Closing date: Friday, 19 December 2014

BUSINESS SOFTWARE SPECIALIST, PEOPLESOFT GENERAL LEDGER, BUDGET AND FINANCE

Location : New York, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Application Deadline : 19-Dec-14

Type of Contract : FTA International

Post Level : P-4

Languages Required : English

Duration of Initial Contract : One year renewable

Background

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is the United Nations' global development network, an organization advocating for change and connecting countries to knowledge, experience and resources to help people build a better life. We are on the ground in 177 countries, working with them on their own solutions to global and national development challenges. As they develop local capacity, they draw on the people of UNDP and our wide range of partners.

The Office of Information Systems and Technology (OIST) supports UNDP by delivering Information Communication Technology (ICT) solutions and providing technical support for a variety of platforms and software solutions. Among other applications, UNDP has one of the largest PeopleSoft footprints in the world. It is used globally by over 160 country offices to support Financial and Human Resources business functions.

As of 1 January 2012, UNDP has adopted the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) in the area of financial transactional recording and reporting. The goal of IPSAS is to harmonize financial reporting practices and to improve the comparability of financial statements across and beyond the UN system. IPSAS was mandated in 2006 by the UN General Assembly for 23 organizations within the UN system, including UNDP.

Duties and Responsibilities

Under the general direction and supervision of the Chief of Applications Support and Delivery in OIST, the incumbent will be mainly responsible for the operational support and future evolution of the PeopleSoft (internally branded as Atlas) General Ledger and Commitment Control Modules as well as working in close collaboration with the Business Intelligence and Reporting team to design and deliver data accurate/congruent reporting solutions using the Business Intelligence or PeopleSoft platforms. Also, the incumbent is expected to be an important contributor to key upcoming projects, namely the Hyperion Financial reporting implementation and upgrade to PeopleSoft version 9.2.

Operational Support and Continuous Improvement

The incumbent will be responsible for Tier 3 support of Atlas General Ledger; as escalated from the UNDP Global Service Desk as well as associated reporting where the GL and KK are the primary data source. Key areas of support will also include sub-module to Ledger reconciliation as well as KK module reconciliation. Through the ITIL process of incident management and problem resolution, the incumbent will be responsible to report to OIST leadership on ways service can be improved through the reduction of system incidents and cases being reported to the UNDP service desk. As well, once projects and enhancements are migrated to production, the incumbent will be responsible for structuring and performing post production support for a period of time before the UNDP Service Desk assumes full support.

Future Evolution

The incumbent is expected to provide thought leadership, insight and PeopleSoft design/configuration capabilities as they relate to enhancing UNDP's financial management processing and reporting. This will mostly involve optimizing GL/KK and sub-module processing and enhancing information delivery through the use of UNDP's Data Warehouse leveraging the PeopleSoft Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) application and using Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE) as a reporting and Business Intelligence platform. UNDP is anticipated to upgrade to PeopleSoft Financials 9.2 from 9.0 in the next 24 months and thus it is expected the incumbent will provide guidance on how certain re-configurations/re-structuring of processing options and ledger structure can be achieved.

Delivery and Adoption

The incumbent is expected to manage and oversee the delivery process once an initiative has been architected and scoped. Projects will range in size from a release of multiple enhancement requests to a PeopleSoft Financials upgrade. The incumbent will be responsible for ensuring adherence to UNDP's Prince 2 methodology in conjunction with the innovative agile software development methodology for ERP systems delivery. For monthly releases and larger projects, s/he will perform the typical project management functions as setting deadlines, assigning responsibilities, and monitoring and summarizing progress of project and/or release, risk and issue resolution, and prepare reports for upper management regarding status of project and issue escalation. Also, the incumbent is expected to conduct knowledge sharing session as well as formal training session with colleagues in NY Headquarters as well as with the Global UNDP community.

This Position requires strong analytical, written and oral communication skills as well as the ability to work with UNDP business units, mainly the Office of Finance and Resource Management (OFRM) in order to fully understand business needs and design solutions to meet those needs. Consequently candidates with strong accounting knowledge, procure-to-pay, budgeting, and revenue management business process knowledge will be preferred. A MBA or certified accounting degree is a plus but not required.

This is not a developer position and no hands on coding is expected from the incumbent however, strong technical knowledge of the PeopleSoft application stack, configuration options and tables, as well as deep knowledge of the PeopleSoft Financials table structure and data model is a must. The ideal candidate will have a 'can do' attitude and the ability to make pragmatic and practical decisions without compromising the integrity of the PeopleSoft application.

Provide Operational Support and Continuous Improvement solutions through timely resolution of escalated CRM cases, root cause analysis and recommended changes to the system or business practices.

