Business Systems Analyst

About Pacific Blue Cross

Pacific Blue Cross (PBC) has been British Columbia's leading benefits provider for over 80 years. We are an independent, not-for-profit society with strong roots in BC’s health care system. We provide health, dental, life, disability, and travel coverage to 1 in 3 British Columbians through employee group plans and individual plans.

We are fueled by a commitment to keep health care sustainable for all British Columbians. Through our PBC Health Foundation, we fund projects that improve health outcomes directly related to mental health and wellbeing as well as the prevention and/or management of chronic disease. We are interested in finding people who want to make a difference and who are looking to grow their career with us.

Perks

• Work-life balance with flexible working hours of 7 hours per day, Monday to Friday (i.e., 35 hours per week).
• Paid vacation starts at 3 weeks per year, and increases with years of service.
• Hybrid work environment (i.e., a combination of work from office and work from home days).
• Generous benefits, including extended health, dental, and life insurance; these benefit premiums are 100% paid by PBC.
• Company pension contributions after 1 year of service.
• Education allowance up to $1,000 per calendar year.
• Onsite gym, cafeteria, and access to virtual doctors/counsellors 24/7 via our Employee Family Assistance Program!

About the Position

• We are searching for 1 permanent Business Systems Analyst to support our IT team.
• This position is unionized and part of the CUPE 1816 Bargaining Unit. This position is paid at hourly rates and receives wage increases in accordance with the Collective Agreement. The wage for this position is: $8,068 per month to start (equivalent to $98,816 per year) and then progressing up to $9,288 per month (equivelant to $111,456 per year).

Job Summary

Under the broad managerial direction of the Assistant Manager and/or Manager, and as an active member of a self organized work team, collaborates collectively in the planning, design, testing, execution and delivery stages of technology-driven products and services that meet the needs of the business and deliver value. Provides subject matter expertise to the team and acts as liaison to PBC stakeholders by interpreting and translating design features, components, requirements and priorities into detailed user stories to contribute to team understanding of requirements, and to aid in planning the work. To support the team, performs all duties of the Quality Assurance Analyst and other technical duties as determined through team collaboration. Maintains required proficiency levels in technical skills and core competencies consistent with the established framework for the position and pursues continuing self-development associated with the rapid pace of change within the industry.

Job Duties

Self-Organized Work Team Member

1. As an active member of a self-organized work team and through group cooperation, shared processes and team problem solving, collaborates collectively in the planning, design, testing, execution and delivery stages of technology-driven products and services that meet the needs of the business and deliver value by:

• defining and expanding on the design features, components and overall priorities communicated by business stakeholders;
• estimating size and complexity of the work, and as a group, assessing team capacity to complete the work, determining achievable goals for each stage and identifying out of scope activities;
• participating in team discussions and coming to consensus on who will complete the work, and identifying in-house resources including network, database, architecture, deployment, security, production or other subject matter experts necessary to support team success;
• collaborating regularly with all team members throughout all stages of the work to track team progress, problem solve roadblocks and interdependencies, and identify options for enhancing stakeholder value in upcoming stages of the work;
• committing to and delivering on individually assigned activities and tasks within established time frames, as determined by the team as a whole;
• preparing and delivering informal presentations to the team and/or key stakeholders on technical design elements, demonstrations of challenges encountered in any stages of design or delivery, options for team and stakeholder feedback and consideration, and any other aspects where team collaboration can contribute to the quality, timing or effectiveness of shared outcomes;
• applying technical, professional, organizational and industry quality standards to meet or exceed delivery goals throughout all stages of the work;
• contributing to the smooth flow of communication between all team members and stakeholders;
• collectively assessing release and deployment status, and determining timing and activities required to deliver products into production;
• participating in retrospectives and sharing in the evaluation of delivery outcomes at the conclusion of each stage of the work, recognizing and celebrating successes, developing action plans for incorporating past or current experiences and new learnings into future team initiatives, and pursuing opportunities for continuous improvement;
• transferring knowledge to team colleagues in specific areas of individual expertise to increase team efficiency and operation, capitalize on opportunities for growth and development, and increase team engagement;
• liaising with stakeholders throughout all stages of the work to identify and facilitate the removal of barriers to successful team delivery; refers challenges outside of the team’s influence to resources external to the team‘s day to day operation;
• on an occasional basis, participating as a team in member communication processes such as focus groups to ensure understanding of the overall member experience with PBC products and services as they relate to the team member’s area of subject matter expertise.

