1. Programmer Analyst/Systems Analyst<br /> <br />The Programmer Analyst/Systems Analyst is responsible for maintaining applications (home-grown & vendor), and developing software solutions to satisfy user requests and IT project needs. The candidate will work in a cooperative fashion with other IT team members and end users to ensure that software implementations and solutions meet or exceed the expectations of our business users. He/she will work closely with the project team and business users to substantiate the technical feasibility of requirements and ensure that the Clients systems are maintained as current and accurate.<br /> <br />This position will involve IT tasks across the software development life cycle – (analysis, design, coding, testing, implementation and support). In addition to performing technical programming tasks, the PA/SA will participate in design and code reviews, provide troubleshooting support for production systems, and assist in quality assurance and regression testing activities. The role of the PA/SA requires an understanding of the business operations of our Finance/Accounting areas and, becoming familiar with our third party software packages that are used by our business users. <br /> <br />The PA/SA maintains technical competency and awareness of new tools and techniques while adhering to clients Standard Operating Environment. Success is measured by delivery of committed projects on-schedule, with agreed scope and meeting clients standards and in business user satisfaction.<br /> <br />This PA/SA position will be within the Corporate Systems IT group with primary responsibilities in the Accounting and Finance areas where most of our applications exist. The CS IT team also supports the HR and Legal business groups but to a lesser extent.<br /> <br />Note; The PA/SA will need to handle multiple assignments and be skilled to perform analysis tasks in addition to pure technical tasks. <br /> <br />Candidate must have worked in a Microsoft OS environment <br />Object-Oriented design and programming skills. Understanding of Design Patterns and model-driven development. Programming skills in the following languages:<br />Strong SQL<br />VB/VBA / ASP/.NET<br />MS Access<br />Demonstrated understanding of database concepts including data schemas, metadata models, process flows, information flows, transactional processing and data normalization processes, with expertise in optimizing data models and tuning SQL databases.<br />Knowledge of Business Objects Crystal Reports, MS SQR Reporting or another report writing tool.<br />Knowledge of MS Access would be required<br />Demonstrated understanding of application concepts including tiered architectures, application programming interfaces (APIs), adapters, connectors or other interfaces for moving information into and out-of applications, job/process scheduling and application performance tuning.<br />Working knowledge of MS-Office including Macros and PivotTables.<br />Understanding and appreciation of business-IT alignment principles.<br />Knowledge of System Monitoring Tools.<br />Must have experience in implementing and supporting third party vendor packages. Includes implementation of bug fixes, software upgrades, interfaces. Third party vendors that we deal with include Freedom GL/AP, Freedom Reinsurance, Great Plains A/R, CIMCON Spreadsheet Software<br />Must be capable of performing relevant technical/systems analysis (ex: software bugs, user enhancement request, etc) <br /> <br />Experience:<br />4+ years hands on experience developing software including database design, application analysis, design, development, deployment, testing, and maintenance.<br />Database development skills (MS-SQL is preferred but Oracle is acceptable), with experience preferred in transaction processing, Stored Procedures, and database triggers.<br /> Multiple years of experience building state-of-the-art multi-tier applications. Proven success in a client/server platform environment and with web-based technologies.<br />Experienced in adhering to relevant SDLC methodologies with particular focus on Requirements/Functional Specifications , Technical Specifications and Coding <br />Knowledge of Accounting/Finance businesses and software products is required. Experience with Insurance processing (Property/Casualty & Excess Liability) is highly desired. Experience with the Great Plains application and/or Freedom Reinsurance and GL/AP applications would be a plus. <br />Experience in integrating with backend systems, custom applications, and 3rd party applications. Experience with information management technologies, such as data warehouse, data mining, business intelligence, and enterprise portals. Interfacing with vendors for necessary software upgrades & fixes<br /> Team player with strong interpersonal skills, with demonstrated success in working comfortably and effectively with a diverse group of internal and external technology and business people on a professional level, and in a cross-functional environment, across all levels of management. Coordination skills are required with respect to team members, peers, and management with only general guidance and minimal supervision.<br /> Excellent organizational, initiative and follow-through skills with a positive attitude, and leadership by example.<br /> Excellent technical and business communication (oral/written) skills with respect to team members, peers, and management with general guidance only. <br /> Self-motivated and innovative with highly developed analytical and problem solving skills.<br /> Demonstrated success in time management, handling multiple priorities, as well as analytical and problem solving skills. <br />In-depth experience with of MS-Office suite.<br />Experience/knowledge of Insurance Industry is highly desirable.<br />Track record of developing flexible as well as innovative approaches and solutions to technical problems.<br /> <br />Responsibilities:<br />Ongoing communication and follow-through with project management and supervisor, including active coordination and communication with peers to encourage superior team effectiveness and performance.<br />Take responsibility for assignments through the development cycle, from analysis, design, programming specifications, coding, unit and system testing, user testing and implementation. Analyzing operations and business issues related to functional deficiencies and software bugs (vendor packages & in-house developed code). Developing functional specifications and technical design specifications. Coding and debugging moderate and complex application modules and programs, conforming to the published project team standards. Assist in and support application testing. Develop front-end applications for existing databases. <br />General system administration duties as well as software upgrades of existing systems.<br />Ability to perform analysis tasks ( business & systems) and work with end users to fully understand business issues and identify & implement solutions (technical/non-technical) that resolve the needs of the business<br />Possess detailed knowledge of technical project requirements.<br />Complete assigned tasks on time and in a proactive professional manner.<br />Migrate tested solutions between environments such as Development, QA and Production.