Job Specification

Purpose of Position :

Working under the general direction of the Team Leader. To provide day to day functional and application production support, new functionality, upgrades, patches, datafixes and changes to the Oracle Financials 11ieBsusiness Suite, for the Integrated Financial Information System (IFIS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system for the Ontario Public Service (OPS) and central agencies. To provide full life cycle application and systems integration solutions design, configuration, testing and user acceptance. To apply Oracle Financials 11ieBusiness Suite application and integration expertise plus financial and management accounting to the OPS business and financial policies and processes.

Duties / Responsibilities :

Under the technical guidance of the team Leader, Applications Services, working within a matrix team structure in a large and complex environment, the position:
- Acts in an 'expert' capacity for at least one ERP module and back up to others; applies specialized knowledge of application functionality, extension, interfaces, application integration, configuration, navigation, access matrices, workflows, related business processes, financial policies and procedures; provides functional and application consultation, advice and recommendations to IFIS teams, key stakeholder groups and user community; researches publications and internet base information systems and consults with Oracle clients to obtain information related to potential upgrades and functionalities; uses knowledge and expertise to leverage online Oracle resources; and develops and presents operational and technical productivity options, enhancements and improvements to IFIS team.
- Works consultatively with IFIS stakeholders, Ministries, Treasury Board Office (TBO), other Ontario Shared Services (OSS) branches, and the Ontario Financing Authority (OFA) to clarify and conduct comprehensive analyses of customer requirements and business requirements and applies knowledge of government best practices, in order to define the most effective systems integration options and functionalities; provides systems/application integration solutions, based on application expertise and financial knowledge, while minimizing impact on the application and configuration; facilitates consensus among diverse user groups in an effort to establish and reinforce common best practices design solutions.
- Provides Oracle Financials application expertise to analyse, design and test new functionality and resolve production problems with the IFIS application. For integration with other applications, assists Ministry Program analysts to create detailed requirements that specify the required data and architecture, and changes required to program systems to design integration with multiple software packages or customer developed software.
- Reviews and assesses all requests for new functionality and integration with other applications, through the change request process, application upgrades, new releases and modules, to ensure compliance and consistency with established best practices for IFIS and financial policies and guidance.
- Resolves day to day production application and integration problems reported through the ticket logging system; where problem analysis determines there is an application bug, works with Oracle Support via Metalink to resolve with patch or datafix, providing appropriate approved level of analysis, assessment, testing, approvals and quality assurance prior to implementing into production. Applies solution to production during planned outages where required, in coordination with OPC, FSIM Team, and the user community.
- Conducts detailed analyses for all changes to the IFIS application, including problem evaluation, business risk and impact assessment, and identification of solutions; translates customer requirements into designs that support the business; prepares relevant impact analysis, functional design documents detailing the change, configuration, extensions, within the application and interactions/interfaces between application components that promote reusability, maintainability, reliability and scalability, verifies mitigation plans to reduce risks and determines appropriate test strategy to ensure change meets established objectives and does not adversely impact any other functionality in the fully integrated and complex ERP system;
- Prepares and maintains all documentation for application configuration, access control, extensions, interfaces and systems integration work in IFIS modules, in accordance with established processes, protocols and IFIS Division Standards and Guidelines and subject to internal and audit quality assurance
- Following established methodology, works in a fully integrated manner, with IFIS Development, Architecture, Communications and Training teams, such that Business Analyst provides Functional Design; Developer provides Technical Design, and carries out development and unit testing; Business analyst carries out link, regression and integration testing, and obtains formal user acceptance; Architecture moves code and configuration into instances as requested by Business Analyst; and Business Analyst provides formal notification of business process changes to user community; updates problem ticket or Change Request as appropriate.
- Defines, documents and maintains detailed test plans including test objectives, rationale and scope, scripts required to meet the testing objectives, and testing methodology; maintains scripts within a library of more than two-thousand re-usable scripts, designs and conducts link, integration and regression testing within the IFIS formal testing framework (both positive and negative), ensures test plans reflect actual business and financial processes of the user community, volumes are sufficient and include interfaces with relevant business support systems; verifies and documents test results, analyses all variances, determines appropriate venues for problem escalation and involvement of stakeholders, coordinated and implements formal QA and approval processes with IFIS management and key stakeholders prior to implementing into production;
- Develops and delivers ‘expert led' training and customized presentations (e.g., bank reconciliation, supplier maintenance, period end, year end, payroll interface) to targeted user groups; prepares backgrounders for Team Leaders and Managers to be presented to IFIS senior management and stakeholder groups; recommends and validates updates to training material maintained by Strategic Business Management, Communications, and Training (SBMCT) to reflect modifications and adjustments to the application; provides application and business process expertise to SBMCT transition and user adoption activity;
- Provides business process support and information to user stakeholders through a variety of channels, including Financial Practices Committee, User Forum, workshops.
- Works with a high level of autonomy in accordance with established processes and protocols, OPS priorities and IFIS Division Standards and methodologies; ensures assigned activities are planned and deliverables completed within IFIS team operational plan deadlines; monitors outstanding incidents to ensure resolved within timelines set out in the Service Level Agreement (SLA) with OSS; provides weekly status of all production problem tickets and change requests.
- Provides on-call support to daily batch processing, working with Database Administrators (DBAs) and Operators to provide immediate resolution to critical application integration systems incidents and log production problem tickets for non-critical incidents; on a day-to-day basis, verifies ongoing accuracy of batch processing where not provided by OSS and users, including key reconciliations, monitoring overnight processes, monitoring exceptional database situations such as requisitions in saved carts, and working with users to clear, as required for systems integration support; and
- Acts with full delegation of authority as required, in absence of Team Lead, Application Services.

