Problem Analyst (Junior)

Discovery – Technology Services

Problem Analyst (Senior)

About Discovery

Discovery’s core purpose is to make people healthier and to enhance and protect their lives. We seek out and invest in exceptional individuals who understand and support our core purpose, and whose own values align with those of Discovery. Our fast-paced and dynamic environment enables smart, self-driven people to be their best. As global thought leaders, Discovery is passionate about innovating in order to not only achieve financial success, but to ignite positive and meaningful change within our society.

Key Purpose

The Problem Analysts role will be to identify, investigate and address high ticket volumes that impact business services. They will be required to drive resolution of the underlying problem or major incident and determine the root cause. They will need to build in efficiencies to lessen the impact to business and supporting teams. This will also include ensuring resolutions are applied that adhere to control procedures, change and release management. They will be required to capture and manage all problems within a Service Tool ensuring complete visibility of problems as well as report back on a regular basis to management on high priority items that require escalation and traction. Active involvement and facilitation of Major Incidents will be required on a daily basis ensuring high impacting Infrastructure system related issues are dealt with swiftly.

Key Outputs may include but are not limited to:

• Log problems on the problem register, determine the impact of a problem (severity, frequency and cost) and prioritise accordingly.
• Track and indicate changes in the data based on proposed and in place solutions as well escalate accordingly where the impact is not reducing or worsening to increase the priority and awareness.
• Root Cause Analysis:
• Determine the absolute cause of the problem by various means, including, but not limited to:
• Recreating the issues in a test environment, reviewing system design, asking relevant questions to stakeholders and uncovering process and technical failures.
• Problem Solution:
• Identify interim and long term solutions, taking into account cost effectiveness & ease of implementation.
• Review a business/technical specification prior to development and identify any potential problems that could be created with the proposed solution. Identify any missed requirements that would lead to future problems.
• Ensure the business impact is lessened and not worsened by solutions.
• Problem Report:
• Document and present the Problem Reports related to identified problems to the Senior Analyst and Problem Manager.
• Provide assessments of risks, impacts, severity, possible alternative solutions, status of investigation and recommendations.
• Produce reports per team (monthly) giving an area-specific analysis of all problems. Report, track and present feedback to stakeholders on a regular basis.
• Escalate issues where necessary that are not getting the right level of airtime or attention.
• Guidelines, standards and Reference Examples:
• Participate in internal forums such as Support Services Work Group and lead work streams, to contribute to the methodology and standards.
• Ensure that knowledge acquired in the workaround or resolution of the problem process is shared within the larger Support community.
• Major Incident Management
• Provide assistance with the management and remediation of Technology Infrastructure Major Incidents by collaborating with various teams to attend to the issue within a predetermined SLA.
• Consistently update all stakeholders on the status of the investigations for Major Incidents within a predetermined SLA.
• Conduct post mortem investigations and produce RCA reports for affected stakeholders and their respective companies.
• Compile monthly reports for various forums requiring Problem\Major Incident content.

Personal Attributes and Skills

• Staff and discipline Management.
• Numerical skills.
• Strong Organizational skills (Ability to organize and structure high levels of information).
• Advanced Analytical and Data mining capabilities.
• Methodical and disciplined approach to work.
• Strong Problem-solving skills.
• Above average written and verbal communication skills (Able to write business and technical reports and present where required).
• Report writing and presentation skills.
• People management skills.
• In-depth knowledge of the. organisations IT infrastructure.
• In-depth Knowledge of ITIL, beyond foundation level (Ability to integrate with other disciplines).
• Kepner and Tregoe problem methodology.
• Service tooling and discipline integration.
• Knowledgebase \ Known error tooling and management.
• Staff Management (Formal training – License to lead \ Fit to lead).
• SQL \ Database fundamentals and analytics.
• Advanced Excel training and report writing.
• Advanced Visio and Process development.

Technical Skills or Knowledge

• Problem Management, Familiar with all implemented ITIL processes.
• Technologies - Familiar with infrastructure services and support.
• Other - Familiar with business organisation and services.
• Technical Skills - Statistical analysis and reporting, Problem solving, Root Cause Analysis, Technical Report writing.
• Behavioural Skills - Tenacity. Stress Management, Persuasion.
• Excellent verbal and business writing communication skills.
• Appropriately follows instructions.
• Works productively and independently in a high-pressure environment.
• Upholds ethics and values

Education and Experience

Minimum:

• Matric
• ITIL Foundation certified
• 1 years’ experience in problem management.
• 2 years’ experience in an IT service role.

Advantageous:

• ITIL Services exam passed. Kepner & Tregoe Root Cause Analysis Framework certified.
• ITIL OSA, other Computer and Technical qualifications and experience in problem solving
• Business writing certification.
• Higher education\degree.  

EMPLOYMENT EQUITY

The Company’s approved Employment Equity Plan and Targets will be considered as part of the recruitment process. As an Equal Opportunities employer, we actively encourage and welcome people with various disabilities to apply.

EMPLOYMENT EQUITY   
                             
The Company’s approved Employment Equity Plan and Targets will be considered as part of the recruitment process. As an Equal Opportunities employer, we actively encourage and welcome people with various disabilities to apply.