• Provide support for Atlas GL/KK and associated reports in Production;
• Troubleshoot and identify root cause for various application issues;
• Provide guidance and resolution for application issues;
• Develop strong support-based relationship with our internal clients and Partner UN Agencies;
• Ability to understand and trouble shoot system errors and report incongruences;
• Formalize process for collection and analysis of incident and help desk case data;
• Liaise with the UNDP Global Service Desk on a periodic basis to review and analyze data;
• Propose solutions that will result in a reduction of number of system incidents and cases submitted to the service desk;
• Present findings in regard to necessary enhancements to improve solutions design and delivery process by incorporating tools and elements to enhance coherency and efficiency of financial solutions to the solution delivery process under the guidance of Chief Application Delivery and Support;
• Troubleshoot issues and resolve with assistance of IT Vendor;
• Report on issues, system utilization, and trends;
• Based on above, make recommendations for enhancements and improvements;
• Develop PeopleSoft Queries or ad-hoc reports in OBIEE (Oracle Business Intelligence Tool).

Serves as thought leader for optimal/future structure of the GL and KK modules as well as delivery of associated reports in a timely and accurate manner.

• Ensure overall Atlas Financials application data set congruency and compliance by implementing and following through on Quality Assurance check points for any changes and modification to configurations or application business logic through code changes for Atlas modules impacting UNDP's financial reporting and/or budgeting processes;
• Working collaboratively with UNDP business community in looking at deployed functionality and/or business processes and creatively suggesting process improvements or minor adjustments or enhancements to the deployed system to increase overall user satisfaction and business productivity;
• Working with multi-disciplinary team members to design and implement significant new functionality to meet business needs based on specific requirements for functional performance by the PeopleSoft Solution;
• Document current and future state processes;
• Develop Business Requirement Documents and functional specifications;
• Develop Business Process Maps;
• Collaborate with UNDP business units and IT Vendor to determine level of effort, schedule, and costs to implement a discrete effort;
• Abide by UNDP's ERP Agile development methodology;
• Lead or participate in QA/UAT, developing test plans and scripts, coordinating test cycles, analyzing and reporting on test results, and performing hands on testing;
• Execute on key governance and compliance activities such as producing monthly Atlas Change Control content, liaise with the Atlas Security team, and respond to internal and external audit requests.
• Work with current outsourcing partner to produce weekly and quarterly review reports.

Serves as Delivery and Adoption lead through timely and quality introduction of changes coupled with user adoption activities of communication, training, and knowledge transfer.

• Identify the goals and scope of new solutions;
• Identify and mitigate the risks associated with new solutions;
• Develop and manage the Project Schedule for new solutions.
• Review progress against plans and resolve deviations;
• Anticipate and solve management/resource/schedule problems;
• Prepare and distribute project status reports to Project Stakeholders;
• Drive project issues through to resolution;
• Escalate issues to Management;
• Define and maintain project scope;
• Manage rollout and user adoption of GL/KK modules and related reports;
• Develop with appropriate team members training materials and job aids to support end user training;
• Develop project, deployment, and operations communications materials;
• Provides proactive user support activities, such as training, user groups, practice labs, and workshops as well as internal knowledge transfer sessions.

Competencies

Core

• Effective communication skills, with the ability to clearly and concisely express ideas both verbally and in writing;
• Ability to communicate solutions architecture matters in a business context and language to senior management team of OIST and business owners;
• Excellent interpersonal skills that build trust and instill confidence in order to motivate, influence and persuade others.

Functional/Technical

• Deep knowledge of PeopleSoft Financials 9.X General Ledger (GL) and Commitment Control (KK) modules; and
• Working knowledge of multiple modules within in the areas of Procure To Pay (Purchasing, e-Procurement, Accounts Payable, Asset Management), Revenue Management (Contracts, Grants, Accounts Receivable, Billing), Travel & Expense, Treasury, or Project Management. Knowledge of PeopleSoft Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) or Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE) is a plus;
• Deep knowledge of the PeopleSoft Financials 9.X Data Model and the data behavior;
• Working knowledge of People Tools;
• Knowledge of any industry standard Software Development Lifecycle Methodologies (SDLCs) such as Waterfall, Agile, etc.;
• Knowledge and understanding of IFRS/IPSAS accounting standards and practices. United States, Canadian, or United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) is also acceptable;
• Ability to take initiative to identify, prioritize and implement all elements required for team to fulfill responsibilities in accordance with core strategic goals;
• Excellent problem solving skills, including ability to effectively address any issue in collaboration with others as appropriate;
• Strong ability to proactively identify and prevent potential problems;
• Ability to coach peers and other team members in problem solving skills and system integration perspective;
• Ability to work well under pressure and effectively handle multiple, concurrent demands and appropriately prioritize responsibilities;
• Ability to collaborate with others and act in an objective manner in order to effectively solve problems and stay on track towards accomplishing organizational goals.

Required Skills and Experience

Education:

• Master's Degree in Business/Public Administration or Information Technology, with a concentration on financial systems (Accounting), Engineering, with seven (7) years' experience; or
• Bachelor's Degree in the above-mentioned fields with specialized relevant experience of nine (9) years.

Experience:

• Specialized relevant experience of at least seven (7) years in implementing or supporting PeopleSoft Financials Solutions 9.X in a similar role;
• Proven track record in ensuring systems stability.

Language Requirements:

• English is required;
• Knowledge of another UNDP official language an asset.

Application information: http://jobs.undp.org/cj_view_job.cfm?cur_job_id=52116