Assistant Vice President - Business Liaison - Business Technology Group
Chicago, IL
Business Technology Group – Business Technology Group /
Full-Time /
On-site
Harrison Street is a leading investment management firm exclusively focused on alternative real assets. Headquartered in Chicago and London with offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia, the Firm has more than 280-employees and nearly $56 billion in assets under management. Clients of the Firm include a global institutional investor base domiciled in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Latin America.
The successful Business Liaison candidate will serve as proxy between Line of Business (LOB) stakeholders and the BTG by providing a single source of technology, business domain and process knowledge; working with the Program Management team to facilitate the prioritization of business and technology requirements based on time, budget, and scope; and managing vendor relationships and related business expectations.
The Business Liaison candidate will develop and enhance key business relationships to foster partnership with key department heads and their delegates. As part of this partnership, the candidate will align technology-based requirements and schedules with these key business leaders and their delegates.
The Business Liaison will have the overall responsibility to serve as the strategic interface with assigned business units or functional areas for the purpose of business technology strategy development, solution discovery, service management, risk management and relationship management. The Business Liaison serves as the business relationship link between business units and the BTG. The Business Liaison provides highly valued strategic consulting level support and guidance through key Technology initiatives. They communicate decisions, priorities and relevant project information to appropriate levels of staff regarding LOB requests and projects and initiatives. They proactively share knowledge of technology risks and opportunities to build competitive advantage and improve efficiency and effectiveness of business units. They partner with LOB and BTG leadership to manage expectations, define opportunities, and articulate next steps based on pre-defined processes and workflows.
The Business Liaison proactively serves as a “trusted advisor,” and is the primary BTG point of contact to business line executives and managers. They operate as the key business contact representing the Business Technology Group in promoting technology services and capabilities. The Business Liaison provides support in delivering technology products that meet the needs of the business. They focus on strategic initiatives and planning activities for their business area(s). Proactive and anticipatory in their thinking, they drive and provide significant value to LOBs they partner with. The Business Liaison facilitates the investment intake process and the high level planning and execution of business initiatives through the use of technology. They serve a lead role in enabling the business to achieve their objectives through the effective use of technology.
Responsibilities
- 40% Technology Strategy, Planning, and Partnership
- Acts as the key liaison across assigned Lines of Business and their key platforms, the Business Technology Group, and outside vendors.
- Develops and enhances key business and vendor relationships to establish partnerships, build and leverage influence, and shape and drive LOB expectations.
- Possesses a broad knowledge of most technical and business resources and uses them to effectively coordinate team members and external resources.
- Builds trust among stakeholders, team members, and partners through relationship building and transparent communication.
- Acts as technology business partner to determine requirements and schedule with key business leaders, their delegates, and external vendors as needed.
- Plans, budgets, oversees, and documents all aspects of the program(s) they are managing.
- Acts as voice of their Line(s) of Business in development, implementation, and refinement of a technology-focused solution roadmap that meets Harrison Street firmwide and Line(s) of Business needs; supports roadmap prioritization and provides insight on how to potentially approach competing needs.
- Advises their Line(s) of Business on technology considerations throughout intake, development, implementation, and roll-out of technology solutions.
- Collaborates with their supervisor, the broader BTG, and LOB management to develop annual budgets for Line of Business partner areas.
- Develops solution concepts and business cases for new investments.
- Performs business analysis and prepares recommendations and business plans as needed; represents both the Business and BTG in technology and data planning conversations.
- Provides subject matter expertise on business user needs, requirements, and preferences (individually or through looping in other contacts).
- Creates and analyzes relevant data and data visualizations; develops recommendations to present to senior management on LOB technology investment areas.
- Consults with business-level subject matter experts to translate business needs to technology requirements.
- Ensures the collection of projects within their program(s) are benefiting each other and aligning to the overall firm and line of business goals, while providing guidance and leadership to project team members.
- Acts as escalation point for LOB(s) and BTG on technology-related risks, issues, and decisions.
- Documents, summarizes, and presents portfolio financial updates surrounding investment in BTG areas related to LOB(s).
- Creates a shared vision and roadmap of business technology solutions and facilitates decision making and prioritization of ideas and solutions.
- Identifies, screens, and evaluates new solution opportunities to address unmet LOB needs.
- Partners with their supervisor, the broader BTG, and LOB key staff members to create strategic business plans.
- Possesses strong analytical skills, including an understanding of business economics and financial resources.
