Business Solutions Manager

The United Nations University (UNU) is an international community of scholars engaged in policy-oriented research, capacity development and dissemination of knowledge, furthering the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. The mission of UNU is to contribute, through research and capacity building, to efforts to resolve the pressing global problems that are the concern of the United Nations and its Member States.

For the past four decades, UNU has been a go-to think tank for impartial research on human survival, conflict prevention, sustainable development, and welfare. With more than 400 researchers in 12 countries, UNU’s work spans the 17 Sustainable Development Goals’ full breadth, generating policy-relevant knowledge to effect positive global change. UNU maintains more than 200 collaborations with UN agencies and leading universities and research institutions across the globe. For more information, please visit http://unu.edu

UNU Centre Administration is responsible for developing and implementing administrative policies governing the UNU and its global network of institutes and programmes. In addition, UNU Centre Administration provides services to internal clients in the areas of financial management, budgeting, human resources management, travel and procurement. It also oversees the joint inter-agency Oracle Cloud ERP platform, facilitating and supporting essential business processes. UNU Centre Administration is located in Tokyo, Japan, with a global services centre based in Putrajaya, Malaysia.

Responsibilities

Under the direct supervision of the Deputy Director and overall guidance of the Director of Administration, the Manager will spearhead the management and enhancement of the ERP platform’s functionality and user experience, ensuring alignment with UNU’s requirements. This position will be critical to optimizing and scaling business solutions, including the ERP and complementary business applications, driving streamlined processes and data-driven decision-making across the University. Additionally, operating within a matrix reporting structure, the Manager will maintain a functional relationship with the Chief of IT to ensure seamless integration of the ERP within UNU’s broader IT infrastructure and strategy.

The Manager promotes a client-centric, quality-driven, and results-oriented approach. Serving as a hands-on partner to business process owners and internal stakeholders, the incumbent will define the roadmap and strategy for UNU’s enterprise business solutions. The Manager will work closely with business users to gather requirements, design, analyze, test and deliver an integrated solution, ensuring system changes are appropriately documented and users are trained. In collaboration with UNDP, the lead ERP partner agency, the Manager ensures consistent service delivery and system performance to meet business requirements. 

Design and implement enhancements for ERP and business applications

• Create and maintain an enhancements roadmap supporting business needs by maximizing Oracle Cloud ERP capabilities and integration with other business applications;
• Proactively identify and recommend improvements by leveraging Oracle Cloud functionalities and integrations with other applications, informed by insights from data review and process oversight tasks;
• Develop clear and concise functional specifications and robust testing plans for successful solution roll-outs;
• Support the University to pilot and implement new technologies including AI-driven solutions to advance the ERP environment;
• Collaborate effectively with the UNDP ERP functional and technical teams to ensure timely delivery and high-quality implementations;
• Contribute to UNU’s Campus Computing Centre’s systems development initiatives impacting the ERP.

Manage, maintain and optimize the ERP and business solutions

• Oversee the ongoing maintenance and optimization of UNU’s ERP and complementary business applications;
• Maintain a well-defined UNU master data model and hierarchical structures within the ERP platform to support organizational changes and reporting requirements;
• Champion proactive change management process by coordinating change requests for all system modifications from UNU’s business owners and users;
• Perform impact analysis of UNU’s specific functionalities and business processes validation when there is an ERP change applied by the University or other partner agencies;
• Serve as the primary contact and liaison with UNDP, the principal ERP agency, and represent UNU in ERP-related initiatives and communications.

Deliver user support and training

• Investigate and resolve application functionality-related issues and provide support for issues and matters surrounding system utilization, functionality and data;
• Analyze data contained in ERP databases, identify data integrity issues with existing and proposed system changes and implement solutions;
• Provide functional guidance to business users and other stakeholders to implement and optimize business processes for effective utilization of ERP system;
• Create comprehensive documentation including implementation guides, data flow mapping documents and diagrams, user guides and training materials;
• Keep abreast of the UNU’s business trends and assist in process management, including involvement in audit activities.

Ensure Secure, Scalable ERP Data Warehouse and High-Quality Standards

• Coordinate with UNU IT to ensure that the UNU ERP data warehouse infrastructure is secure, scalable and able to meet future business needs;
• Establish appropriate data validation and cleansing procedures to maintain high standards of data quality and integrity in the UNU ERP data warehouse;
• Ensure data requirements are met for all systems that utilize ERP data.

Develop and deploy dashboards and reports

• Develop and implement a comprehensive business intelligence and data strategy to complement the ERP system;
• Champion the creation of insightful reports, dashboards, and data visualizations based on the requirements of business process owners;
• Provide training sessions for end users to effectively use and interpret the reporting solutions.

Perform other duties as assigned by supervisor

• Key performance indicators
• Fully functioning ERP platform and business applications
• Fully operational data warehouse with ERP data for reporting needs
• Fully functional dashboards that meet the requirements of business owners
• Up-to-date and user-friendly guidance notes and documentation of the ERP platform
• Timely incorporation of client feedback on the system enhancements
• Regular dissemination of updates and reports as required
• Quality and level of engagement with UNDP as the ERP service provider and business process owners as critical clients

Qualifications

• Master’s Degree in Information Systems, Business Administration or related discipline;
• A first-level university degree, combined with two additional years of qualifying experience, may be accepted in place of an advanced university degree.
• 7 years of proven track record in managing ERP systems and modern Cloud technologies;
• Experienced in defining business systems strategy, gathering and documenting business requirements, leading fit-gap analysis, as-is and to-be business process designs, functional configuration, testing and user training;
• Strong understanding of data management, data warehousing, and data governance.
• Proficient in business intelligence tools and technologies, such as SQL, Power BI, and similar technologies;
• Skilled in change management expertise and experience, including the ability to develop and implement comprehensive change management strategies for business solutions deployments and experience in assessing the scope and impact of change across technology and business areas;
• Excellent communication skills and experience in effectively presenting ERP processes to business process owners and end-users;
• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to work independently under pressure and manage multiple task assignments.
• Fluency in English is required
• Knowledge of another UN official working language is an asset.

Source: https://careers.unu.edu/o/business-solutions-manager-psa-2