About the Role:
The Cost Allocation Architect is a specialized technical consultant within the Professional Services organization responsible for designing, developing, and testing the business rules that enable clients to accurately assign and report logistics invoice costs from our platform to their internal Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) or other financial systems. This role sits at the intersection of logistics domain expertise, financial data modeling, enterprise systems integration, and business analysis - translating complex client cost structures and requirements into precise, auditable allocation logic and clear functional designs.
This role reports directly to the Manager of Client Enablement in Professional Services.
Core Responsibilities
- Requirements & discovery: Lead discovery and requirements-elicitation workshops with client finance, supply chain, and IT stakeholders to understand cost allocation policies, chart of accounts structure, cost center hierarchies, and ERP data models, and to gather business and functional requirements.
- Document current-state (as-is) and future-state (to-be) business processes, and translate stakeholder input into clear, testable requirements specifications.
- Solution design: Design end-to-end cost allocation architectures that map logistics invoice charges - including freight, accessorial fees, fuel surcharges, and duty/tax components - to the appropriate client GL accounts, cost centers, or profit centers.
- QA Analysis: Perform QA testing and error analysis on agent generated business rules logic to assure accuracy and proper execution while documenting improvement opportunities in agent development knowledge.
- Aide in the configuration and develop business rules within our platform to automate the routing, splitting, and apportionment of invoice costs according to client-defined allocation logic and business policies.
- Gap analysis: Conduct gap analyses between current-state client processes and platform capabilities, identifying process changes, workarounds, or enhancement requests needed to close gaps.
- Design and execute comprehensive testing plans - including unit, integration, and user acceptance testing (UAT) - to validate that allocation rules produce accurate, expected outputs across all invoice scenarios.
- Develop and maintain detailed functional design documents, data mapping specifications, requirements traceability, and allocation rule libraries to support client sign-off, change control, and long-term maintainability.
- Enhancement backlog & delivery: Partner with Product and Engineering to prioritize platform enhancement requests, write user stories and acceptance criteria, and validate delivered functionality against documented requirements.
- Collaborate with client ERP teams (SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, NetSuite, etc.) to validate that cost data exported from our platform integrates cleanly into downstream financial workflows and reporting structures.
- Identify and resolve data quality issues, edge cases, and exception scenarios in invoice processing that could result in allocation errors or ERP posting failures.
- Serve as a subject matter expert (SME) on cost allocation best practices, advising clients on rule design trade-offs and helping them align logistics cost visibility with broader finance and reporting objectives.
- Change management & enablement: Support client change management and end-user adoption by developing process documentation, training materials, and communication plans for new allocation workflows.
- Support post-go-live stabilization by monitoring allocation accuracy, triaging discrepancies, and implementing rule enhancements as client business needs evolve.
- Contribute to internal knowledge bases, reusable rule templates, and delivery accelerators that improve PS efficiency and consistency across client engagements.
- Logistics & freight finance: Deep understanding of freight invoice structures, charge types, carrier billing, and accessorial fees.
- ERP financial data modeling: Working knowledge of GL structures, cost centers, profit centers, and posting logic in SAP, Oracle, or similar ERPs.
- Business rules design: Ability to translate complex, multi-variable allocation policies into structured, testable rule logic.
- Business analysis: Proficient in requirements elicitation techniques (interviews, workshops, document analysis), writing user stories/use cases and acceptance criteria, and producing BRDs/FRDs.
- Process modeling: Ability to create current- and future-state process flows (e.g., BPMN, swimlane diagrams) to support solution design, gap analysis, and client alignment.
- Testing & QA: Designing and executing test plans covering edge cases, exception handling, and UAT for financial data flows.
- Data analysis: Proficiency in SQL or Excel to analyze invoice data sets, validate outputs, and troubleshoot allocation discrepancies.
- Systems integration: Understanding of data exchange formats (EDI, flat file, API/XML) used to transfer cost data between platforms and ERPs.
- Client facilitation: Ability to lead structured discovery and requirements sessions and communicate technical design decisions to finance and IT audiences.
- Technical documentation: Producing clear functional specs, data mapping documents, requirements artifacts, and rule design documentation for client sign-off and internal reuse.
Qualifications
- Experience: 4+ years in a technical consulting, implementation, business analyst, or requirements management role within logistics, supply chain, or freight audit and payment.
- ERP Knowledge: Hands-on experience with financial modules in SAP (FI/CO), Oracle Financials, Microsoft Dynamics, or NetSuite; understanding of GL posting and cost object structures.
- Logistics Domain: Familiarity with freight invoice types, carrier charge taxonomies, and logistics cost management within a TMS or freight audit platform environment.
- Education: Bachelor's degree in Finance, Accounting, Supply Chain, Information Systems, or a related field; relevant certifications (CPA, CLTD, SAP FI, CBAP, CCBA, PMI-PBA) a plus.
- Technical Skills: Proficiency in SQL and/or advanced Excel for data validation and working within proprietary logic formats; exposure to EDI, XML, or API-based integrations between logistics and finance platforms.
- Preferred: Experience in a SaaS software PS or implementation team; prior work with freight audit, TMS (e.g. MercuryGate, BluJay, Oracle TMS), or AP automation platforms; prior formal business analyst experience.
