Assistant Business Analyst

We are a world class research-intensive university. We deliver teaching and learning of the highest quality. We play a leading role in economic, social and cultural development of the North East of England. Attracting and retaining high-calibre people is fundamental to our continued success.

Salary: £19,623 per annum

Closing date : 28 April 2022

The Role

This post is only available to current second year Newcastle University students, seeking a placement opportunity.

Over the last 18 months, we have reimagined the way we deliver our University IT Services, building a world-class IT department responsive to the needs of our global community. We’re growing significantly and we’ve created new opportunities and made changes to how we work. Our people have been at the centre of this change, with a particular focus on development and opportunities to learn new skills.

Under the direction of a Business Analyst, you will develop and support one or more major modules of the University’s SAP business systems, in line with the strategic requirements of the University.

We are looking for a new placement student to join us for a fixed term of 12 months (starting September 2022). Here on the SAP Student Systems team, we are always working hard to provide excellent service to our customers across the University. Our SAP databases interface with key systems like: S3P, NESS, UCAS – allowing you to gain real in-depth knowledge into how the University’s IT infrastructure works. With us, you won’t be doing the coffee runs – you will be an essential part of the team from day one.

SAP is one of the most popular ERP solutions in the world, (used by companies such as Apple and PayPal) meaning the experience that you will gain from us will give you a real edge in the job market. In addition to your SAP skills, you will also improve your: problem-solving abilities, communication skills and team-working experience.

Our previous student placements have participated in innovative projects such as: Postgraduate Admissions Portal upgrades, Student Attendance Monitoring, UG E-Admissions, Data Archiving (GDPR-compliance). Due to this diversity, it is essential that you can demonstrate flexibility, the ability to acquire new technical skills in a short time frame and that you have excellent organisational and communication skills. Initially, you will be mentored by the outgoing placement student, but as you gain more knowledge you will start to take on your own responsibilities, working with the rest of the Student Systems team and NUIT.

The University is an exciting and dynamic place to work, dedicated to world-leading education and research. We are committed to building and maintaining a fair and inclusive working environment.

Informal enquiries may be made to Laura Watson, Student Systems Team Manager, at [email protected] .

Key Accountabilities

• Under the direction of a Business Analyst you will:
• Support the current SAP student information production systems including the resolution of production application-related system problems.
• Produce and amend documentation for existing systems and processes to appropriate standards.
• Assist the team with testing, including regression testing and data cleansing, as required to support the ongoing projects in the team, including system upgrades and support packages
• Manage assigned system developments to time and within any set resource constraints, including the management of issues, scope and risks.
• Configure the system to meet agreed requirements, carry out test preparation and execution, including unit and integration testing. To plan, document and run unit and integration test cases to ensure that the system works as per the agreed design.
• Assist in the co-ordination of user acceptance testing, either producing or quality assuring the key-user and end-user training material, and occasionally to conduct key user, end user and support staff training.
• You will perform administrative duties as appropriate including representing the team at meetings, membership of committees and working groups
• On occasion you may be expected to work outside normal office hours due to the business critical nature of some aspects of the job

The Person

Knowledge, Skills And Experience

• Knowledge of Higher Education business processes
• Analytical, good at problem solving
• Ability to communicate effectively with customers at all levels of the University
• Negotiating and influencing skills.
• Customer focused and service orientated, with the ability to manage relationships effectively
• Able to work on own initiative, prioritise work and meet deadlines

Attributes and Behaviour

• Use skills, knowledge and experience to resolve actual problems.
• Use skills, knowledge and experience to anticipate and avoid potential problems
• Attention to detail.
• Positive and enthusiastic attitude.
• Strive to deliver a high quality service to both colleagues and customers.
• Looks for ways to make immediate improvements (quick wins) Enthusiastically assist with team workload.
• Share relevant and useful information.
• Contribute to and support team decisions
• Work in a planned and structured way.
• Prioritise tasks to ensure workload and deadlines are met.

Qualifications

• You should be a second year Newcastle University Computing Science student looking for a third-year placement

Newcastle University is committed to being a fully inclusive Global University which actively recruits, supports and retains staff from all sectors of society. We value diversity as well as celebrate, support and thrive on the contributions of all our employees and the communities they represent. We are proud to be an equal opportunities employer and encourage applications from everybody, regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, age, disability, gender identity, marital status/civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, as well as being open to flexible working practices.

The University holds a silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our good employment practices for the advancement of gender equality. The University also holds the HR Excellence in Research award for our work to support the career development of our researchers, and is a member of the Euraxess initiative supporting researchers in Europe.