Closing date 7 Jul 2019 23:00 (UK time)
Salary £32,236–£39,609 (Grade 7)
Location Edinburgh
Department Heriot Watt University
Category Professional & Managerial
Status Full Time
Duration 24 months fixed-term

About Heriot-Watt University

Heriot-Watt University has five campuses: three in the UK (Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Orkney), one in Dubai and one in Malaysia. The University offers a highly distinctive range of degree programmes in the specialist areas of science, engineering, design, business and languages.

With a history dating back to 1821, Heriot-Watt University has established a reputation for world-class teaching and practical, leading-edge research, which has made it one of the top UK universities for business and industry. We connect with industry at every level and develop programmes to match their needs – so employers get work-ready industry-fit graduates.

Heriot-Watt is also Scotland's most international university, boasting the largest international student cohort.

We have an established set of values that help us to nurture innovation and leadership, and show our commitment to continuous improvement and development in all our activities.

For full details on our University please view our Careers at Heriot-Watt http://www.hw.ac.uk/about/careers-at-heriot-watt.htm
        
About our Team

The Enterprise Resource Platform (ERP)

The ERP Programme is an institution-wide Programme to replace the existing HR / Payroll / Finance / Purchasing and Procurement / Planning systems and business processes with a single, integrated cloud service serving all campuses, underpinned by smooth and consistent processes.  

The project will run for approximately two years to identify, procure and implement the new ERP and will then be mainstreamed into business as usual.

Detailed Description

This is an excellent opportunity to join the ERP Programme at its inception and help Heriot-Watt University to transform its core people and money processes to ensure efficiency and effectiveness and to provide robust and accurate management information on which to base strategic and operational decisions. The successful candidate will work closely with the Programme Board; Programme Team; staff in HR, payroll, finance, procurement, planning and IS; the vendor; and all of the key stakeholders to specify, procure and implement a comprehensive ERP system based on re-designed and optimised business processes, alongside a suite of integrations with other key systems.

Specifically we are looking for those with a deep understanding of business analysis and business process design in at least one of the following areas and good understanding of some of the others.

• Strong understanding and experience of the full range of finance processes within a University setting
• Planning
• Procurement
• Management information

We are also looking for creative people who have a passion for providing good service and who will support and enable all staff in their daily work by designing and implementing clear and effective processes.

Key duties and responsibilities

1. Contribute their knowledge and expertise to the ongoing task of designing effective and intuitive processes relating to the development and enhancement of their specialist area, as specified by the  ERP Programme Director.
2. Be a positive advocate for transformational change to systems and processes.
3. Work with stakeholders, functional experts and technical staff and draw on their knowledge and expertise to identify, analyse and specify business change requirements.
4. Organise and facilitate requirements workshops and meetings.
5. Develop functional specifications and test scripts; and execute functional testing for any enhancements to ensure quality.
6. Provide 3rd line support and guidance to users of the system.
7. Work with training staff to develop training programmes for new developments.
8. Carry out training where required – in particular, training trainers and support staff.
9. Write presentations and present to staff at all levels of the university.
10. Keep abreast of developments to the third-party supplied systems which support student and academic administration.
11. Network with process stakeholders.
12. Network with the wider community of users of the software on which the student administration sits.
13. Report to ERP Programme Director or his/her nominee.

Communication

Oral:

• Prepare and deliver presentations to staff on new systems or policies.
• Speak to users with no specialist knowledge in language that they can understand.
• Perform third line support.
• Take part in, organise and lead specialist discussions with end users in their specialist areas.
• Master the specific terminology of finance, payroll and HR administration systems; and be well versed in the terminology of technical project work.
• Participate in the training of staff and develop training programmes.
• Provide regular verbal reports on progress.

Written:

• Write business, functional and technical documentation - including test documentation.
• Tailor documentation to suit the audience: this can vary between end-users: administrators, academics, students; and key stakeholders such as process owners.
• Communicate progress towards team objectives.
• Summarise complex specialist issues or information for managers or stakeholders.

Teamwork & Motivation

• Support and encourage team members, colleagues and stakeholders, helping to build co-operation within and between the project(s) of the programme.
• Lead and manage colleagues - even without having direct line-management authority.
• Demonstrate flexibility to deliver team results, while contributing to team morale.
• Engage with other teams within the programme, Information Services, the vendor and the wider university to establish a common approach.
• Participate in formal testing of other work-streams deliverables.
• Monitor progress and takes appropriate action to deal with difficulties or slippage.
• Support and encourage end-users of enhancements to the student administration system.