<br />Follow established configuration management procedures to maintain code.<br />Prepare for and participate in code reviews.<br />Recommend, implement, and continuously improve software development efficiency within the team.<br /> Other duties as assigned.<br /> <br />Specific Experiences<br />4 + years experience with, MS OS, SQL, Desktop Client, VB, VBA/VBS, .Net, Visual Studio, etc.<br />Minimum three years of experience developing web applications and web services using XML, SOAP, Java or J2EE. Experience with ASP/.Net is also desirable.<br />3 + years experience with SQL query language.<br />Additional Skills: Nice to Have: WebPublisher, Business Process manager/Services, Digital Asset Management, Business, Workflow Manager Object Framework.<br />Knowledge of Accounting/Finance businesses and software products is required. Experience with the Great Plains application and/or Freedom Reinsurance and GL/AP applications would be a plus.<br />MS Office Automation expertise, especially in Excel and Excel macros<br /> <br />Accountabilities<br />Coordinate with Technical Support in resolving any issues during development, QA or Production.<br />Plan and implement any service pack installs and Vendor upgrades.<br />Maintain awareness and knowledge of pending package upgrades, enhancements and relevant new capabilities.<br />Ensures implementation and use of industry best practices <br />Continually optimize applications.<br />Ensure high availability of mission-critical applications.<br />Recommend and implement Clients specific policies on technology, use, development, deployment and maintenance.<br /> <br /> <br />Business Analyst – Accounting/Finance:<br /> <br />This position is responsible for understanding (in detail) the business operational and systems processing that occurs in our Accounting/Finance Operations and Loss Control areas and coming up with recommendations for implementing technology-based solutions that improve business processing. Individual will be tasked to work on projects to analyze and document business requirements and functional specifications to implement necessary technology-based solutions. <br /> <br />The individual needs to be experienced in relevant Accounting functions done in a financial organization such as General Ledger, A/R, A/P, Budgeting/Forecasting, Investment Accounting & Financial Reporting. It would be highly desired that the he individual should have an understanding of Insurance/Reinsurance business (property/casualty & excess liability) and Reinsurance process. The individual will liaise with the Accounting Operations team and the Accounting IT team to evaluate current technological and operational workflows (Current State) and make sensible and well-supported recommendations for an improved future state. The individual would need to be highly adaptive and able to work on a variety of IT assignments (business analysis, documentation, vendor search/evaluation, software implementations and upgrades, production support, etc.) in a concurrent manner. The ideal candidate would be a BA working in an IT dept that has supported the Accounting/Finance division for a financial or insurance company. The ideal candidate would have expertise in adhering to BA best practices. <br />The individual will need to be experienced in the following:<br /> <br />Documenting Business Requirements/Functional Requirements in a structured manner (ex: Use Cases) using appropriate technology tools and BA best practices.<br />Working closely with business users to distill their true technology needs <br />Ability to investigate current operational/technological flows to understand current state<br />Ability to generate relevant documentation depicting current and proposed future state<br />Understanding and experience in working with Accounting operations processing ( G/L, A/R, A/P, Budgeting/Forecasting, Inv Accounting, Financial Reporting)<br />Working in an Accounting Back Office or Supporting Accounting systems (either as IT support or Business Analyst). Reinsurance experience would be highly desirable<br />Implementing technology solutions in a Financial back office environment<br />Organizing “Discovery’ workshops involving Operations/IT personnel<br />Interfacing with Operations/IT personnel at various management levels<br />Knowing relevant vendor software packages used in the Accounting/Finance arena<br />Familiarity with Insurance concepts (ex: claims, payments, underwriting policies, reinsurance) would be highly desirable<br /> <br />Knowledge Management:<br />5+ years as a Business Analyst<br />Needs to be fluent and familiar in technologies used in an Accounting/Reinsurance environment:<br />Familiarity with Financial Reporting Tools ( Ex: Cognos Business Intelligence, Crystal Reports, etc) would be helpful<br />Demonstrated understanding of application & technology concepts including tiered architectures, application programming interfaces (APIs), databases, Web-based <br />Working knowledge of MS-Office including Excel, Excel Macros and PivotTables.<br />Must have experience in implementing and supporting third party vendor packages. Includes implementation of bug fixes, software upgrades, interfaces. Third party vendors that we deal with include Freedom, Cognos, Great Plains<br />Must be capable of performing relevant technical/systems analysis (ex: software bugs, user enhancement request, etc) <br />Formal certification in BA skills would be highly desirable<br /> <br />Experience:<br />Experienced in adhering to relevant SDLC methodologies with particular focus on Requirements/Functional Specifications , Technical Specifications and Coding <br /> Team player with strong interpersonal skills, with demonstrated success in working comfortably and effectively with a diverse group of internal and external technology and business people on a professional level, and in a cross-functional environment, across all levels of management. Coordination skills are required with respect to team members, peers, and management with only general guidance and minimal supervision.<br /> Excellent organizational, initiative and follow-through skills with a positive attitude, and leadership by example.<br /> Excellent technical and business communication (oral/written) skills with respect to team members, peers, and management with general guidance only. <br /> Self-motivated and innovative with highly developed analytical and problem solving skills.<br /> Demonstrated success in time management, handling multiple priorities, as well as analytical and problem solving skills. <br />In-depth experience with of MS-Office suite.<br />Experience/knowledge of Insurance Industry is highly desirable.<br />Track record of developing flexible as well as innovative approaches and solutions to technical problems.<br /> <br />Accountabilities:<br />Assist IT team members and Accounting business users in resolving/preventing production support issues and analysis efforts<br />Provide relevant production support functions as an analyst<br />Liaise with 3rd party vendors in support of current vendor applications and to learn about other potential vendor solutions <br />Maintain awareness and knowledge of pending package upgrades, enhancements and relevant new capabilities.<br />Ensures implementation and use of industry best practices <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />