Business Analyst
February 2015 | Princeton, NJ
At ITHAKA, we think nothing is better than knowing we are having a positive impact on the world. We impact the lives of millions of people and thousands of institutions every day both in ground-breaking ways and in small ways that mean a lot.
Our Organization
We have a bold mission. We work with leaders in the global higher education community to advance and preserve knowledge and to improve teaching and learning through the use of digital technologies. We are passionate about the value of education and are driven to deploy technologies to make our universities, colleges, and high schools better, more affordable, and more effective, and to reach beyond these traditional walls to support learners everywhere.
In two decades, we have launched some of the most transformative and widely used services in higher education: JSTOR, Portico, and Ithaka S+R. Our 300+ employees in the United States, Europe, and Asia work closely with our user communities, day in and day out, to build and continuously improve upon these services, and to identify new opportunities to expand access to knowledge and learning.
Mission and Funding
We are proud to be a not-for-profit organization, but our status is a reflection of our mission, not our funding model. Our work across these services is highly valued in the global higher education community, and we cover our costs by collecting fees in exchange for the access, preservation, and research and consulting services we provide. That exerts a real discipline on our operations in that we must continually adapt to the needs of our audiences to be worthy of their support. Thousands of higher education and related institutions around the world are ITHAKA’s primary financial supporters; their JSTOR participation fees provide 88% of ITHAKA’s revenue. Our 99% renewal rate for JSTOR generates stable recurring income, alleviating the dependency on fundraising that many not-for-profits experience. Because the organizations share our commitment to our mission, we have the financial resources necessary to maintain a great work environment that encourages innovation and excellence.
The Role
The Business Analyst will be a part of the Content Management unit that is responsible for the management and long-term preservation of all content in ITHAKA’s repositories including JSTOR, Portico and Cultural Heritage and Struggles. The business analyst will report to the director of Content Management systems.
The Business Analyst (BA) will be part of an Agile software development team working of several different applications. The BA will be responsible for translating business requirements into appropriate functional requirements and technical specifications that will guide implementation by a dedicated software development team. The BA will conduct interviews, document analysis, requirements sessions, and task/workflow analysis in order to craft business process descriptions, procedures, and software requirements. The BA will work on a variety of products, with an initial focus on the externally-facing Portico access and audit sites and internally facing Portico production tools. The BA will work closely with a number of internal units to translate approved proposals for functional requirements into technical specifications. The format of the documentation required can vary from detailed functional specifications that can be sent out external vendors for large products to JIRA tickets with well-defined success criteria. In addition, they will assist in the planning and execution of user acceptance testing, quality assurance testing, data migration, roll-out, documentation and training efforts, as needed.
Specific Objectives & Responsibilities
• You write detailed software development requirements tailored to suit the style, size, and scope of the project, and you juggle several projects at once with ease.
• You are passionate about the growth and well-being of the products you work on, the growth and well-being of the users you represent, and the quality of your contribution to both.
• You carry a special toolkit for getting your message across to diverse audiences, dealing with difficult situations, and demolishing project roadblocks. You think of a challenge as an opportunity to practice and master new social, analytical, technical, and influencing skills.
• You use a variety of formal methods and informal tactics to draw out requirements from stakeholders and explain requirements to developers.
• You feel at home with new technology and you feel at home with people who don’t feel at home with new technology, and you enjoy the challenge of bringing them together.
• You can work independently or collaborate very closely with a team.
• You have great written and verbal communication skills.
• You are always looking for opportunities for process improvements that lead to greater efficiencies and product quality.
Skills, Experience, and Characteristics
• At least one-year experience working in scholarly publishing, other online publishing, digitization, large-scale digital content management, or large-scale digital archiving.
• Strong analytical skills required, including a thorough understanding of how to translate user needs into functional requirements and guidance for software engineering.
• Ability to quickly master concepts in digital publishing, librarianship, content management, relational data modeling, data mark-up syntax, network architecture, application programming, database, and system design.
• Aptitude for aligning intricate details with the big picture and vice-versa.
• General familiarity with XML, ERM, computer programming concepts and graphic design or user experience design strongly preferred.
• Master’s degree in a relevant field, or equivalent experience.
• Willingness to travel approximately 10-15%.
Work for us
Come join our team of talented and dedicated people with great ideas who want to make the world a smarter place. Individuals will be rewarded with excellent career development and a fantastic benefits package which includes:
• Choice of two medical plans, one at no cost to the employee
• Employer paid dental, vision, life insurance, and employee assistance programs
• Employer contributed retirement … and much, much more