Knowledge :

Position requires:
Expert knowledge of, and demonstrated experience with, implementing and providing production support for large Oracle Financials 11i or similar integrated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) financial systems and operational linkages with other enterprise ERP systems such as patrol and human resource management systems; knowledge of, and demonstrated experience with, financial accounting, management accounting, internal control procedures and techniques normally gained through recognized accreditation or equivalent; knowledge of and demonstrated experience with business process design within a financial management framework; knowledge and understanding of Ontario Government modern controllership, financial management frameworks, business and financial operations, policies, programs, guidelines, standards applicable to Ministries, Central Agencies, OSS, Secretariats, Agencies, Boards, Commissions;

Knowledge of Ontario Government financial practices related to business operations and structures including estimates, budgeting,, accounts payables, accounts receivables, transfer payments, Chart of Accounts, procurement, journal entries, employee expenses, asset and capital management and financial reporting; through knowledge of, and expertise with, the IFIS or Oracle Financials modules, and Procurement, Expenses, and Project Accounting modules, including functionality, workflow, configuration, reporting, reporting database tools, tables, integration, testing, interfaces, Application Program Interfaces (API);

Knowledge of formal application and systems integration support functions and processes in a large ERP implementation, including Oracle Service Request management, Configuration Management, Change Requests, Functional and Technical designs, patches, data fixes, upgrades, Test Plans, Link, Regression and integration test scripts, to work in a fully integrated manner with technical production support and information Technology specialists, to act in an ‘expert' capacity for assigned modules or as back-u to other analysts and to train, advise and consult in this capacity; knowledge of and expertise with formal system implementation and project management methodologies, in particular the Oracle AIM methodology, including gap analysis, design, configuration, testing methodologies, user validation and acceptance, implementation, and post implementation application support; organizational skills including a demonstrated ability to work independently in planning and delivering business analysis and solutions with minimum disruption on the user communities/program delivery; Excellent oral communication, negotiation, facilitation, consensus building, consultation and presentation skills to communicate effectively and cooperatively with designated contacts in the IFIS user communities to summarize/present technical issues to senior management in the IFIS organization; to solicit relevant business information from the user communities; to obtain consensus and approvals from both user communities and corporate stakeholders during the verification, link testing integration stages and implementation of common business solutions; and to deliver ‘expert led' training.

Excellent written communication skills to prepare clear functional designs to meet application and systems integration business requirements, business analyses and recommendations, presentation for various OPS forums, user groups and committees, training materials for complex functionality, communications detailing changes to the application; demonstrated analytical and problem solving skills to effectively conduct problem identification and resolution, impact of proposed design changes, extensions, interfaces, patches, upgrades on the application and user stakeholder processes, impact of proposed financial policy and guideline changes on the approved application design and to implement linkages and integration with corporate management information systems; and proficiency with Microsoft Office desktop applications using Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Project, Visio.

Judgement :

Position works under the general direction of the Manager, BASS, and technical direction of the Team Lead, and within the broad framework of policies, guidelines, legislation governing financial accounting operations for all OPS Ministries, central agencies and key stakeholders such as OSS, TBO, OFA.

