Lead IT Systems Analyst
Lumen

The Role

The Vendor Management Office (VMO) is within the Strategic Planning & Transformation (SP&T) organization and collaborates with internal business partners to manage Lumen activities with software and services suppliers.  In an ever-changing industry, we help our stakeholders navigate business relationships and contracts, maximize the value of our agreements, ensure that current and future business needs are met, mitigate business risks, and align with financial objectives. 

The VMO is currently hiring a Lead IT Systems Analyst (“Software Analyst” or “SWA”) who will manage a $50-million dollar portfolio of annual software maintenance and subscription renewals, drive software purchases and renewal transactions (up to $100-million-dollar each), assess business-impacting decisions (i.e., software, financial, operational, service levels) for each transaction, develop VMO best practices, and lead cross-functional teams.  Work assignments will include many vendor products, including major IT industry vendors (e.g., IBM, Oracle, Red Hat, Salesforce, SAP).

The Main Responsibilities

Software Analyst (SWA): 

Partner with assigned SP&T technical teams and Procurement to develop the negotiation strategy for software purchases, renewals, and expiration/cancelations; assess vendor proposals and contract terms to achieve VMO business objectives (i.e., software management, cost management, IT and business operations, service levels).  Plans should align with current/future business needs, achieve optimal terms / best practices for Lumen, and anticipate/adapt to vendor actions. Manage the renewal process for a ~$50-million-dollar portfolio of ~50 annual software maintenance and subscription agreements, by partnering with technical teams and Procurement to align decisions (i.e., renew, change, cancel) with objectives.    Act as internal VMO project manager for vendor transactions, ensuring effective decision-making while meeting stakeholder timelines.  Perform financial analyses of assigned transactions (e.g., comparison of options and deal structures, budget impacts, accounting).  Provide recommendations to continue/cancel renewals of software maintenance and subscriptions, considering cost, value, and risks.  Assess and refine internal processes and metrics to measure and document VMO team performance and results. Educate internal clients and new team members about the VMO processes for purchasing software and renewing software maintenance.  Support internal clients to resolve vendor issues that arise.  Work assignments include a high volume of concurrent transactions and suppliers.

Financial Operations: 

Support financial processing (e.g., budget verification, purchase requisition, goods receipt, invoice management) for an assigned set of software-related transactions. 

Leadership: 

Serve as an internal consultant and garner stakeholder support for assigned internal teams:  understand business and technical drivers, provide expertise and guidance, explain risks, represent VMO as a single point of contact.  Build relations and communicate with internal clients (from subject matter experts to executives).  Represent VMO in the development or execution of strategic IT initiatives.  Lead group projects and decisions to resolve issues efficiently.  Collaborate with VMO, Procurement, and technical teams.  Navigate corporate organizations, processes, and tools, while facing high-visibility and challenging deadlines.  Develop and improve best practices for achieving Vendor Management objectives; influence others to adopt best practices; automate, where appropriate; approach work with a continuous improvement mindset.

What We Look For in a Candidate

Qualification:

• Strong analytical skills:  contract analysis, data analysis, financial analysis (budget and forecasts, accounting concepts, evaluation of alternatives), process analysis.  Understand necessary information; discern relevant facts for decisions. Maintain focus on details, while keeping the big picture in mind. Communicate complex concepts and actionable recommendations to leadership.
• Ability to determine the root cause of operational and financial challenges and offer options for risk-based mitigation.
• Ability to lead and work in a team, be self-directed (requires minimal supervision to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously), creative problem solver, quality-focused; applies independent judgment to accomplish objectives.
• Establish repeatable processes and apply best practices consistently
• Preferred experience:  Complex software contracts and licensing for a variety of suppliers, both major industry vendors (e.g., IBM, Oracle, Red Hat, Salesforce, SAP) and others less well known. Representing and addressing IT’s considerations and interests (from development to infrastructure operations), while conducting vendor-related activities. Financial transactions and purchasing tools. 
• Demonstrated strong and positive interpersonal talents; able to interact with and influence people from all disciplines; able to balance persuasiveness and assertiveness to build relations while meeting objectives.
• Approaches situations with curiosity; assumes positive intent; expresses appreciation; manages mood elevators; seeks and provides feedback.
• Self-awareness of skills and organizational impacts.
• Organized and structured approach.
• Strong ability to use Microsoft Office (e.g., Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Microsoft Teams, and Microsoft SharePoint.
• Preferred: 6 – 8 years of related experience.

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree with an emphasis in business (e.g., finance, operations, statistics, economics), MIS, Information Technology, Computer Science.
• Master’s degree is a plus.

What to Expect Next