Section 8 Data/Business Analyst Specialist

New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) is the State’s affordable housing agency, with a mission to build, preserve, and protect affordable housing and increase homeownership throughout New York State. HCR consists of all the major housing and community renewal agencies of New York State, which were merged and integrated under a single management structure.

Under the leadership of Governor Kathy Hochul and Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas, HCR is a vibrant, innovative agency that integrates and leverages New York State’s housing resources. We have offices in New York City, Albany, Buffalo, and Syracuse, and employ a diverse workforce of professionals who are hard-working and committed to serving low- and moderate-income families. Our mission is far reaching, encompassing single and multifamily housing finance, home improvement, rent regulation, housing subsidies, and community development. We partner regularly with a variety of public and private stakeholders.

Achieving this mission requires a wide range of skills and backgrounds in public policy, administration, real estate, architecture, finance, law and many other areas of expertise. We seek to provide a workplace environment that is productive, flexible, accountable, ethical and caring. Our employees are empowered to make a difference where they live and work. We offer competitive pay and a comprehensive benefits package, including paid leave, health, dental, vision, retirement and family-friendly policies.

New York State Homes and Community Renewal currently offers the possibility of a hybrid workplace through our Telecommuting Pilot Program. Participation in this program requires an application process that must be approved. Participation is not guaranteed.

New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) is currently seeking an experienced business analyst to help implement and maintain a new software system for its Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (“HCV” or “voucher”) program. HCR provides federal Section 8 rental assistance to approximately 46,000 low-income families across New York through a network of 25 Local Administrators (LAs). HCR is currently implementing Emphasys Elite to manage federal Section 8 data. Elite is a vendor-hosted, web-based, Custom Off the Shelf Product. HCR executed a Software As A Service (SAAS) contract with Emphasys to provide a case management solution along with customer facing portals for Section 8 landlords, applicants and participants.

The selected candidate will be a detailed-oriented, self-motivated analyst who is capable of effective communication and analysis, and should be skilled in facilitating improvement in business processes. They should have sufficient technical expertise and experience to develop, recommend and implement data-driven, innovative solutions while managing multiple partners and stakeholders.

Knowledge of Section 8 and of Emphasys Elite is preferred but not required. Training will be provided. The selected candidate will be required to become certified as a Section 8 HCV specialist, and will complete self-guided training in Emphasys Elite. Ongoing training will be required. Some travel may be necessary.

Duties & Responsibilities:

• Drive awareness of requirements across business units and identify substandard systems processes through evaluation of real-time data.
• Serve as a thought leader for technical business processes, developing workflow prototypes that promote increased efficiency and productivity on multiple levels.
• Create and implement precise management plans for every assigned project, with attention to effective communication at all levels.
• Perform and/or ensure thorough quality assurance at every stage of systems development.
• Determine and develop or update user requirements for systems in production, to ensure maximum usability.
• Partner with stakeholders across business units (ex: Statewide, Finance, ITS or Local Administrators) to develop analyses and documentation in a collaborative way, communicating effectively and efficiently with stakeholders.
• Evaluate, analyze, and communicate systems requirements on a continuing basis, and maintain systems processes, including the delivery of monthly status reports to all appropriate parties.
• Author and update internal and external documentation, and formally initiate and deliver requirements and documentation.
• Create and promote the Organization’s internal knowledge base.
• Conduct daily systems analytics to maximize effectiveness and troubleshoot problems.
• Provide training in all aspects of software products and hardware.
• Conduct user testing and assist in system integration testing.
• Support the End-of-Month payment processing, that allows for LAs to transmit updated case information for the purpose of making payments to program stakeholders.
• Execute data pull requests that can be utilized to inform programmatic decisions. By generating reports and analyze data to assist management staff in policy making and decision making.
• Create new reports and coordinate with Emphasys staff to implement required change management.
• Support system integrations and processes that allow for payment transactions in conjunction with our partnering financial institution, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance (DTF), and the New York State Housing Trust Fund Corporation’s Office of Financial Administration.
• Identify changes needed in existing systems to comply with new federal and state directives.
• Develop meaningful and lasting relationships with partners for optimized systems integration and respond to questions and concerns from managers and executives with supporting research and recommendations.

Minimum Qualifications and Desired Skills:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or related field plus two years of experience in business analysis, project management, analytics and systems development - or - equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Five, or more, years of experience in analytics and systems development.
• Experience in SQL and database management.
• Proven analytical abilities.
• Proven ability to manage projects and user testing.
• Customer service oriented.
• Experience in generating process documentation and reports
• Experience in supporting Bank payment integrations (ex. ACH and check payments).
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with an ability to translate data into actionable insights.
• Strong working knowledge of relevant Microsoft Office applications including Visio and SharePoint.
• Extensive experience with data visualization.
• High proficiency in technical writing.
• Experience using Crystal Reports and Microsoft Power BI.

New York State is an Equal Opportunity Employer (EOE)