Lead IT Business Analyst - Field

Company Summary Statement

As one of the largest investor-owned utility companies in the United States, PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL), is committed to creating long-term, sustainable value for our 3.5 million customers, our shareowners and the communities we serve. Our high-performing regulated utilities — PPL Electric Utilities, Louisville Gas and Electric, Kentucky Utilities and Rhode Island Energy — provide an outstanding experience for our customers, consistently ranking among the best utilities in the nation. PPL’s companies are also addressing challenges head-on by investing in new infrastructure and technology that is creating a smarter, more reliable and resilient energy grid. We are committed to doing our part to advance a cleaner energy future and drive innovation that enables us to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 while maintaining energy reliability and affordability for the customers and communities we serve. PPL is a positive force in the cities and towns where we do business, providing support for programs and organizations that empower the success of future generations by helping to build and maintain strong, diverse communities today.

Overview

NOTE: This is a hybrid role requiring 3 days a week in office at one of our locations: Allentown, PA; Louisville, KY or Providence, RI. #INDPPL LI-Hy

Reports To: IT Value Stream Lead

Department: IT and Innovation

Operational Alignment: Embedded within a Dedicated IT Value Stream (e.g., Customer Experience, Next Gen, Grid, Field, Data and AI, Infrastructure, Cyber, and Enterprise Services)

Position Overview:

The Lead IT Business Analyst - Field sits at the intersection of technology delivery and IT Finance and is embedded within the IT Value Stream organization. In this role, you will partner with IT Finance Business Partners (FBPs) and Technology Value Stream Leads to convert real-time agile delivery metrics and project milestones into highly accurate financial forecasts. You will own the data integrity of your assigned stream, utilizing tools like IBM Apptio Planning and Jira to optimize a multi-million-dollar technology portfolio.

Responsibilities

Core Responsibilities

1. Delivery & Indicator Governance (EDI Owner)

• Track Leading Indicators: Monitor and validate the stream’s Earned Delivery Indicator (EDI), tracking Cost Performance Index (CPI) and Delivery Performance Index (DPI) metrics.

• Audit Tool Inputs: Partner with product owners and Scrum masters to ensure developer velocity, story points, and milestone updates in Jira/Azure DevOps/Clarity accurately reflect physical progress.

• Flag Early Warnings: Identify operational delivery slippage or sprint velocity drops early, proactively escalating these trends to the FBP before they create budget overruns.

2. Apptio System & Financial Control

• Maintain Financial Data: Act as the primary operator for inputting, updating, and adjusting monthly rolling forecasts in Apptio.

• Govern Capitalization Metrics: Apply labor tracking methodologies to classify internal software development costs as CapEx or OpEx, ensuring software capitalization matches engineering output.

• Process Vendor Lifecycles: Reconcile contractor timesheets, specialized consultant statements of work (SOWs), and monthly third-party invoices against achieved milestones prior to payment authorization.

3. Rolling Forecast Collaboration

• Partner with FBPs: Co-author the monthly value stream forecast with assigned FBPs, integrating EDI metrics to calculate true Estimates at Completion (EAC).

• Secure Accuracy Limits: Drive transactional precision to maintain a rolling 90-day value stream forecast variance within the target ±3% threshold .

• Build Month-End Accruals: Generate precise month-end accounting accruals by matching physical vendor milestones against open Purchase Orders (POs) and corporate general ledgers.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• EDI Input Accuracy: 100% of sprint, milestone, and labor delivery metrics updated and reconciled within 2 business days of sprint/reporting cycle completion.

• Forecast Variance Control: Actively support the value stream team in achieving a monthly actual-to-forecast spending variance of < ±3% against rolling projections.

• Apptio Data Cleanliness: Maintenance of error-free project lines, allocation codes, and vendor mappings within Apptio Planning with zero unmapped costs at month-end close.

Invoice Turnaround Velocity: Complete milestone validation and clear vendor invoices for FBP review within 5 business days of system receipt.

Qualifications

Key Requirements

Experience & Skills

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in business administration, Finance, Project Management, Management Information Systems (MIS), or a related field.

• Professional Experience: 7+ years of progressive experience working as a project coordinator, PMO analyst, or financial coordinator within an enterprise technology or corporate finance environment. Experience leading complex cross-functional initiatives, establishing governance practices, and advising senior stakeholders.

• Technical Platform Expertise: Advanced experience tracking project deliverables via Jira, Azure DevOps, Clarity, or alternative PPM software.

