Business Analyst (Commercial Trading, Contracts, Risk Management) at Plains

Job Type:

Plains All American is an industry-leading transportation and midstream provider specializing in transportation, storage, processing and marketing solutions for crude oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs). We own an extensive network of pipeline transportation, terminalling, storage and gathering assets in key crude oil and NGL producing basins and transportation corridors and at major market hubs in the United States and Canada. On average, Plains handles more than 6 million barrels per day of crude oil and NGL in its Transportation segment. The company is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

We are looking for highly-motivated individuals who enjoy working as part of a team in a dynamic and entrepreneurial work environment.

The purpose of this role is to support the delivery of projects, application changes, and services in the Commercial business areas including Commercial Marketing, Crude Scheduling, Crude Oil Accounting, Revenue Accounting, Division Order and Treasury.

The Business Analyst will act as a business area expert for the Commercial technology group and will span many aspects of the software development life cycle including process modeling, requirements gathering, design, testing, deployment, and support. The successful candidate will have exceptional business analytical skills, a track record of effective communication, a passion for understanding technology, and proven hands-on experience in solution delivery and support. A demonstrated knowledge of midstream Commercial and Pipeline Accounting business and Energy, Trade & Risk Management (ETRM) systems is preferred.

They are responsible for working directly with the business to gather requirements, present opportunities, and test support against delivered solutions. The role provides information regarding business value to delivery teams to prioritize and test their delivery of capabilities to maximize customer value, minimize business impact, align to the product roadmap, and adhere to the IT Governance Model.

The role spans various activities that are strategic and tactical in nature – most notably between all levels of business stakeholders, IS, and the respective delivery teams.  #plains

Job Responsibilities:
1.    Business Management

• Translate business requests and capabilities into product user stories, features, and epics.
• Establish and maintain relationships with key business and technology stakeholders.
• Facilitate and drive alignment among key stakeholders.
• Feed requirements and improvements to enable adaptive governance to make frequent and dynamic prioritization decisions.
• Demonstrate ownership of the IS brand and positively represent and advocate for that brand even during challenging phases.

2.    Delivery Management

• Create, refine, and prioritize user stories, features, epics, and acceptance criteria.
• Facilitate Requirement Gathering Sessions. 
• Collaborate with business stakeholders to gather business and functional requirements.
• Partner with Technical Advisor(s) and Architect(s) to develop technical requirements.
• Partner with Subject Matter Experts to document as-is processes and to-be processes.
• Craft documentation to support development, agile ceremonies, and business processes. 
• Liaison between business users and the development team.
• Identify risks and work with team leadership to mitigate them.
• Report technical and business issues to the solution delivery team.
• Document test cases based on user story acceptance criteria. 
• Support User Acceptance Testing by developing test plans, test cases, and test data. 
• Participate in sustainment activities and major initiatives.
• Manage enhancement requests related to the portfolio, adhering to the Plains Change Management Process. 
• Develop a Support Plan and facilitate the transition to support by assisting in the development of training and support materials for business users.

Skills and Experience:

• This role emphasizes flexible, independent, and creative thinking and leadership through collaborating and partnering with Commercial business areas and Solution Delivery teams.
• Business acumen and enterprise knowledge
• Building relationships
• Influencing, collaborating with, and leading others
• Strong understanding of the Software Development Life Cycle
• Strong business acumen and analysis skills with hands-on knowledge of:
• Process mapping using appropriate tools such as Visio, Axure prototyping
• Requirements management using tools such as Azure DevOps
• Testing using tools such as Azure DevOps
• Outcome-driven
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with the ability to interact comfortably with the leadership chain
• Technical knowledge and proficiency
• Excellent problem-solving ability

Requirements:

• 10+ years of relevant experience in business analysis and/or operational technology.
• Strong skills in Technical Writing in MS Word, Analysis in MS Excel, presentations in MS PowerPoint and developing visuals in MS Visio.
• Extensive software applications experience related to an organization’s core business areas.
• Thorough understanding of business requirements gathering and agile techniques and methods.
• Comprehensive understanding of the Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) and Project Management Lifecycle (PMLC).
• Bachelor’s degree in MIS, Business Administration, Computer Science, or relevant practical experience preferred.
• Previous knowledge of ETRM systems and business process
• Cleared criminal history (background) check and satisfactory reference checks
• Compliance with the company’s Drug & Alcohol Policy including pre-employment testing

Preferences:

• CBAP certification is recommended, but not required.
• Agile Certifications such as Scrum or Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) are recommended, but not required.
• IBM z/OS Mainframe platform experience a definite plus.
   

At Plains, our employees are our most valuable asset. Hard work is rewarded with competitive compensation and a top-tier benefits program designed to keep our employees safe, healthy and happy. We work hard to deliver the best results to our stakeholders and we also respect our employees need for personal and family time, which is reflected in our benefits program.

Salary details estimated by job boards such as Indeed, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn do not represent Plains’ compensation structure. We thank all candidates for their interest; however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. 

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