IT Business Systems Manager

Equity Residential (EQR) is an S&P 500 real estate company and an industry leading multi-family REIT, headquartered in downtown Chicago. Our portfolio of high-quality properties in growth markets – New York City, Boston, Washington DC, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles, to name a few –  provides homes where people most want to live, work and play. We've got the best people in the business, and our experience shows in our dedication to our residents and in how much we value each other as colleagues. That’s why our employees say they are proud to work at Equity, a company that gives our residents a place where they can Live Remarkably, and offers a culture where our employees have the opportunity to make their mark.

As a Business Systems Manager on the Information Technology team, you will be responsible for aligning technology to business strategy. Your role will lead and manage a variety of technology projects as well as a team of business systems analysts, working closely with business partners to implement process improvements, by using automation and transformation to deliver new innovative solutions using technology. Your role works collaboratively with all levels of internal business partners and serves as a liaison between functional teams, technical teams, and key business stakeholders.

Each day will be unique, requiring an ability to prioritize, multitask, think strategically, take initiative, and employ a diverse set of skills. Above all, you’ll have a direct hand in delivering tools that enable your business partners to be most successful in driving the organization forward and meeting their day-to-day goals.

Who You Are:

• Effective leader and trusted team player. You are known for serving as a resource and trusted business partner for internal groups and participating in cross-functional projects is the type of work you love. You hold yourself accountable and take responsibility for your mistakes—but also expect others to do the same. You also have a tendency to make developing your employees a core part of the job.
• Knowledgeable. Your background includes a combination of property management/operations and information technology, which you’ve built through both educational and professional experiences.  You’re comfortable with information gathering, data collection, and data analysis, in addition to problem solving with a customer focus in mind.  You also have a broad-based familiarity with building data models, evaluating trends, and identifying areas for improvement.
• Business Liaison. When it comes to integrating business process with systems you enjoy being the conduit with your business partners to lead the project execution and train affected users. You work closely with business partners to gather needs systematically, review viable solutions, test new functionality along the way, and track post-implementation results. Data helps you schedule work, implement agreed-upon changes, and complete assigned projects timely.
• Technologically Savvy. You’ve got hands-on experience working with property management software, as well as a solid proficiency in writing SQL queries. You’re also comfortable working with relational database concepts and have a knack for quickly mastering new software. In other words, technology is one of your closest friends!
• Strong Communicator. Your writing and speaking skills are clear, articulate, and effective, demonstrating your ability to interact with all levels and various teams within the organization and be understood.  In addition, you’re skilled in compiling and delivering presentations that help to coordinate efforts between business partners and IT.  By delivering clear communication, you help to ensure that projects stay on time, deliverables meet budget, and key stakeholders are aware of project statuses.
• Organized, Efficient, and Accountable. You multitask well, re-prioritize accordingly, and effectively juggle the needs of changing priorities of the business. In other words, you handle pressure well and do so with confidence!
• Maintain confidentiality.  The ability to work with confidential information, while using discretion, is crucial to this position.

What You’ll Do:

• Coach, mentor, motivate, and supervise a team of Business Systems Analysts and influence them to take a positive action and accountability for their assigned work while continuing to build team bench strength.
• Manage the software upgrade process with the development and analyst team.  Coordinate project plans and communication to key stakeholders and partner with Equity’s training group to coordinate training needs.
• Lead the effort to document and maintain day to day operations for Property Operations IT initiatives.
• Collaborate with cross functional teams to implement integrated solutions.
• Manage IT governance, in partnership with AVP, Information Technology, to handle change requests, enhancements, and strategic planning.
• Manage escalation queue from IT Support team by reporting on trends with an emphasized focus on minimizing IT support tickets, based on automation and defect discovery resolutions.
• Participate in acquisition activities as new properties are folded into the Equity Residential portfolio; this includes gathering, formatting, loading, and auditing acquired business data.
• Implement and manage standard testing procedures for system changes, which may include creating, reviewing, executing, and tracking test plans and results; you will also be responsible for validating testing procedures to ensure they meet both business and technical requirements.
• Support special projects, as needed.

• Strong analytical skills, problem solving capabilities, as well as project management experience. Solid experience utilizing solution delivery lifecycle methodologies. 
• Ability to quickly become well-versed in business policy and knowledgeable with the company’s product offerings and internal systems.
• Proven strong work ethic, ability to make decisions, and adaptable to changing priorities in a fast-paced innovative environment, without sacrificing quality of work product. Detail oriented and well-organized, with an exceptional ability to multitask.
• Team player that demonstrates flexibility and the ability to integrate and work well with others.
• Strong communication and presentation skills – able to speak and write in a clear and articulate manner; focused, friendly and communicates well under time pressure and deadlines.
• Must be proficient in creating/executing SQL queries and possess thorough understanding of relational database concepts.
• Motivated to succeed with capacity to assume increasing responsibility.

Previous Experience:

• Bachelor's degree required, with an emphasis in business or information technology preferred
• 3+ years project management work experience required, PMP is preferred
• 2+ years of people management experience is required.
• Strong familiarity and previous experience with property management software is required (i.e. MRI, Yardi, RealPage, etc.), MRI Software preferred.   

We recognize everyone has different needs outside of work. That’s why, in addition to a competitive benefits package (medical, dental, vision and paid time off), we offer many unique options to employees, like pet insurance and paid time off for community service projects. To learn more, view our Total Wellbeing page here.