachelor’s degree in a related field or specialized training (including on-the-job).
Experience working directly with business customers within, but not limited to, Quality Compliance, Plant Quality, Packaging and Co-Packaging areas.
Experience with Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) implementations within an integrated enterprise environment.
Experience leading project activities with a strong understanding of project management methodology and software delivery life cycle (SDLC).
Effective communicator and facilitator, with ability to lead efficient meetings with varied audiences (leadership, vendors, etc.).
Strong customer service mindset, with an ability to understand and advocate for customer needs while setting appropriate expectations and boundaries.

Additional skills and experience that we think would make someone successful in this role (not required):

Experience implementing or supporting PLM or other enterprise level software.
Professional certification and/or experience leading professional development activities in business analysis, change management or project management.
Familiarity with data integration methods and data conversion activities. Experience creating requirements and design documentation pertaining to data integration or conversion.
Experience in the Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) industry.
Willingness to learn system configuration.