Senior IT Business Analyst – Application Rationalization (CEMI)

Cornell University•Ithaca, MI

2d•$99,475 - $121,581•Remote

About The Position

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. 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.

Requirements

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.

Nice To Haves

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.

Responsibilities

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.
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.
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.
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.
Produce clear, right-sized documentation that enables informed decision-making, and contribute to governance structures that will oversee the new enterprise technology environment.
Collaborate across related CEMI initiatives where business processes and supporting systems intersect, ensuring alignment beyond any single functional domain.

Benefits

comprehensive health care options
generous retirement contributions
access to wellness programs
employee discounts with local and national retail brands
health and personal leave
three weeks of vacation
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.
two additional floating holidays
tuition-free Extramural Study and Employee Degree Program
tuition aid for external education
Cornell Children's Tuition Assistance Program