• Financial & Analytical Leadership: Demonstrated ability to manage complex technology budgets, experience tracking financial milestones, and advanced Excel proficiency. Prior experience with Earned Value Management (EVM) or Agile velocity models is a plus.

Competencies

• Systems Leadership: Willingness and capability to complete intensive upskilling on IBM Apptio Planning and Technology Business Management (TBM) logic within the first 60 days.

• Cross-Functional Communication: Ability to lead working sessions across engineering teams on technical delivery details while summarizing the resulting cost impacts for finance specialists.

• Rigorous Attention to Detail: High standard of accuracy when handling large data sheets, system records, and multi-million-dollar vendor statements of work.

Key Requirements

Experience & Skills

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in business administration, Finance, Project Management, Management Information Systems (MIS), or a related field.

• Professional Experience: 7+ years of progressive experience working as a project coordinator, PMO analyst, or financial coordinator within an enterprise technology or corporate finance environment. Experience leading complex cross-functional initiatives, establishing governance practices, and advising senior stakeholders.

• Technical Platform Expertise: Advanced experience tracking project deliverables via Jira, Azure DevOps, Clarity, or alternative PPM software.

• Financial & Analytical Leadership: Demonstrated ability to manage complex technology budgets, experience tracking financial milestones, and advanced Excel proficiency. Prior experience with Earned Value Management (EVM) or Agile velocity models is a plus.

Competencies

• Systems Leadership: Willingness and capability to complete intensive upskilling on IBM Apptio Planning and Technology Business Management (TBM) logic within the first 60 days.

• Cross-Functional Communication: Ability to lead working sessions across engineering teams on technical delivery details while summarizing the resulting cost impacts for finance specialists.

• Rigorous Attention to Detail: High standard of accuracy when handling large data sheets, system records, and multi-million-dollar vendor statements of work.

Core Responsibilities

1. Delivery & Indicator Governance (EDI Owner)

• Track Leading Indicators: Monitor and validate the stream’s Earned Delivery Indicator (EDI), tracking Cost Performance Index (CPI) and Delivery Performance Index (DPI) metrics.

• Audit Tool Inputs: Partner with product owners and Scrum masters to ensure developer velocity, story points, and milestone updates in Jira/Azure DevOps/Clarity accurately reflect physical progress.

• Flag Early Warnings: Identify operational delivery slippage or sprint velocity drops early, proactively escalating these trends to the FBP before they create budget overruns.

2. Apptio System & Financial Control

• Maintain Financial Data: Act as the primary operator for inputting, updating, and adjusting monthly rolling forecasts in Apptio.

• Govern Capitalization Metrics: Apply labor tracking methodologies to classify internal software development costs as CapEx or OpEx, ensuring software capitalization matches engineering output.

• Process Vendor Lifecycles: Reconcile contractor timesheets, specialized consultant statements of work (SOWs), and monthly third-party invoices against achieved milestones prior to payment authorization.

3. Rolling Forecast Collaboration

• Partner with FBPs: Co-author the monthly value stream forecast with assigned FBPs, integrating EDI metrics to calculate true Estimates at Completion (EAC).

• Secure Accuracy Limits: Drive transactional precision to maintain a rolling 90-day value stream forecast variance within the target ±3% threshold .

• Build Month-End Accruals: Generate precise month-end accounting accruals by matching physical vendor milestones against open Purchase Orders (POs) and corporate general ledgers.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• EDI Input Accuracy: 100% of sprint, milestone, and labor delivery metrics updated and reconciled within 2 business days of sprint/reporting cycle completion.

• Forecast Variance Control: Actively support the value stream team in achieving a monthly actual-to-forecast spending variance of < ±3% against rolling projections.

• Apptio Data Cleanliness: Maintenance of error-free project lines, allocation codes, and vendor mappings within Apptio Planning with zero unmapped costs at month-end close.

Invoice Turnaround Velocity: Complete milestone validation and clear vendor invoices for FBP review within 5 business days of system receipt.

Remote Work

The company reserves the right to determine if this position will be assigned to work on-site, remotely, or a combination of both. Assigned work location may change. In the case of remote work, physical presence in the office/on-site may be required to engage in face-to-face interaction and coordination of work among direct reports and co-workers.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Our company is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, age, religion, sex, national origin, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identify, genetic information, disability status, or any other protected characteristic.