Business Analyst

Business Analyst

The Business Analyst (BA) position serves as a liaison between the Residential Services Assignments team and Housing Residence Life Finance team ensuring the accurate flow of residential student occupancy and billing data reflects on Mason finance systems. The Business Analyst utilizes the occupancy management platform to support data integrity, billing accuracy, and occupancy management processes. This position provides various monthly reconciliations for auditor reviews and develops revenue recognition solutions as needed.

The Business Analyst also serves as the initial Housing Residence Life point of contact for audit coordination and compliance reporting at Mason and other state audit processes, and works collaboratively with departmental, divisional, and university finance personnel to ensure Housing Residence Life's revenues are accurate and aligned with university financial regulations. This position reports to the Director of Housing Residence Life Finance and Business Services and serves as a liaison to the Director of Residential Services in matters related to finance.

Responsibilities:

• Ensures accurate timing and processing of data transmissions related to room rental billing to ensure consistency in data reporting;
• Supports data accuracy efforts within the occupancy management platform by generating reports and reviewing data integrity;
• Collaborates and communicates with HRL IT and Residential Services staff to provide support for the housing management system from a financial perspective; troubleshoots technical issues and identifies needs within the system following established guidelines, creates manuals as needed, and implements long term plans for system improvements as appropriate;
• Advises the Chief Housing Officer (CHO), Director of Residential Services, and Director of HRL Finance and Business Services on the impact of business processes and makes recommendations for adjustments as needed according to payment and contractual processes in the HRL room rental application; includes consideration of historical contractual and occupancy changes and review of proposed changes to identify and address potential processing issues or financial concerns;
• Reviews, analyzes, and identifies areas for improvement for HRL's occupancy and financial reporting systems, documents current practices, and supports automation initiatives to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and data consistency;
• Conducts ad hoc analysis to investigate ongoing or singular operational issues and adjusts HRL processes in accordance with evolving institutional practices as needed;
• Creates informative, actionable and repeatable financial occupancy reporting to illustrate occupancy impact on the HRL budget and highlight relevant business trends and opportunities for improvement;
• Stays informed on changes to the housing management system through proactive professional development and attendance of related conference and training opportunities; and
• In collaboration with the Assistant Director of Assignments & Applications Specialist, the Summer Operations Business Manager, and IT unit, develops and maintains financial system workflows, reporting tools, and dashboards to support the contracting, invoicing, payment, and posting/reconciling of Summer revenues from external clients to the university's central financial management system; provides support and guidance for system transitions to Summer Operations colleagues.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in related field or equivalent combination of education and experience;
• Demonstrated experience with Microsoft Office products and proficiency in Excel;
• Demonstrated experience applying financial concepts in a professional setting, including budgeting principles, revenue tracking, and account reconciliation processes;
• Experience developing, documenting, and presenting financial or operational data;
• Experience creating reports for leadership use to support revenue forecasting and drive data-informed decision making;
• Experience in leading teams or managing projects in a professional setting, including coordination, oversight, and responsibility for achieving defined…