Business/Systems Analyst-Accounts Payable Systems

MIT Lincoln Laboratory•Lexington, MA

8d•$114,600 - $151,900

About The Position

The Business/Systems Analyst analyzes business and information needs across MIT Lincoln Laboratory and develops effective systems solutions, with a strong focus on Accounts Payable (AP), payment processing, vendor management, and related financial processes. Serving as a key link between business groups and Digital Solutions (DS), the Analyst identifies business issues and improvement opportunities, documents requirements, and translates them into functional system designs. The Analyst configures, tests, and supports solutions that meet AP and financial business needs while aligning with Laboratory standards, controls, and policies. The role supports AP applications and end-to-end processes, including SAP FI-AP, vendor invoicing, purchase order and non-purchase order invoices, invoice matching, payment processing, vendor master data, postings, and integrations with purchasing, receiving, the general ledger, cash management, and financial reporting. It partners with AP, Financial Services, DS, and business stakeholders on requirements, solution designs, testing, troubleshooting, internal controls, and operational support. The Analyst also supports system upgrades and implementations through regression testing, impact assessment, defect documentation, and stabilization of new AP, invoice automation, workflow, vendor management, and payment capabilities. The role documents and communicates system and process changes, creates training and support materials, assists with user adoption, and contributes to planning and roadmaps for enterprise applications. It reports to an Enterprise Applications Service Management Procure-to-Pay Team Lead and may interact with software and service vendors.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree with 7+ years of relevant experience, master’s degree with 2+ years of relevant experience, or equivalent background.
7+ years of SAP financial systems experience with strong SAP FI-AP expertise.
Experience across end-to-end AP processes, including invoice processing, matching, approvals, vendor transactions, payments, exceptions, and postings.
Strong understanding of FI-AP integration with the general ledger, cash management, vendor master, MM, and SRM.
Working knowledge of purchasing and receiving processes.
Experience with requirements gathering, process design, solution implementation, testing, and production support.
Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills in complex environments.
Ability to work independently, build consensus, and manage priorities.
Excellent communication, customer service, and organizational skills.
U.S. citizenship required to obtain and maintain a security clearance.
Must be able to obtain and maintain a Secret-level DoD security clearance and pass a pre-employment background investigation.

Nice To Haves

Advanced SAP FI-AP experience, including payments, vendor activity, account determination, and integration points.
Experience with AP automation, OCR, invoice workflow, or e-invoicing tools.
Experience with vendor master governance and controls.
Experience with electronic payments, banking interfaces, and payment exceptions.
Working knowledge of SAP SRM, MM procurement, logistics invoice verification, and S/4HANA capabilities.
Experience with SAP BW, BusinessObjects, or similar reporting tools.
Experience with workflow, ticketing, testing, or change-management tools.
Experience leading or contributing to major system implementations or process improvement initiatives.

Responsibilities

Maintain knowledge of AP applications and processes, including SAP FI-AP, invoicing, invoice matching, payment processing, vendor master data, and related postings.
Support AP processes and integration points across purchasing, receiving, general ledger, cash management, and financial reporting.
Identify, analyze, and document business and system requirements, process flows, and key decisions.
Partner with AP, Financial Services, DS, and business stakeholders to identify standardization, automation, control, and efficiency improvements.
Manage assigned projects and coordinate activities across DS and business teams.
Document solution designs and develop functional specifications for configuration, programming, workflow, and reporting changes.
Serve as a primary functional and quality assurance tester for configuration and development work.
Test system enhancements and new functionality against business needs, financial controls, and data requirements.
Monitor critical interfaces between SAP AP and external systems, including MIT Campus, banking systems, and SRM.
Support payment processes, invoice matching and exceptions, vendor master data, and financial reporting.
Assess authorization roles and controls related to AP, vendor data, invoice approval, and payments.
Troubleshoot complex AP, vendor, payment, and integration issues and recommend sustainable improvements.
Support internal controls, audit requirements, and upstream process dependencies.
Maintain regression test scenarios for AP, vendor master, invoice processing, payments, SRM integration, and related interfaces.
Perform functional and regression testing and coordinate testing with business partners.
Identify and document impacts of system updates, upgrades, and configuration changes on AP processes and downstream activities.
Document testing procedures, results, defects, and resolutions.
Support implementation and stabilization of AP, invoice automation, workflow, vendor management, and payment capabilities.
Communicate requirements, designs, ongoing work, and system or process changes to technical and non-technical audiences.
Create and maintain functional documentation, process flows, procedures, training content, user guides, and support materials.
Support user adoption of new processes and system enhancements and prepare and deliver presentations as needed.
Assist with planning and prioritizing work for the Enterprise Applications Service Management Sector.
Contribute to roadmaps for AP, invoice automation, payment processing, vendor management, and related enterprise applications.
Evaluate emerging technologies and process improvements in automation, workflow, analytics, and integration.
Perform varied tasks and may provide direction to others, using creativity and independent judgment.