EDI Architect

Thank you for taking time to take a look at the EDI Architect role I posted here on LinkedIN, I appreciate it. If you have read my job descriptions before, welcome back. If you are new to them, greetings. I realized, a long time ago, that looking for work is somewhat like going through a root canal without anesthesia. So, if I can make it easier or at least more tolerable, I will gladly do it. As you might have guessed already, I like to add humor to these things (humor is in short supply...and life is too short to not have a chuckle or two). In addition, I am a real live human being writing this. Not a bot, not AI. Just a guy writing this on a Sunday while trying to entertain my cat. So, if you see something that makes you chuckle, that was the intent. As with just about every role I work on, social fit is really important. So, you might ask 'So, Tom, what are those social fit thingys you are talkin' about?'. Great question...here are a couple: • For this role, we are looking for that 'thinker'. Allow me to explain. We all have come across individuals where you give them a task, and they get that task done. Those people are wonderful. However, for this role, we are looking for that individual that can really see the 'big picture'. That person that can see the end game (more on this as you read through the JD). • I know the hiring manager for this role very well...for almost 15 years or so. Due to this, I know him very well. He is not a micro-manager. Most people love to hear this...'great, no micromanagement'...they will say. However, there is a flip side to that 'coin' as it were. This means you don't need to be micromanaged. It means that you do your best work when no one is watching (some people call this integrity. This role is being done remotely. However, preference will be given to candidates that are already located in the Chicago area. This client is located in the Chicago metro. If you aren't local to Chicago, but reside in the Central or East Coast time zone, that would be great as well. This next point is important. I am not working with external vendors to fill this role. So, please, for the love of all that is good and pure, if you are an external vendor trying to empty their bench, please do not call me 5 times in an hour saying 'you have a great candidate'. I am not working with external vendors trying to empty their bench. I can only work with US Citizens or Green Card Holders for this role. So, if you are an H1, H4, OPT, EAD, STEM, or anyone other than a US Citizen or current Green Card Holder, I won't be able to work with you. For this role, we are looking for an EDI Analyst that likes to re-engineer, design, develop, test and deploy a new EDI construct. The to-be state of this client's particular EDI environment is to convert three EDI systems and combine them into one. This is the major project you will be working on. In addition, we would like to have more self-service services available to customer service agents with regards to analyzing and reviewing order history, shipping history, and invoice resolution. This role will combine EDI, RPG and Infor XA skills. From an RPG standpoint, you will need to be familiar with EDI concepts and protocols. From an EDI standpoint, the back-end EDI subsystem includes: • Staging tables for data needed for outbound messages: 855 PO Acks, 856 ASNs, and 810 Invoices • EDI account configuration • Mapping between EDI messages and ERP customer accounts • Administration screens for managing EDI errors, viewing status of inbound and outbound transactions, audit trail details, and managing EDI account setup • Queries for the Cleo EDI system to pull data when building outbound messages This role will work closely with this client's EDI Analyst for onboarding and production support activity, and with the internal ERP (Infor XA) team for integration with the ERP system. From an Infor XA standpoint, for there isn't a direct integration between EDI and Infor XA. Rather, there is a pseudo-component that mimics EDI. So, an understanding of how the 'offline load' functionality within Infor XA 'behaves'. From an RPG standpoint, a solid RPG development background will be needed for the EDI programming to work correctly. Common document sets will include 850 (Inbound PO), 855 (PO acknowledgement), 856 (ASN), 810 (Invoice), and 846 (Inventory). 875 (Pricing) is something this client will explore in the future (it is not something they support yet). Familiarity with the major EDI service providers will be helpful as well (these guys use Cleo). For this role, we are seeking the 'thinker' as opposed to just the 'do-er' when it comes to EDI. In other words, we are seeking that person that can think things through, work with and create process flow diagrams and all that nifty stuff. As anyone in that wonderful world of EDI knows, you - oftentimes - have to bend to how your larger customers do things...integrate with multiple ERP's, and work with customer-specific codes and so on. This environment is just like that...they have different clients, different codes for different clients, different places on forms where those codes should reside and multiple ERP's to integrate with. Now you probably get my point on the 'thinker'..in that you will be exercising those brain cells here. Rather than having an exhaustive list of a zillion 'gotta haves' with roles like this one (if you are anything like me, I look at most JD's and think 'does this person actually exist?'), I will boil this down to the nitty gritty of this role when it comes to responsibilities and requirements. Here are some of the key responsibilities for this role: • Working with that wonderful world of Sql statements and queries. • Design, develop, test, deploy, and support EDI, EAI, and other application interface systems, databases, and administrative tools. • Lead that wonderful world of requirements gathering, design, and project planning activities for all EDI and EAI enhancement projects. • Building and maintaining architecture and technical specs • Collaborate with Customer Service and Sales organizations to improve the automation of Order-to-Cash processes, continuously improve EDI systems, and identify solutions for process and system issues. • Manage internal and external interface and transformation systems, including related database systems. • Keep all interface and transformation systems highly available, including after-hours support to resolve production issues. There is not a ton of after hours support...let's face it, if there are a ton of problems happening after hours, there are probably bigger issues at play. Here is what we are seeking: • At least 10 years of experience architecting, developing and supporting EDI and EAI systems for a mid-sized or larger manufacturing and distribution firm. I am going to be far more focused on depth and breadth of experience, than I am years of experience. This should include proficiency in EDIFACT and X12 messaging standards. • At least 10 years of experience in RPG development. • Experience with Infor XA from an integration standpoint (integration of Infor XA with EDI). In addition, from an Infor XA standpoint, we will need experience creating enhancements to the XA COMNet interface