- Possesses strong technical skills, including the creation and facilitation of business to technology requirements, test scripts for user acceptance testing, go-live planning and communications, etc.
- Utilizes the appropriate technologies and ensures that LOB stakeholders have the solutions they need, when they need them, and in the media best suited to their requirements.
- Collaborates with BTG peers to ensure solution compatibility meets company standards and is cohesive with overall strategy of the firm’s direction.
- Collaborates with the BTG and other business teams on the intake process and prioritization of candidate projects across the company.
- Creates consensus with teams across BTG and the firm on the timing of solution introduction, change, and removal.
- 45% Technology Operations, Project Management, and Vendor Management
- Manages Application Level access and overall governance and oversight model to designated LOB applications.
- Provides status for application and technology upgrades & maintenance to key stakeholders within and outside LOB(s).
- Manages key technology vendors, including contracting, onboarding, & partnerships.
- Oversees the work performed by Service Providers relevant to LOB(s).
- Creates, manages, and leads complex programs with multiple departmental stakeholders, vendors, and LOBs with high risk with support of the Program and Project Management team, as appropriate.
- In partnership with current BTG team members, supports migration of technology support of new applications to Service Desk and Providers as applications and services are implemented.
- Proactively resolves problems and highlights key risk areas within and between project teams.
- Conducts advanced ongoing analysis to identify trends, variances, and issues
- Effectively leads and facilitates meetings (including strategic planning and road mapping).
- Communicates program status to key business stakeholders and executive level Management.
- Oversees the launch of solutions; helps to maximize their positive impact on the organization.
- Monitors BTG Delivery Team progress against roadmap using key metrics established in partnership with the LOB and BTG.
- Communicates Delivery Team progress and LOB roadmap updates to Line(s) of Business.
- Approve, in partnership with LOB Business Sponsor, application go-lives for relevant applications and services.
- Proactively seeks to prevent problems or issues from arising by analyzing metrics and feedback then implementing the necessary changes.
- Drives solutions and successfully engages in difficult conversations with all stakeholders.
- Develops and manages project plan, timeline, and budget for assigned projects.
- Creates structured programs to deliver on key LOB objectives and desired outcomes.
- Produces executive level documentation, reports, analysis, technical writings, and communication.
- o Communicate details around complex topics.
- o Set and manage realistic and appropriate expectations.
- Documents specific duties, activities, problems solved, and issues resolved.
- Frequently updates FAQ’s and SOP’s.
- Continuously improves and documents processes and procedures to follow best practices and minimize resource waste.
- 5% Cybersecurity Program Management
- Mitigates technology-based risks in partnership with Managing Director of BTG, CISO, and other BTG Team Members
- Embeds with CISO to provide adequate oversight of CISO’s security platform
- 5% Technology R&D & Proof of Concept
- Research multiple new or existing technologies to satisfy business requirements.
- Manage initiatives to document and test these technologies.
- Create presentations for senior leadership that document research conducted, outline top options, and provide an opinion on which solution should be implemented.
- 5% Miscellaneous
- Attend meetings and serve on committees, as requested.
- Maintain and increase knowledge and skills through attendance at meetings, conferences, training seminars and in-service training sessions.
- Ad hoc projects as assigned.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's Degree in a technical discipline such as Computer Science, Information Services, or related field.
- 5+ years of experience in a mid-market technology environment supporting a variety of systems and overseeing with a portfolio of third-party vendors.
- Knowledge of hardware and software installation, testing, and operation; knowledge of application of computer software for automating highly diverse agency/organization activities.
- Experience with Zendesk or comparable service desk IT Help Desk platform
- Knowledge of database fundamentals.
- Knowledge of platform and system integrations.
- Experience with Program and Project Management.
- Familiar with Enterprise Architecture design.
Required Skills
- Must be able to maintain professional and effective working relations with supervisors, co-workers.
- Must be able to work flexible hours, including weekends and evenings.
- Must be able to manage support issues remotely during off hours.
- Must be able to learn new skills and technologies.
Harrison Street is proud to be an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace and is an affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to veteran status, uniform service member status, race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, genetic information or any other protected class under federal, state, or local law.
If you require accessibility assistance applying for open positions, please contact our ADA Accessible Line at (312) 920-0500 or careers@harrisonst.com. All information you provide will be kept confidential and will be used only to the extent required to provide needed reasonable accommodations.
Harrison Street does not accept unsolicited headhunter and agency resumes. Harrison Street will not pay fees to any third-party agency or company that does not have a signed agreement with Harrison Street.
