Systems Analyst

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Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is a district on the rise, serving over 325,000 students in 500+ schools and employing over 45,000 people, most of them teachers. CPS has set ambitious goals to ensure that every student, in every school and every neighborhood, has access to a world-class learning experience that prepares each for success in college, career, and civic life. Aligned with our transformed philosophy, we are steadfastly focused on ensuring that the District provides resources equitably to support every student, every school, and every community. Six core values guide the work we do every day for our students – student-centered, whole child, equity, academic excellence, community partnership, and continuous learning. Each role in the district supports our vision that every student deserves a rigorous, joyful, and equitable learning experience.

The Office of Nutrition Support Services (NSS) offers all CPS students breakfast, lunch, and afterschool meals at no charge. Meals are offered every school day, during Saturday-school programs, and during the summer. Meals comply with nutrition standards set forth in the USDA’s Child Nutrition Program meal patterns. The Office of Nutrition Support Services provides a healthy, high quality meal program that supports a joyful and equitable daily learning experience for all students.

Job Summary:

Reporting to the Senior Systems Analyst, the Systems Analyst supports the implementation, maintenance, and optimization of information systems and data solutions that meet the operational and analytical needs of the organization. This role serves as a key liaison between business stakeholders, vendors, and technical teams, ensuring systems and data are reliable, scalable, and aligned with organizational goals. The Systems Analyst is responsible for analyzing business and data requirements, developing functional specifications, supporting system configuration and testing, and producing dashboards, reports, and analytics to inform decision-making. This role also supports system health monitoring, issue resolution, data governance, and continuous improvement efforts across NSS systems and reporting environments. This is a full-time, exempt position that will be paid for time worked on a salary basis.

The Systems Analyst will be held accountable for the following responsibilities:

• Collect, clean, integrate, and analyze data from multiple sources (e.g., operational systems, assessments, and system logs) to support reporting, analytics, and decision-making.

• Perform exploratory data analysis (EDA) and apply statistical methods to identify trends, risks, and opportunities; translate findings into actionable insights.

• Design, build, and maintain dashboards, visualizations, and reports (e.g., Power BI or similar tools) to monitor KPIs and organizational performance.

• Partner with internal and external stakeholders to define system goals, data needs, and reporting requirements; document business processes and workflows.

• Conduct regular system and data reviews, generating reports on performance, efficiency, risks, and recommended improvements.

• Support the configuration, testing, implementation, and maintenance of business systems and applications, including upgrades and enhancements.

• Define and coordinate testing procedures, develop test cases, and support quality assurance to ensure systems and data meet business and user requirements.

• Monitor system health and data integrity; troubleshoot system and data issues and ensure timely resolution of support tickets and vendor deliverables.

• Collaborate with the Senior Systems Analyst, project leads, and vendors to implement best practices for data governance, scalability, performance, and maintainability.

• Other duties as assigned.

In order to be successful and achieve the above responsibilities, the Systems Analyst must possess the following qualifications:

Education Required:

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university required.

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information technology and systems, business and public administration, business analysis, technical writing, or a related field is preferred.

• Possession of one or more approved information technology certificates preferred

Experience Required:

• Minimum of five (5) years of experience supporting business systems, data analysis, or reporting in a complex, multi-stakeholder environment is required.

• Experience working with operational datasets (e.g., transactional, compliance, or program data) is required.

• Project management experience is preferred.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; capable of communicating, collaborating, presenting to, and building relationships with a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders

• Ability to convert IT technical language into Front Line First user-friendly learning

• Ability to use a range of technology and tools, including but not limited to PowerBI, Looker Studio, SAS, SQL, Python, Microsoft Office, and Google.

• Demonstrate high levels of instructional expertise, integrity, honesty, credibility, and the courage to make difficult yet necessary decisions

• Knowledge of data analysis concepts, including data cleaning, exploratory data analysis (EDA), statistical methods, and KPI development.

• Knowledge of business systems and application support, including system configuration, upgrades, testing, and maintenance.

• Knowledge of data visualization and reporting principles, including dashboard design and effective communication of insights to non-technical audiences.

• Effective strategic planning capabilities, including the ability to establish long-term vision and goals, and align/manage activities toward goal fulfillment

• Knowledge of operations, budget/finance, management and organizational development

• Ability to define problems, analyze data, and outline valid conclusions and action steps

• Excellent time management skills with the ability to complete assigned tasks on schedule

Benefits:

Health & Wellness: Your Care, Your Choice

CPS is committed to providing comprehensive health coverage to our employees and their eligible dependents. You'll have access to a variety of choices to best fit your needs:

Medical Plan Options

Pharmacy

Dental

Vision

Behavioral Health & EAP

Employee Wellness Program

Financial Security: Planning for Today and Tomorrow

We understand the importance of financial stability, which is why CPS offers strong retirement and savings options:

Basic Life Insurance

Life and Disability Insurance

Pension Plans

Supplemental Retirement Plans (403(b) and 457(b))

Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs)

Spot Pet Insurance

Work-Life Balance: Supporting Your Personal and Professional Life

CPS values the well-being of its employees and offers competitive paid time off policies:

Paid Leave

Sick Leave

Vacation Days

Parental Leaves

Short-Term Disability

Religious Holidays

Leaves

Conditions of Employment

As a condition of employment with the Chicago Public Schools (CPS), employees are required to:

• Establish/Maintain Chicago Residency - Employees are required to live within the geographic boundaries of the City of Chicago within six months of their CPS hire date and maintain residency throughout their employment with the district. The Chicago residency requirement does not apply to temporary/part-time positions; however, all CPS employees must be residents of Illinois.