Position has latitude for working independently in the review, analysis, research, documentation and recommendation of problem resolution for applications design and systems integration support issues, patches, data fixes, upgrades and problems identified by the user community and Oracle. Judgement is exercised in: assuming responsibility for the life cycle of application and systems integration production support; conducting effective consultation with users to obtain relevant and factual information about business requirements; assessing design and integration requirements against capabilities and functionalities of the application and potential integration with other enterprise-wide and program specific OPS systems; determining approaches and rationale for rationale for resolution; ensuring compliance and consistency with OPS best practices, policies and guidelines; selecting information for the development of detailed functional design specifications; and recommending involvement of appropriate IFIS support teams to achieve systems integration solutions with minimal change to the application.

Judgement is exercised in; designing and conducting relevant, effective and timely link, regression and integration testing with the IFIS formal framework; ensuring user validation, acceptance and sign off through formal delegated levels of authority; understanding operational responsibilities of user communities and balancing user requirements with IFIS project deliverables and outcomes; identifying incidents and politically sensitive situations which require escalation and involvement of IFIS senior management and key OPC stakeholders, and coordinating all stages of assigned projects to satisfactory completion. Position exercises initiative and judgement in managing multiple deliverables in a complex deadline oriented environment with competing demands from a wide range of users; conducting relevant information to respond to inquiries from IFIS teams and user community; in development of material to ‘expert led' training and in presenting relevant information for improvements and enhancements.

Accountability - Programs :

Position is directly accountable for all changes to the Oracle Financials IFIS application, requested through the change request process or the resolution of production problems identified through the ticket process; for coordinating all stages of the life cycle of application and integration activity. Position is directly accountable for establishing and maintaining effective stakeholder relationships with user community and key stakeholders and for working both independently and cooperatively within the IFIS matrix team structure. Position is directly accountable for acquiring and maintaining an expert level of application knowledge in delegated modules and associated configurations, extensions, interfaces, integration, business processes, financial and management accounting, and OPS financial policies and procedures.

Accountability – Personnel :

position is directly accountable for project leadership responsibilities within the life cycle of the systems application on integration activities and for the provision of advice, knowledge, consultation, and training in area of specialty to IFIS teams and user communities. Position acts as required, with full delegation of authority, in absence of Team Lead, Application Services.

Accountability - Finance and Materials :

Position is directly accountable for maintain assets and application resources, and for safeguarding proprietary information associated with the IFIS application within the Ontario Government. Position is directly accountable for the provision of effective and accurate systems application and integration analysis and therefore the integrity of the IFIS system, on which the OPS relies on for accurate financial information and processes.

Accountability - Impact of Errors :

Inaccurate assessment or analyses of applications and integration requirements may result in the development or implementation of incorrect or inaccurate technical design specifications, configurations, extensions, interfaces, modifications, patches, data fixes, or upgrades with impact on financial information retained within the application, on financial processes that are integral to the application, stakeholder relations with the OPC as owners, and with users and business partners, and delays in achieving successful business outcomes for users. Inadequate testing may result in data integrity and information errors, creating situations in which senior management within user communities are relying on incorrect financial information for decision-making and potential privacy violations and monetary consequences. This could result in negative media coverage, political impact and complaints from the user community, in particular the external suppliers and transfer payment recipients across the province to whom payments are made, about the ability to IFIS to deliver its mandate.

Contact - Internal :

Regular contact with Team Lead to provide status updates and to escalate issues for review and consideration of IFIS senior management. Regular contact with IFIS Branches to obtain or share information and to develop, test and implement all changes to the applications and resolve systems integration problems, validate draft communications to user communities, updates to training manuals and to provide advice and consultation on the application functionality and associated business processes. Frequent daily contact with key business stakeholders from TBO, OSS, OFA and ministries to discuss application design and integration problems and options, testing, provide impact on application functionality and to develop joint solutions to achieve consistent and cohesive business outcomes for the user community.

Contact - External :

Regular contact with Oracle Customer Network and Oracle Customer Support Tools and Products and Oracle User Group to obtain information, conduct research related to application design and systems integration activities, acquire and improve knowledge related to area of expertise, discuss and resolve technical problems. Occasional contact with banks to discuss processing and payments of financial transactions and to coordinate testing with bank organizations.