Systems Analyst, Evaluation & Research – Finance & Administration Division

Location:         New York or Washington, D.C.

The Rainforest Alliance is an international nonprofit organization that works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. Based in New York City, with offices throughout the United States and worldwide, the Rainforest Alliance works with people whose livelihoods depend on the land, helping them transform the way they grow food, harvest wood and host travelers.

Established in 2007, the Rainforest Alliance’s Evaluation & Research (E&R) Program is responsible for monitoring results and examining the impacts of the Rainforest Alliance’s work over time. The E&R program is a specialized unit working through our forestry, agriculture, tourism and climate programs, employing three levels of analysis to achieve goals, including:

• Collecting standardized information from all Rainforest Alliance Certified™ farm and forestry operations, as well as from tourism operations participating in our Best Management Practices program;

• Monitoring the impacts of technical assistance and capacity building initiatives, following the Rainforest Alliance's E&R policies and procedures and donor requirements; and

• Participating in research initiatives composed of narrowly focused case studies and sector-wide studies, conducted through research partnerships with universities and other research institutes, with the goal of implementing collaborative and third party impact analysis.

Position Summary:

Provide overall leadership and project management to the planning, building and updating of IT platforms that fulfill the multiple data and customer service needs of the E&R program. S/he will supervise IT solutions for E&R by engaging key stakeholders and support organizations. This position will also provide ongoing support for implemented solutions. S/he will develop artifacts to move initiatives forward and proactively recommend and implement solutions. This position will report to the Director, Global IT and US Facilities and will work in close coordination with the Director, Evaluation and Research.

Responsibilities:

Systems Analysis & Solution Identification

• ·        Proactively communicate and collaborate with internal and external stakeholders to analyze information needs and functional requirements;
• ·        Develop and deliver process/data flows and reporting tools;
• ·        Simplify complete business problems through innovative process creation and re-engineering; and
• ·        Provide research, direction and assistance to the E&R program in the selection and implementation of new IT products and solutions.

Solutions Implementation, Customization and Integration

• ·        Lead evaluation and planning for new systems;
• ·        Provide project management and reporting services, and facilitate communication among end-users, IT staff and vendors;
• ·        Manage the development and delivery of user trainings;
• ·        Facilitate effective data integration among business systems;
• ·        Manage data integration process between program systems and organizational systems;
• ·        Develop guidelines, protocols and documentation as needed to advance solution adoption;
• ·        Coordinate data policy development and harmonization for the E&R program systems; and
• ·        Provide technical support to staff on reporting indicators across the organization.

Systems Management

• ·        Serve as point person and coordinator between outsourced vendors and  E&R program stakeholders;
• ·        Serve on steering committees that coordinate design and implementation of system solutions for all Rainforest Alliance Divisions;
• ·        Lead steering committees for E&R program IT platforms;
• ·        Support Rainforest Alliance Divisions with data analysis and transfer;
• ·        Provide guidance and support to staff serving in administrator roles for specific systems used by the organization; and
• ·        Other duties as assigned.

Qualifications:

• ·        Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Computer Engineering or related field;
• ·        7-10 years of professional and relevant work experience;
• ·        Project Management Professional certification a plus;
• ·        Working knowledge of software development life cycle;
• ·        Exceptional communication, motivation, presentation & training skills;
• ·        Demonstrated project management experience;
• ·        Proactive work attitude and ability to take initiative; the ideal candidate will be self-directed and highly motivated;
• ·        Experience with outsourced vendor management;
• ·        Experience with cloud based solutions;
• ·        Strong verbal and written communication skills;
• ·        Demonstrated high level of technical ability covering design and use of complex data management systems, GIS and mobile based Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools;
• ·        Demonstrated understanding of Salesforce data management platform preferred;
• ·        Strong planning, analytical, and project management skills, with ability to juggle multiple projects simultaneously while adhering to deadlines;
• ·        Collaborative and energetic work style, superior people skills and ability to motivate and delegate with a high level of enthusiasm for the issue and a sense of humour;
• ·        Spanish language proficiency, written and verbal is preferred; and
• Ability and willingness to travel approximately 25% internationally and domestically

Send resume, cover letter and salary history to Human Resources, Rainforest Alliance, 665 Broadway, Suite 500, New York, NY 10012. Fax: 212-677-2187. E-mail: Personnel@ra.org.