Liasison to the Business Stakeholder

2. Interprets and translates design features, components and priorities into detailed user stories to contribute to team understanding of requirements, and to aid in planning the work by:

• consulting with stakeholders to document requirements and identify and compile all information required to fully communicate business requirements for enhanced or new product/service solutions to the development team;
• investigating user-identified production incidents or other events through review of data set-up, user procedures applied prior to the incident, existing system capabilities and enhancement history, file requirements and system interdependencies;
• analyzing the effectiveness of existing products/service including business processes, work flow, process overlaps, bottlenecks, sources of delay, error potential, decision points and cycle times;
• mapping current processes;
• researching software and hardware product or services, assessing feasibility and compiling resource estimates;
• contributing to the development of cost-benefit and ROI analyses by identifying required information at business stakeholder or team member request, running extracts, and interpreting impact of different alternatives based on extracted information;
• confirming outcomes with business owners;
• preparing and leading presentations to the team to communicate requirements and provide sufficient information to plan, design, test, execute and deliver enhanced or new products/services to the business;
• creating and updating documentation such as design specifications, business rules and report generation requirements;
• designing preliminary screen layouts, mock ups, storyboards and report layouts;
• determining and documenting security setup requirements through analysis of user screens, data access requirements and business functions; sets up security parameters to control screen and data access based on business requirements;
• acting as a subject matter expert to the team on technical business processes, rules, procedures and screen layouts, and providing guidance and advice on end-user impacts of system design;
• managing configuration settings within an application’s existing user interface to align the system outcomes with stakeholder expectations.

Additional Technical Functions Assigned Through Team Collaboration

3. Performs all duties of the Quality Assurance Analyst.

4. May perform the following duties:

• reviewing and proposing changes in non-functional business requirements to improve efficiency, usability and performance;
• producing activity diagrams and visualizing outcomes;
• consulting with third party vendors, members and other teams to determine interdependencies and potential/actual barriers associated with their application to the business.

General Team and Department Support

5. Through continuous learning initiatives, maintains up to date knowledge of systems design concepts, tools, security requirements, operating systems, end-user business products/services specific to PBC’s user environment, general technology trends and other information related to the provision of business system analysis services to users. Maintains required proficiency levels in technical skills and core competencies consistent with the established framework for the position and pursues continuing self-development in the maintenance and enhancement of technical skills and core competencies associated with the rapid pace of change, through the application of a variety of learning options, online self-service platforms, in-house support, skills assessment and other learning and development tools.

6. Conducts ongoing review of technical materials such as new or revised PBC product applications, references on business process mapping, and tools, storyboards, user flows and other documentation related to changes in in-house products/services from a business perspective including influences on business functionality and requirements. Conducts online research and participates in information exchanges with colleagues and technical contacts, including membership in technology resource groups.

7. Contributes to internal knowledge repositories to ensure resource information on all technology that has an interface with business products/services is current and accurate.

8. Participates in semi-annual disaster recovery exercises by conducting regression testing for specific busines.

9. Performs other assigned duties related to the provision of business systems analysis/testing services and team operation which do not affect the rating of the job.

Qualifications:

• 2 year diploma in computer systems technology such as BCIT’s Computer Systems Technology (CIT) with program options in Business Systems Design, Technical Programming, Web and Mobile or Database (or equivalent program),which in addition to technology courses includes foundational courses in:

  - Business Communication

  - MS Office products including Basic Word, Outlook and PowerPoint, and Advanced Excel

  - Project Management

• Software testing courses equivalent to:

  - International Software Testing Qualifications Board Foundation Level (17 hours) OR Association of Software Testers Foundation Level (36 hours)

• Completion of a one-year post-secondary certificate or equivalent program in a relevant discipline such as business, information technology, project management, software or systems design, user experience (UX) design, artificial intelligence, or a related field

• Formal training leading to certification in Agile practitioner level skills and knowledge (eg SAFe Practitioner course (14 hours) or equivalent industry-recognized Agile course(s)

• Demonstrated critical thinking skills gained through the successful application of problem solving methods such as problem analysis, logic and judgement

• Minimum 4 years previous related experience in business and/or systems analysis or equivalent, including a minimum of 2 years experience in a business systems analysis position (or equivalent) in a medium to large sized organization, working on medium to large scale projects.

• Demonstrated understanding of:

  - All technical software design, business analysis and testing skills as defined in the technical skills framework for this position

  - All team collaboration core competencies as defined in the core competency framework for this position

  - MS Office products (basic Word, Outlook and PowerPoint; advanced Excel including pivot tables

If you’re excited about taking on this opportunity, we invite you to apply today and start the conversation with us about this position.

Please apply via our website this week at https://www.pac.bluecross.ca/careers

While we thank all applicants for their interest, only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

PBC is an Indigenous Works employer of choice, an Insurance Business Canada Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion award winner, one of Canada’s Greenest employers, a Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI) employer partner, and a Pride at Work partner.

We strive to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and employees feel empowered to freely participate and contribute regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, ability, education level, parental status, or socioeconomic status. We are an equal opportunity employer and welcome applications from all qualified candidates.

To request an accommodation in completing this job application, testing, interviewing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please direct your inquiries to [email protected]. These accommodation requests will be reviewed confidentially and, on a case-by-case basis by Human Resources.