Business Systems Analyst

Summary

The Business Systems Analyst (BSA) is part of Columbia Distributing’s Information Technology team and is responsible for the business systems that departments across the company depend on every day. The BSA works directly with stakeholders to understand how the business operates, improve processes, and evaluate, implement, and enhance the technology that supports them. Combining technical aptitude with strong process analysis skills, the BSA owns the definition of what those systems should do next: understanding the outcome behind a request, weighing it against everything else being asked for, and defining the work clearly enough that a delivery team or vendor can build it without guessing.

The BSA works closely with business partners, project teams, and external vendors on both day-to-day operations and long-term technology strategy. Success depends on knowing the business well enough to anticipate what it needs, and on the judgment to tell the difference between what is asked for and what is actually needed. Corporate IT is moving toward a product ownership model, in which analysts own a business domain, its backlog, and its roadmap rather than a queue of assignments, and we are hiring for that direction.

Primary Responsibilities

• Business Partnership and Requirements

  • Partner with business stakeholders to gather, analyze, and document functional and technical requirements through interviews, workshops, and process reviews.
  • Translate business needs into clear, actionable requirements and communicate practical trade-offs to both technical and non-technical audiences.
  • Write user stories with specific, testable acceptance criteria, and decompose large requests into increments a team can deliver.
  • Define the business outcome a change is meant to produce, and how success will be measured, before the work begins.
  • Validate requirements before they reach a build team to identify missing exception paths, undefined data rules, and unvalidated integration assumptions.
  • Develop and maintain documentation including business requirements documents (BRDs), functional specifications, process maps, test scripts, and support materials.

  Prioritization and Ownership

  • Serve as the standing point of ownership for assigned business areas, maintaining a prioritized backlog of requests and enhancements and keeping the ranking current as business conditions change.
  • Weigh competing requests across departments against business value, effort, and risk, and explain the reasoning to stakeholders whose request did not come first, including when the answer is not yet.
  • Maintain and communicate system and process roadmaps for supported areas, and stay accountable for the outcomes those areas are working toward.
  • Maintain awareness of vendor product roadmaps and assess potential impact to Columbia’s systems and processes.

  Process Analysis and Improvement

  • Analyze business processes to identify inefficiencies, risks, and opportunities for automation or optimization using existing or emerging technologies.
  • Use analysis and modeling tools to connect business objectives to practical technical solutions.

  System Support and Delivery

  • Support system implementations, upgrades, integrations, and enhancements by collaborating with cross-functional teams and vendors.
  • Coordinate and participate in system testing including unit, integration, user acceptance (UAT), and post-deployment validation, and confirm acceptance criteria were met.
  • Provide application support for enterprise systems, serving as a technical point of contact for troubleshooting, issue resolution, and system enhancements.
  • Help maintain accurate system configuration and master data in supported applications.

  Collaboration

  • Collaborate with business users to drive adoption of systems and best practices, and confirm the expected benefit actually arrived.
  • Cross train with other Business Systems Analysts to build shared knowledge and provide coverage across supported systems.
  • Build and maintain working knowledge of Columbia Distributing’s end-to-end business processes and the applications that support them.
  • Participate in on-call rotation to support critical business operations as needed.

Key Competencies

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to evaluate complex business processes.
• Curiosity and the ability to learn unfamiliar systems and processes quickly.
• Ability to translate business needs into technical requirements and communicate effectively across technical and non-technical audiences.
• Strong written communication. This role produces documents that other people make decisions from.
• Working fluency with data: able to read a table structure, follow a field between systems, and use Excel or SQL to verify a claim rather than accept it.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and shift focus as business needs change.
• Proficiency with Visio, Excel, and collaboration tools.
• Collaborative team player with a continuous improvement mindset.

People Management

None

Work Environment

This job operates mostly indoors in an office setting.

Physical Demands

• Lift/Carry and Push/Pull up to 30 lbs.
• Sitting for entire shift
• Work indoors entire shift
• Finger Dexterity -- To perform various duties such as typing, writing and maintaining files
• Hearing -- Frequent, in person and on the telephone. Occasional exposure to noise.
• Language/Mathematics Ability -- Occasional performance of basic numeric calculations, as well as writing, reading, comparing and analyzing. Continuous alertness, precision and concentration to ensure accuracy and thoroughness of work.
• Reasoning Ability -- Frequent use of initiative, ingenuity and creativity. Frequent problem solving.
• Speaking -- Frequent, in person and on the telephone.
• Visual Abilities -- Continuous clarity of vision of 24 inches or less.

Expected Hours of Work

This position is based on site at our Wilsonville, Oregon corporate office. The work depends on being in the room with the people who run the business, so this is an in-person role. This is a full-time salaried position and will require a flexible work schedule, which may include evening and weekends to successfully manage and deliver the accountabilities of the role. Occasional on-call responsibilities.

Travel

Occasional travel to warehouse and operational locations is expected, particularly during implementations. Time on a dock or in a warehouse is part of understanding the process, not an interruption to it.

Required Education and Experience

Experience

• Three or more years defining requirements for enterprise business systems as a business systems analyst, systems analyst, product owner, or in a similar role.
• Demonstrated ability to decompose a large, vague business request into well-formed user stories with clear acceptance criteria.
• Experience supporting ERP or enterprise systems (e.g., VIP, SAP, Dynamics, Oracle, or similar platforms) preferred.
• Experience owning or prioritizing a backlog across competing stakeholders is strongly preferred.
• Experience supporting system integrations, data mapping, or reporting tools is a plus.
• Distribution, supply chain, warehouse, or consumer packaged goods background is a plus.

• 2--3 years of experience as a Business Systems Analyst, Systems Analyst, or in a similar role; or relevant Columbia Distributing experience as a business super-user supporting enterprise systems.
• Experience supporting ERP or enterprise systems (e.g., VIP, SAP, Dynamics, Oracle, or similar platforms) preferred.
• Exposure to process improvement methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma, or similar) preferred.
• Experience supporting system integrations, data mapping, or reporting tools is a plus.

Preferred Education and Experience

A degree in Information Systems, Business Administration, Computer Science, or a related field is useful, as is an equivalent combination of education and relevant work experience. Demonstrated analysis work carries more weight than credentials. Any of the following are preferred and will be viewed favorably:

• Business analysis: IIBA ECBA, CCBA, or CBAP; IIBA Agile Analysis Certification (IIBA-AAC); IIBA Product Ownership Analysis Certification (IIBA-CPOA); PMI Professional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA).
• Agile and product ownership: Certified Scrum Product Owner (CSPO), Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO), SAFe Product Owner / Product Manager (POPM), or comparable agile training.
• Process improvement: Lean or Six Sigma training at any belt level.
• Technical: Microsoft certifications in Dynamics 365, Power Platform, or Power BI (PL-300); SQL, data modeling, or integration coursework; or comparable applied training.

Candidates without certifications who can demonstrate the equivalent skill are encouraged to apply. Columbia supports continuing certification for this role.

Compensation

• Actual compensation packages are based on a wide array of factors unique to each candidate, including but not limited to skill set, years and depth of experience, certifications, and specific location.
• Employees (and their families) are eligible for medical, dental, vision, and basic life insurance. Employees are able to enroll in our company's 401k plan. Employees are also eligible for 80 hours of vacation every year and 7-8 days of paid holidays throughout the calendar year (depending on location).
• Hired applicant may be eligible for [incentives/ bonuses/ annual bonuses].