PowerBI Specialist

Overview:

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced PowerBI Specialist to become a vital member of our technology and analytics team in Saudi Arabia. This is a pivotal role focused on leveraging the power of data visualization to drive strategic decision-making across our organization. As a PowerBI Specialist, you will be instrumental in transforming complex and often disparate datasets into clear, concise, and actionable insights. Your work will directly impact how we understand our business performance, identify opportunities, and mitigate risks within the dynamic capital markets. You will be responsible for the end-to-end development and deployment of sophisticated PowerBI solutions, working closely with various business units, including our investment teams, finance department, and operational units, to understand their unique data and reporting needs. This role demands not only technical expertise in PowerBI but also a strong analytical mindset and the ability to translate business requirements into effective data visualizations that tell a compelling story. You will contribute to fostering a data-driven culture within the organization, empowering stakeholders with the information they need to make informed and timely decisions.

Responsibilities:

• Design and Development of PowerBI Solutions: Lead the design, development, and deployment of interactive and visually appealing dashboards and reports using PowerBI. This includes planning the layout, selecting appropriate visualizations, and ensuring optimal performance for end-users. You will be expected to create solutions that effectively communicate key performance indicators (KPIs) relevant to our business, such as investment returns, portfolio diversification metrics, risk exposure levels, operational efficiency indicators, and financial performance metrics.
• Data Connectivity and Integration: Establish and maintain robust connections to a diverse range of data sources relevant to our business operations. This will involve working with relational databases (e.g., SQL Server, Oracle), data warehouses, cloud-based platforms (e.g., Azure Data Lake, AWS S3), and potentially other data sources accessed through APIs or flat files. You will be responsible for ensuring the seamless flow of data into PowerBI, maintaining data accuracy, and implementing appropriate data refresh schedules.
• Data Modeling and Optimization: Develop and implement efficient and scalable data models within PowerBI Desktop, utilizing best practices for data relationships, calculations using DAX (Data Analysis Expressions), and performance optimization. This will involve understanding the underlying data structures and transforming them into models that are easy to understand and query for reporting purposes. You will be expected to write complex DAX measures and calculated columns to derive meaningful insights from the data.
• Collaboration and Requirements Gathering: Work closely with stakeholders from various departments to understand their specific reporting requirements and business questions. This will involve conducting workshops, interviews, and regular communication to gather detailed specifications and ensure that the developed PowerBI solutions meet their needs effectively. You will need to translate these business requirements into technical designs and specifications for PowerBI development.
• Data Analysis and Validation: Perform thorough data analysis and validation to ensure the accuracy, consistency, and reliability of the data presented in reports and dashboards. This includes identifying and resolving data quality issues, performing data cleansing and transformation as needed, and ensuring that the visualizations accurately reflect the underlying data.
• End-User Training and Support: Provide training and ongoing support to end-users on how to effectively navigate and utilize the developed PowerBI dashboards and reports. This may involve creating user manuals, conducting training sessions, and providing timely assistance to address user queries and issues.
• Staying Abreast of Technology: Continuously monitor and evaluate the latest features, updates, and best practices within the PowerBI ecosystem. This includes exploring new visualization types, data connectivity options, and performance enhancements to ensure that our PowerBI solutions are leveraging the most current capabilities.
• Troubleshooting and Issue Resolution: Proactively identify, diagnose, and resolve any issues related to PowerBI reports, data connectivity, or performance. This may involve debugging DAX queries, investigating data refresh failures, or working with IT teams to resolve infrastructure-related problems.
• Contribution to Data Governance: Participate in the development and implementation of data governance policies and procedures to ensure data quality, security, and compliance across the organization's business intelligence initiatives. This may involve contributing to data dictionaries, data lineage documentation, and data access control mechanisms.
• Participation in Data Projects: Actively participate in various data-related projects and initiatives, providing your expertise in data visualization and business intelligence to contribute to the overall success of these projects. This could involve collaborating with data engineers, data scientists, and other stakeholders on projects related to data warehousing, data analytics, and machine learning.
• Documentation: Create and maintain comprehensive documentation for all developed PowerBI solutions, including technical specifications, data flow diagrams, user guides, and troubleshooting procedures. This ensures maintainability and knowledge transfer within the team.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Finance, Business Analytics, Mathematics, Statistics, or a closely related quantitative field. A Master's degree in a relevant field is a plus.
• In-depth understanding of data warehousing concepts, ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes, and various data modeling methodologies (e.g., dimensional modeling, star schema, snowflake schema).
• Expert-level proficiency in writing and optimizing DAX (Data Analysis Expressions) queries for complex calculations, aggregations, time intelligence analysis, and data manipulation within PowerBI.
• Extensive experience in connecting PowerBI to a wide range of data sources commonly found in financial institutions, including relational databases like SQL Server and Oracle, cloud-based data platforms such as Azure SQL Database, Amazon Redshift, and Google BigQuery, as well as experience with APIs and flat file integration.
• Exceptional data visualization skills with a strong understanding of design principles for creating effective and insightful charts, graphs, and interactive dashboards that adhere to best practices for visual communication.
• Proven ability to analyze large and complex datasets, identify meaningful patterns, trends, and anomalies, and translate these findings into actionable insights through compelling visualizations.
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills with a meticulous attention to detail and a commitment to data accuracy and integrity.
• Excellent verbal and written communication and presentation skills, with the ability to effectively communicate complex technical concepts and data-driven insights to both technical and non-technical audiences, including senior management.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently, manage multiple tasks simultaneously, and collaborate effectively within a team in a fast-paced and dynamic environment.
• Experience with version control systems (e.g., Git) for managing PowerBI project files is desirable.
• Familiarity with other business intelligence tools and technologies (e.g., Tableau, Qlik Sense, SQL Reporting Services) is a plus.
• Understanding of financial data, key financial metrics, and the workings of capital markets is highly desirable.
• Experience with data governance frameworks and practices is an advantage.

Experience:

• 5-10 years of progressive and demonstrable experience as a PowerBI Developer, Business Intelligence Analyst with a strong focus on PowerBI, or a similar role. This experience should include a significant track record of independently designing, developing, and deploying complex and impactful PowerBI dashboards and reports in a professional setting, preferably within the financial services industry.
• Proven experience in gathering and documenting business requirements for data and reporting solutions.
• Experience in optimizing PowerBI report performance for large datasets and complex calculations.
• A strong portfolio showcasing your PowerBI development skills and demonstrating your ability to create insightful and user-friendly data visualizations. Please be prepared to discuss specific projects and your contributions.
• Experience in training end-users on BI tools and providing ongoing support.