Performance Analyst

WHAT IT IS

Key Role Dimensions

Retrieving data from a companywide ‘data warehouse’ or departmental databases: May include sales reports, product profitability data or customer profiles, depending on the specific area of focus.

Using analytical tools to extract data and generate reports/alerts: Make sense of quantitative data to enable managers to easily find the information they need to make decisions.

Contributing to risk management, customer service and/or operational efficiency: Analytic results are used to inform optimization of both internal operations and customer-facing services.

Focus Areas

There are typically three areas of focus for Performance Analysts:

• Manage & Reduce Risk: Integrate finance and risk data for improved visibility and optimization; apply a timely, repeatable, accurate and consistent understanding of risk across the organization; help predict and gauge operational risks and market risk.
  
  
• Improve Operational Efficiency: Provide insight into which operations in the business can become leaner and more efficient, and help manage profitability planning, analysis and reporting by product and customer segment.
  
  
• Increase Customer Services, Satisfaction & Profitability: Provide insights to understand customers and determine whether products are meeting their needs; help provide a single view of the customer for service, sales, marketing or risk purposes and facilitate more effective cross-selling of products to existing customers.

WHAT IT TAKES TO SUCCEED

Key Job Accountabilities

Performance Analysts generally:

Set-up business analytics:

• Contribute to the development of corporate data warehouses and data marts, including architecture and data source definitions.
• Create standardized tools or queries to obtain relevant data from the organization’s data repositories.

Match solutions to business needs:

• Work with various parts of the business to define, design and develop analytic solutions to meet business needs.
• Combine data from multiple data sources to respond to high-level business questions (e.g. ‘How do we cross-sell more products to existing customers?’).

Maintain and improve analytics:

• Work with end users in troubleshooting issues with reports and dashboards.
• Act as the data subject expert for a specific area of focus to deliver consistent information and insights.

Knowledge, Skills & Experience

Must-haves:

• Database architecture and design skills
• Detailed knowledge of data mining, warehousing, processing and reporting (e.g. SAS and Teradata)
• Data Interpretation, Sense-making & Communication: Methodical and logical thinker with the ability to communicate complex technical issues and ideas in simple, non-technical terms
• Adaptability & Mental Flexibility: Ability to balance between data needs and requirements for action
• Facilitation, Negotiation & Problem Resolution: Good interpersonal relationship skills to interact with business decision makers

Nice-to-haves:

• Previous experience in data analysis, market research or data warehouse administration in the financial services industry
• Knowledge of specific financial services operations and processes where data is generated (e.g. portfolio performance drivers, consumer behaviour, psychology of debt, call centre management, collections and recovery systems, customer contact channels, etc.)

Education & Credentials

Intermediate/senior-level positions typically require:

• Undergraduate university degree
• Graduate degree

In the fields of:

• Management Accounting
• Computer Science
• Software Design
• Management Information Systems
• Business Administration
• Commerce
• Engineering
• Mathematics
• Actuarial Science
• Economics
• Statistics
• Operations Research
• Logistics

Employers in different segments may require candidates to possess one or more of these designations:

• Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP) 
• Certified Business Intelligence Professional (CBIP) 
• Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA) 

Professional Associations may include:

• International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA)
• The Data Warehousing Institute (TDWI)