Systems Administrator & Business Analyst

Description:

Systems Administrator & Business Analyst

Innovation Flows Here. 

Officially opening its doors in 2024, the University of Niagara Falls Canada (UNF) is an innovative and digitally oriented institution that prepares graduates for leadership in the digital world. We believe in delivering programs that provide a direct pathway to meaningful careers in high-demand industries. UNF is part of the Global University Systems Canada group of institutions and Global University Systems, an international network of higher education institutions.

Our location 

Our campus is located in historic downtown Niagara Falls. Beyond being Canada’s #1 travel destination, Niagara Falls is a small vibrant city that offers up a slice of metropolitan living at a different pace. From world-class dining and entertainment options to luxury shopping and cultural experiences. Our location offers the amenities of a large urban centre within a comfortable, liveable community.

Position Summary

The University of Niagara Falls Canada is seeking an experienced Systems Administrator & Business Analyst to support the administration, optimization and continued development of the university's Ellucian Colleague student information system and related enterprise systems.

This is a hybrid role that combines two complementary skill sets. As a Systems Administrator, the incumbent keeps Colleague and its connected systems secure, reliable and well-maintained — owning configuration, upgrades, access, monitoring, backups and integrations. As a Business Analyst, they work directly with operational teams — particularly the Registrar's Office and Finance — to understand business needs, improve processes, gather and document requirements, and translate them into practical system solutions, reports and enhancements.

It is a hands-on, dual-skilled position requiring strong technical and system-administration capability alongside solid business-analysis and process-improvement skills, plus the stakeholder engagement to serve as a key link between institutional departments, internal IT, external vendors and Ellucian.

Key Responsibilities

System Administration

Administer, configure and maintain Ellucian Colleague and related enterprise systems, including application, environment and integration layers.
Manage system upgrades, patches, testing and release management across development, test and production environments.
Provision and manage user accounts, roles, permissions and security in line with institutional policy.
Monitor system performance, availability, capacity and data integrity; proactively identify and resolve issues.
Administer backups, recovery and business-continuity processes for supported systems.
Maintain system documentation, configuration records and technical standard operating procedures.
Coordinate incidents, changes and scheduled maintenance with internal IT, Ellucian and third-party vendors.
Develop and maintain scripts and automation to streamline administrative and operational tasks.

Business Analysis

Partner with university departments to elicit, analyze and document business and functional requirements.
Map current-state processes, perform gap analysis and design improved workflows supported by Colleague.
Translate operational requirements into functional specifications, system configurations and technical solutions.
Facilitate requirements-gathering and design sessions and manage stakeholder expectations.
Plan and coordinate system testing, including preparing test cases and leading user acceptance testing (UAT).
Identify opportunities to automate manual processes and improve efficiency, accuracy and service delivery.
Develop process maps, standard operating procedures, user documentation and training materials.
Ensure system processes support institutional policies, regulatory requirements and operational best practices.

Registrars office & Student Records Support

Provide dedicated support for student records, registration, enrolment, course scheduling, academic standing, grading and graduation processes.
Assist with the development and optimization of Registrar workflows and reporting requirements.
Support data-quality initiatives relating to student records and academic information.
Help resolve complex student-record and registration issues requiring technical intervention.
Support integrations and projects involving academic records, scheduling and student-lifecycle management.

Finance Support

Support the Finance team with Colleague processes relating to student accounts, tuition, fees, payments, refunds, financial reporting and reconciliation.
Develop and maintain financial reports and operational dashboards.
Assist with integrations involving payment platforms, banking systems and other financial applications.
Support Finance with process improvements, system testing and issue resolution.
Work with Finance and Registrar teams to ensure consistency between student, enrolment and financial data.

Reporting, Analytics, & Dashboards

Design, build and maintain operational reports, executive reports and dashboards.
Work with stakeholders to define reporting requirements, data definitions and performance indicators.
Develop automated reporting processes to reduce reliance on manual spreadsheets.
Support institutional data governance and ensure reports are accurate, consistent and appropriately secured.
Assist leadership and operational teams with timely access to reliable information for decision-making.
Collaborate with analytics teams to support live dashboards and institutional reporting requirements.

Systems Integration & Project Support

Support current and future integrations between Ellucian Colleague and other institutional systems.
Participate in the planning, design, testing and implementation of new applications and integrations.
Develop and maintain data extracts, interfaces, APIs and scheduled data-transfer processes where required.
Coordinate with vendors and internal teams to ensure integrations are secure, reliable and properly documented.
Provide technical support for strategic institutional projects involving student, academic, financial or operational systems.
Participate in requirements gathering, testing, implementation planning and post-launch support.

Stakeholder Engagment & Training

Act as a key technical and functional resource for Colleague users across the university.
Build strong working relationships with department leaders, subject-matter experts and system users.
Facilitate requirements-gathering sessions and translate business needs into practical solutions.
Provide training, guidance and knowledge transfer to staff.
Develop user guides, training materials and technical documentation.
Communicate system changes, risks, issues and project progress clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.

Data Governance, Security & Compliance

Support the accuracy, completeness and consistency of institutional data.
Ensure appropriate access controls, security practices and privacy requirements are followed.
Assist with audit requests, compliance reporting and data validation.
Identify and address data-quality issues in collaboration with relevant departments.
Support the development of institutional standards for system use, reporting and data management.

Qualifications

Postsecondary degree or diploma in information technology, computer science, information systems, business systems or a related field.
Demonstrated experience administering and supporting Ellucian Colleague in a postsecondary education environment.
Solid system-administration experience — configuration, upgrades and patching, user and access management, monitoring, backups and environment management.
Strong business-analysis experience — requirements gathering, process mapping, gap analysis, functional specification and user acceptance testing.
Strong understanding of student information systems and higher-education business processes.
Experience supporting functions such as student records, registration, finance, admissions or academic operations.
Experience developing reports, dashboards, data extracts and operational analytics.
Experience with system integrations, APIs, data interfaces or middleware.
Strong troubleshooting and problem-solving abilities.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to bridge technical and non-technical audiences.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience with multiple Ellucian Colleague modules, particularly Student, Finance and related administrative functions.
Experience with Ellucian reporting and analytics tools.
Knowledge of SQL, database concepts, data warehousing or business-intelligence tools.
Experience with Power BI or comparable dashboard and visualization platforms.
System-administration experience with Windows / Linux servers, scripting (e.g. PowerShell or Python) or scheduled-job management.
Familiarity with CRM, learning-management, payment, scheduling or document-management integrations.
Experience participating in an Ellucian Colleague implementation, migration or major enhancement project.
Knowledge of Canadian postsecondary reporting, privacy and regulatory requirements.
Business-analysis (e.g. CBAP / CCBA), ITIL or project-management certification would be considered an asset.