The Office of the Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder and Chief Elections Officer is seeking highly qualified candidates for the position of Departmental Systems Analyst.
In general, the Departmental Systems Analyst:
- Provides complex analytical support to the maintenance and/or modification of existing systems and development of new systems
- Serves as liaison between business users and information technology staff, vendors and service providers
- Provides technical and analytical support and training to system users
- Performs system administration functions to ensure security and effective operation
- Develops and maintains a variety of automated files, records and databases
- Prepares and distributes new procedures, training materials and a variety of ad hoc reports
- Performs other related duties as required and/or assigned
Incumbents in the position of Departmental Systems Analyst (DSA) will have: a general knowledge of both departmental and program operations and information system capabilities, which will enable effective interactions between technical and non-technical staff; the ability to explain and document the needs and requirements of each to the other; and the ability to participate in the development of systems that effectively support department and program operations.
At this time, and for the next three years, the Office of the Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder and Chief Elections Officer (ACRE) will be involved in a major technology initiative aimed at creating a new Assessor Property Assessment System (APAS). The new APAS system is a multi-million-dollar, multi-year project that will be developed utilizing Salesforce Platform as a Service (PaaS).
The DSA will be responsible for drawing out the objectives and scope of business system solutions through a systematic analysis of the business needs, business processes, and formulation of business requirements. The DSA will liaise between the business community and the Information Technology (IT) division of ACRE, and will work with IT engineers, technicians, vendor resources, and other analysts in architecting, designing, developing, and testing automated solutions that meet the business needs of the organization. The DSA will also assist in planning, monitoring, and implementing development and maintenance efforts to ensure alignment with project, department, and overall organizational goals.
The DSA will be critical to the ACRE team's ability to validate and update the Assessor Division's requirements documentation. The position will also play a critical role in working with the ACRE team and the Systems Integrator to develop user acceptance test scenarios and test cases. Additionally, the DSA will become a critical ACRE IT resource for the APAS project.
The ideal candidate for this position will:
- Have a solid understanding of system development methodologies and techniques and an excellent grasp of database concepts and principles, i.e., transactional, analytical, reporting, etc.
- Be an excellent analytical thinker and possess good problem-solving and communication skills
- Have project management, leadership, initiative, and technical skills including some software development experience
- Be required to work non-standard hours at times and partner with all technology disciplines
- Have a bachelor's or master's degree in information systems, public administration, business administration, or a closely related field
- Have experience in agile development methodology
- Have experience in California Property Assessment systems (optional)
- Have experience in Salesforce Platform as a Service (PaaS) (optional)
Essential duties and responsibilities may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Helps evaluate the impact of corporate initiatives, goals, and vision upon existing application modules and recommends ways to improve or best utilize corporate information to support actualization of corporate objectives based from understanding of current business process
- Acts as the liaison and domain-knowledge expert between the end users and IT engineers, analysts, and technicians related to various applications/systems, technologies, business workflows, data flows, and IT processes
- Leads and conducts business elicitation gathering using appropriate techniques
- Analyzes business, systems, and data requirements; presents and reviews findings to the required project team members; and secures appropriate sign-offs
- Performs as-is and to-be analysis on business process workflows or systems data flows and recommends quality improvement opportunities while in the project planning and requirements gathering phases
- Conducts analysis of business workflows or business processes, data models, and business models; enforces requirements traceability and makes recommendations for greater efficiency, as appropriate; and produces appropriate requirements artifacts such as Business Requirements Document (BRD), use cases, diagrams, logical design, and screen mock-up
- Conducts business architecture analysis and develops business processes and data flows aligned to enterprise architecture vision
- Ensures continuous user involvement in the analysis, development, and implementation process of new applications, enhancements, and fixes through organization and facilitation of cross-functional meetings
- Leads or assists in the development of UAT scripts and UAT testing as documentation of program development; performs functional testing on developed OR packaged software to ensure it meets design specifications prior to end user testing; and secures appropriate sign-offs
- Supports and reports on post-production implementations; monitors performance of new systems; and documents findings and recommendations for improvement, as needed
- Works with other DBAs or developers to provide business analysis/impact on troubleshooting of data-related project or production issues; and tests and ensures approved solution is deployed in accordance with existing release management process
- Coordinates production support items with Help Desk Support team
- Creates and maintains documentation on the system/applications used by the department
- Provides input in development of conversion and software implementation project plans on assigned projects; works with developers to coordinate completion of systems change control requests and schedules for movement of application across regions (Development to Acceptance to Production); obtains approvals of project documentation and implementation plan (or coordinates with project manager, as assigned); and files project documentation
- Conducts training and provides design/technical guidance and direction to new IT junior personnel and other business users, as required; and provides timely technical advice to IT Managers relative to methodology or technology innovation
- When applicable, manages and responds to user requests for administration and features specific items related to the supported application
- Assists the various departments in developing and updating procedures affected by new projects and/or changes
- Enforces and adheres to organizational processes and standards
- Creates and delivers materials necessary to train other IT staff, help desk resources, and application users that will use and support the application
Please Note: This position is currently a limited-term position, which includes medical, dental, vision, vacation, and holiday benefits and a portable 401A plan. For more information regarding the benefits offered with term positions please go to http://hr.smcgov.org/employee-benefits.
