Senior IT Business Analyst – Application Rationalization (CEMI)

Working Title:  Senior IT Business Analyst – Application Rationalization (CEMI) [Remote] [3 Year Term]

No Visa Sponsorship is available for this position.

This is a 3 year term appointment which may be ended or extended based on organizational needs, funding availability, and performance.

About the Cornell Experience Modernization Initiative

The Cornell Experience Modernization Initiative (CEMI) is a multi-year program designed to improve the experience of students, faculty, staff, alumni, donors, patients, and partners by unifying and enhancing administrative systems and processes across all Cornell University locations. Its name CEMI is said as “See Me” because the focus is on you: the people who use Cornell’s systems and data to accomplish your goals.

What will you do:

The CEMI Senior IT Business Analyst serves as a connector between business owners, functional teams, and technical partners to advance CEMI’s application rationalization effort. The analyst helps evaluate current-state systems, surface usage and dependencies, and coordinate disposition decisions—replacement (e.g., with a platform such as Workday), consolidation, retain-and-integrate, or further study—in partnership with teams across Ithaca and Weill Cornell. Current areas of focus include applications supporting HCM, Finance, Source-to-Pay, Budget, and Student processes, with scope extending to other areas as the work evolves. The environment is relationship-driven and often ambiguous; success depends on bringing structure to complex work, holding multiple workstreams in motion, and keeping decisions and execution moving across a decentralized organization.

Key responsibilities include:

• Stakeholder engagement and discovery—Facilitate cross-functional discovery sessions and interviews with business owners, functional SMEs, and technical teams to surface how applications are used, what dependencies and integrations exist, and what business value they provide.
• Application assessment and analysis—Conduct current-state assessments, analyze system usage and data flows, map dependencies and integrations, and identify disposition options for applications that may span multiple units or campuses.
• Process and requirements work—Document current- and future-state workflows, define and validate system requirements, and help drive common, best-practice business processes aligned with university-wide strategic goals.
• Disposition coordination and execution—Once a path forward is set, coordinate the activities needed to carry it out: assign and track ownership, monitor progress, and escalate blockers, risks, and cross-functional complexity so decisions get made and work keeps moving.
• Documentation and governance—Produce clear, right-sized documentation that enables informed decision-making, and contribute to governance structures that will oversee the new enterprise technology environment.
• Cross-initiative coordination—Collaborate across related CEMI initiatives where business processes and supporting systems intersect, ensuring alignment beyond any single functional domain.

While position responsibilities vary, every member of our community is expected to foster a culture of belonging and a healthy work environment by communicating across differences; being cooperative, collaborative, open, and welcoming; showing respect, compassion, and empathy; engaging and supporting others regardless of background or perspective; speaking up when others are being excluded or treated inappropriately; and supporting work/life integration of oneself and others.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Business, Finance, HR, or a related field; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• 5–7+ years of progressively responsible experience in business analysis, systems analysis, or IT project delivery, preferably in a complex, multi‑unit environment.
• Demonstrated expertise leading requirements gathering, facilitating workshops and discovery sessions, and translating complex business needs into clear, actionable system requirements—with the relationship-building skills to engage functional leads, technical teams, and senior stakeholders with equal effectiveness.
• Proven experience in business process analysis and redesign, including mapping current‑state and future‑state processes for large, cross‑functional initiatives.
• Ability to assess system usage, data flows, and integration dependencies to support informed rationalization and disposition decisions.
• Experience translating program-level or strategic decisions into actionable execution plans.
• Demonstrated experience assessing or rationalizing enterprise application portfolios, including evaluating current-state systems, identifying disposition options, and helping organizations make informed decisions about their technology landscape.
• Ability to work effectively with stakeholders at all levels—executive leadership, end users, functional subject‑matter experts, and technical teams—across multiple efforts in complex, decentralized organizational environments.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to convey complex information clearly to non‑technical audiences.
• Strong organizational and time‑management skills, with the ability to manage multiple priorities and bring structure and clarity to loosely defined work in a fast‑paced, ambiguous, and evolving project environment.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, exercise sound judgment, and operate as a trusted partner and advisor on high‑visibility initiatives.
• Ability to cultivate and develop inclusive working relationships with students, faculty, staff, and community members.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Familiarity with business processes and supporting systems in one or more of the following domains: HCM (e.g., Payroll, Benefits, Compensation, Talent), Finance (e.g., General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Budgeting), Source-to-Pay, or Student administration. Domain expertise in any of these areas is valued; breadth across multiple domains is a plus.
• Familiarity with enterprise platforms such as Workday, SAP, SuccessFactors, Oracle Fusion, or similar systems; direct implementation experience is not required, but exposure to how these platforms support business processes is helpful.
• Prior experience supporting application rationalization or technology consolidation efforts in a complex organizational environment, including conducting application inventories or current-state assessments (documenting what a system does, who uses it, what it connects to, and what business value it provides).
• Advanced knowledge of business analysis methodologies, process modeling, and requirements management best practices.
• Experience contributing to enterprise‑level governance frameworks, standards, or decision‑making bodies.
• Experience designing or supporting change management, training, or user‑adoption activities for major system transitions, including familiarity with the stakeholder dynamics involved when teams have strong attachment to existing systems.
• Demonstrated ability to facilitate discovery sessions and interviews across both business and technical audiences—drawing out needs, pain points, and dependencies from people invested in their current tools, and engaging technical teams to understand integration landscapes, data flows, and system architecture at a conceptual level sufficient to ask the right questions.
• Experience working in higher education, research institutions, healthcare systems, or similarly decentralized, relationship-driven environments where stakeholders have significant autonomy over their tools and processes.

Application Information:

• A resume is required for further consideration for this position. A cover letter expressing alignment with Cornell’s mission and this role is strongly encouraged. When applying through our system, please remember to attach your application materials (Cover Letter and Resume) in PDF format.  
• No Visa Sponsorship of any kind is available for this position. 
• No Relocation assistance will be provided for this position. 

Rewards and Benefits

• This position is based in Ithaca, New York, however, the successful applicant may perform this role remotely anywhere within the United States. Employees who work remotely may receive multiple W-2 Forms depending on their work location. The New York Convenience of employer guidelines require New York State individual tax reporting and withholding for this position. Additional individual state income tax filings may also be required if working temporarily outside of New York State. The university reserves the right to modify, suspend, or terminate the remote or hybrid work arrangement at any time.
• Cornell receives national recognition as an award-winning workplace for our health, wellbeing, and sustainability. Our benefits programs include comprehensive health care options, generous retirement contributions, access to wellness programs, and employee discounts with local and national retail brands. We invite you to follow this link to get more information about our benefits: Understand Your Benefits | Working at Cornell.
• Our leave provisions include health and personal leave, three weeks of vacation and 13 holidays: Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and the day after, and an end of the year winter break from December 25-January 1. To offer greater flexibility for observing faiths and traditions we also offer two additional floating holidays. Learn more about our generous leave provisions: Holiday and Accrued Time Off | Working at Cornell
• Cornell's impressive educational benefits include tuition-free Extramural Study and Employee Degree Program, tuition aid for external education, and Cornell Children's Tuition Assistance Program. Learn more about our extensive educational benefits: Education Benefits | Working at Cornell
• Follow this link to learn more about the Total Rewards of Working at Cornell: Total Rewards | Working at Cornell.

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