Senior Business Analyst - Materials Management

Description

The Role

General Motors' Materials Automation team designs and delivers innovative IT solutions for manufacturing, leveraging current and emerging technologies. Our focus spans materials automation, inventory management, and intra-logistics within manufacturing plants, supporting GM's goal to build high-quality products with zero defects.

GM's Manufacturing IT team delivers systems that provide consistent messaging, transactions, and services across our global footprint. Our teams define, prioritize, and drive the development of software solutions for GM Manufacturing, partnering closely with operations to deliver high-impact capabilities, business value, and world-class customer experiences.

We are seeking a Lead Business Analyst / Technical Product Owner supporting materials automation, materials flow, and inventory management within GM manufacturing plants. If you are energized by complex manufacturing environments, excited about materials automation and intra-logistics, and want to build solutions that become the benchmark for the industry, this is the place for you.

What You'll Do

• Own key materials management business process threads and act as the primary IT-facing representative for plant and central business partners.
• Translate complex business needs into clear, prioritized product backlogs, working side by side with developers, architects, and project managers.
• Use deep domain knowledge across ERP (e.g., SAP), WMS, WCS, Equipment Manager, and plant equipment to design solutions that improve safety, quality, throughput, and cost.
• Work with minimal guidance, exercising independent judgment on significant matters, and act as a go-to resource and mentor for less experienced analysts.

• Serve as the primary liaison between plant/business stakeholders and IT for materials automation, intra-logistics, and inventory management capabilities.
• Lead Plan and Define phases in the system development lifecycle, ensuring requirements and scope are aligned to business objectives and manufacturing constraints.
• Develop and maintain product backlogs , including well-formed epics, features, and user stories (functional and non-functional) with clear acceptance criteria.
• Proactively identify business strengths, weaknesses, and gaps in materials management processes; recommend initiatives and solutions that deliver measurable value and ROI.
• Present information and recommendations for decision-making with little to no direction , enabling leaders to make timely, data-driven choices.

• Create business process models , use cases, and workflows across ERP, WMS, WCS, Equipment Manager, and automation systems (e.g., AME/IMR, ASRS, WMS ).
• Elicit, analyze, and document complex requirements from multiple stakeholder groups, reconciling competing priorities and constraints across plants and functions.
• Serve as the requirements owner throughout design, build, test, and deployment, ensuring solutions remain aligned to business needs and regulatory/quality requirements.
• Partner with business teams to define and execute comprehensive UAT and training plans , and ensure smooth transition to production and operational readiness.

• Lead business value and ROI analysis for projects and enhancements; articulate how proposed solutions support GM's manufacturing, safety, quality, and cost objectives.
• Support IT and product strategy development for materials automation and intra-logistics, bringing a ground-level operational perspective into roadmaps.
• Perform research and benchmarking on new ideas and initiatives (e.g., emerging automation technologies, best practices in WMS/WCS integration).
• Coordinate and help prioritize Change Requests (CRs) , continuous improvement items, and technical debt reduction across multiple applications and plants.

• Coordinate with plant and central business teams on incident and problem management , ensuring clear communication and structured root-cause analysis.
• Use data and analysis to demonstrate the value and impact of changes, anticipating objections and addressing concerns with facts and options.
• Work collaboratively across teams to stabilize and optimize production systems, especially during high-impact events and cutovers.

• Bachelor's degree (Supply Chain or related discipline preferred), or equivalent experience.
• 7+ years of experience in one or more of the following:
  • Supply chain or supply chain consulting.
  • Manufacturing or manufacturing engineering .
  • Automation / materials flow / intra-logistics / materials management .
• In-depth manufacturing knowledge, especially in materials managemen t and plant floor operations.
• Demonstrated experience leading technology teams or workstreams with both strategic and tactical responsibilities (road-mapping, planning, execution).
• Strong domain understanding across:
  • ERP (e.g., SAP)
  • WMS / WCS
  • Equipment Manager and plant equipment integrations
• Excellent verbal and written communication skill s , including the ability to translate technical and process details into clear messages for diverse audiences.
• Proven creative problem-solving skills, capable of designing elegant solutions to complex, non-routine issues.
• Strong teamwork and collaboration skills, with experience working in cross-functional, distributed teams.
• Ability and willingness to travel to manufacturing plants for workshops, discovery, and deployment activities.
• Ability and willingness to work during plant downtime (weekends, 2nd/3rd shift, holidays) to support releases, cutovers, and testing.

• Demonstrated ability to independently prepare and present options, recommendations, and status for leadership decision-making.
• Strong technical and business acumen for short- and long-range planning in manufacturing IT and materials automation.
• Exceptional time management and organizational skills, with a track record of managing multiple projects and workstreams concurrently.
• Experience creating and presenting solution proposals, architecture overviews, and technical options to both business and IT stakeholders.