It is possible this position could become a permanent position, though there is no guarantee. If a permanent position becomes available, the eligible list established through this recruitment could be used to fill the permanent position.
Qualifications
Knowledge of:
- Principles, practices, policies, procedures, regulations, and applicable state and federal laws pertinent to assigned operational and/or program area
- Principles and practices used in the analysis and development of procedures and information systems associated with assigned operational and/or program area
- Agile/Scrum process and methodology
- Principles and practices of programmatic analysis and report preparation
- Information systems and data processing concepts
- Principles of data architecture and database design
- Manual and automated Testing/QA principles and testing methodology
- Modern office practices
- Job planning and prioritizing techniques
Skill/Ability to:
- Provide technical and analytical support to users of department systems and applications
- Communicate with department personnel to identify and translate information needs into system requirements
- Communicate departmental information system needs to vendor providers for the design, development, and/or enhancement of system applications
- Prepare test cases/scripts for various testing activities
- Evaluate the effectiveness of newly developed systems and/or applications
- Develop and present comprehensive training materials
- Analyze administrative and management problems, evaluate alternatives, reach sound conclusions, and effectively implement changes
- Prepare clear, concise, and accurate documentation, instructions, correspondence, and other written materials
- Organize work, set priorities, and meet critical deadlines
- Maintain accurate records and files
- Communicate effectively, orally and in writing, with both technical and non-technical personnel
- Establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted during the work
Education and Experience: Any combination of education and experience that would likely provide the required knowledge, skills and abilities is qualifying. A typical way to qualify is:
- Education: Equivalent to graduation from a four-year college with major coursework in public administration, business administration, information systems, or a closely related field
- Experience: The ideal candidate will have three to five years of responsible experience in a position that would provide knowledge of department-specific programs, processes and/or operations, including at least three years of experience in the planning, implementation, oversight and/or utilization of automated information systems and applications used to support departmental activities
Physical Requirements:
- Sits for extended periods of time on a consistent and daily basis; stands, walks, and reaches by extending hands and arms in any direction on an occasional to frequent basis
- Uses finger dexterity to pick, pinch and type on a consistent and daily basis; and occasionally grasps objects with fingers and palms
- Communicates verbally by listening and talking on a consistent and daily basis
Note: Individuals who do not meet these physical requirements due to disability will be reviewed on a case by case basis.
Application/Examination
Anyone may apply. Current San Mateo County employees with at least six months (1040 hours) of continuous service in a classified regular, probationary, SEIU or AFSCME represented extra-help, or temporary position prior to the final filing date will receive five points added to their final passing score on this examination.
Both the County employment application form and the attached supplemental questionnaire must be completed and submitted for you to be considered for this position.
The examination process will consist of an application screening (weight: pass/fail) based on the candidates' application and responses to the supplemental questions. Candidates who pass the application screening will be invited to a panel interview (weight: 100%).
Application Screening
The application screening will include a careful review of each candidate's employment application. The responses to the supplemental questions will be heavily considered in the screening process. Please provide detailed information, answer the questions completely using proper grammar and English language usage, and communicate clearly and concisely. Those applicants who receive a passing score on the rating of the application materials will be invited to the panel interview.
Panel Interview
The panel interview is a standard component of most Civil Service selection processes. Each candidate will be interviewed individually by a panel of three (or more) subject matter experts. All candidates will be asked the same questions, in the same order, for approximately the same amount of time. Responses to each question will be scored based on pre-determined scoring criteria. Each candidate will receive an overall interview score which will determine that candidate's ranking or placement on the eligible list.
Depending on the number of applicants, an application appraisal of education and experience may be used in place of other examinations, or further evaluation of work experience may be conducted to group applicants by level of qualification. All applicants who meet the minimum qualifications are not guaranteed advancement through any subsequent phase of the examination. All examinations will be given in San Mateo County, California, and applicants must participate at their own expense.
IMPORTANT: Applications for this position will only be accepted online. If you are currently on the County's website, you may click the 'Apply' button. If you are not on the County's website, please go to http://jobs.smcgov.org to apply.
~ Recruitment Schedule ~
Final Filing Date: February 28, 2019
Application Screening (tentative): March 5, 2019
Panel Interview (tentative): March 18 and/or 19, 2019
San Mateo County is an Equal Opportunity Employer
Analyst: Chet Overstreet (021419) (Departmental Systems Analyst - V233)