Lead IT Business Analyst - Field in Johnstone

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 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.

Overview: This is a hybrid role requiring 3 days a week in office at one of our locations: Allentown, PA; Louisville, KY or Providence, RI.

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:

• Delivery & Indicator Governance (EDI Owner): Monitor and validate the stream’s Earned Delivery Indicator (EDI), tracking Cost Performance Index (CPI) and Delivery Performance Index (DPI) metrics. 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. Identify operational delivery slippage or sprint velocity drops early, proactively escalating these trends to the FBP before they create budget overruns.
• Apptio System & Financial Control: Act as the primary operator for inputting, updating, and adjusting monthly rolling forecasts in Apptio. Apply labor tracking methodologies to classify internal software development costs as CapEx or OpEx, ensuring software capitalization matches engineering output. Reconcile contractor timesheets, specialized consultant statements of work (SOWs), and monthly third-party invoices against achieved milestones prior to payment authorization.
• Rolling Forecast Collaboration: Co-author the monthly value stream forecast with assigned FBPs, integrating EDI metrics to calculate true Estimates at Completion (EAC). Drive transactional precision to maintain a rolling 90-day value stream forecast variance within the target ±3% threshold. 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 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:

• 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: Willingness and capability to complete intensive upskilling on IBM Apptio Planning and Technology Business Management (TBM) logic within the first 60 days. Ability to lead working sessions across engineering teams on technical delivery details while summarising the resulting cost impacts for finance specialists. High standard of accuracy when handling large data sheets, system records, and multi-million-dollar vendor statements of work.