Liaison and Networking

• Represent their team in formal internal networks, such as ERP Project Boards, ERP Programme Board.
• Represent Heriot-Watt University in formal external networks related to the programme.
• Gather information through these networks and report back
• Network with stakeholders to elicit requirements.
• Manage expectations of the user community in terms of what can be delivered.
• Liaise with a wide range of stakeholders to gather information, exchange knowledge, and smooth the introduction of the changes and enhancements to student administration processes.
• Keep abreast of developments which may affect HR / finance / payroll / planning / procurement administration processes. E.g. changes to university policy, statutory requirements, or software.

Service Delivery

• Play a key role in the development of enhancements to HR/payroll/finance/planning/procurement administration, delivering benefits to staff
• Ensure that the enhancements will meet the needs of the university within the bounds of resources.
• Ensure that risks or issues which affect the ability to meet those needs are escalated to the ERP Programme Director or his/her nominee.
• Contribute to discussions of Service Level Agreements with suppliers.

Decision Making

• As a subject matter expert, make recommendations to the ERP Programme Director, colleagues and stakeholders on how to proceed.
• Collaborate with others within the ERP Programme and/or stakeholders to reach decisions that have an impact on the operation or function of the University.
• Provide advice or input to others’ decisions which has an impact on the operation or function of the University.
• Decide which software configuration options best meet university requirements.
• Identify those decisions which require team-wide discussion – especially those which may have a wider impact – or escalation to the Programme Director.

Planning and Organising Resources

• Plan work on a weekly or monthly basis as specified in the overall plan, with co-ordination with colleagues, suppliers, key stakeholders and the ERP Programme Director.
• Work within the chosen methodologies of the projects, including the Heriot-Watt Project Management Methodology.
• Co-ordinate the work of a project on a day-to-day basis.
• Co-ordinate with groups of colleagues involved in the programme; such as user-testers or data input staff.
• Decide on the optimal order of deliverables.
• Monitor progress against plans and report slippage.
• Re-schedule in the event of new priorities.
• Liaise with the ERP Programme Director, technical staff and stakeholders to ensure resources are available to meet project deadlines.

Initiative and Problem Solving

• Analyse requirements and identify best solutions to business problems.
• Consider the relative efficiency of new processes and make recommendations.

Analysis and Research

• Gather business requirements and analyse with respect to programme and project objectives and constraints.
• Analyse complex information system to understand data structures and process flows.
• Analyse complex datasets to understand how University structures can be represented.

Work Environment

• Work on demanding key strategic projects.

Team Development

• Take a lead in building and maintaining team and stakeholder morale.
• Train or guide others on specific tasks, issues or activities, giving advice, guidance and feedback on the basis of their own knowledge or experience.
• Deliver formal training.

Teaching and Learning Support

• Provide the business and functional documentation on which training is based.
• Formulate end-user training delivery.
• Produce training documentation and online resources.
• Provide training to groups of stakeholders

Education, qualifications and experience
        
Skills, Knowledge and Aptitude

Essential:

• An understanding of project lifecycles.
• Ability to provide estimates of timescales of existing work, report on risks; and propose contingency and mitigation measures.
• Ability to summarise complex specialist issues or information for managers or stakeholders.
• Ability to produce, present and win business cases.
• Computer literate.
• An understanding of business process notation.
• Comfortable in using MS Office applications in particular, Word, Excel, Powerpoint.

 
Desirable:

• An understanding of data relationships, table structures and process flows.
• Comfortable in using MS Project.
• Comfortable in using and administering Office365 tools and video-conferencing systems.

Personal Attributes

Essential:

• Self-motivated.
• Able to work to a high standard under their own initiative.
• Team player - contributing to and assisting in the work of a multi-disciplined team.
• Capable of playing a leadership role.
• Adept at problem solving.
• Possessing a pleasant personality and disposition.

The post involves contact with a diverse range of personnel at all levels both within and out with the University and therefore the successful applicant will require to possess excellent communication skills - written, verbal and through visual media.
        
How To Apply

Applications can be submitted up to midnight (UK time) on Sunday 7th July 2019.   It is likely that interviews will be held w/c 15th July 2019.

At Heriot-Watt University we understand that being diverse makes us better which is why we support a culture of respect and equal opportunity, and value diversity at the heart of what we do. We want to increase the diversity of our workplace to underpin a dynamic and creative environment.

This role does not meet the minimum requirements set by UKVI to enable sponsorship of non-European nationals. Therefore we cannot progress applications from candidates who require sponsorship to work in the UK. For further information on this please visit the UK Visas and Immigration website: https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas

We welcome and will consider flexible working patterns e.g. part-time working and job share options.

Use our total rewards calculator: https://www.hw.ac.uk/about/work/total-rewards-calculator.htm to see the value of benefits provided by Heriot-Watt University.