BI Reports Developer (Standard)

Role & Responsibilities

• Act as the subject-matter expert for IBM Cognos Analytics (and possibly Cognos BI / TM1 if in use), guiding both technical and functional teams.

• Design and architect Cognos reporting solutions including metadata models, data modules, Framework Manager packages, and dimensional models.

• Develop advanced reports, dashboards, scorecards, and analysis using Cognos Report Studio, Dashboard, and other Cognos components.

• Optimize performance of Cognos reports and models – tune SQL, cube designs, and query logic.

• Implement and maintain security, access control, and row-level data permissions in Cognos.

• Lead gate reviews, code reviews, and best practices around Cognos development.

• Provide guidance on change management, deployment processes, migration, and upgrade of Cognos environments.

• Work closely with business stakeholders to understand reporting needs, translate business requirements into technical specification, and deliver business value.

• Mentor, train, and support other Cognos developers / report authors in the team.

• Troubleshoot and resolve technical issues — production support, debugging, incident resolution.

• Participate in data governance discussions: help define data quality checks, metadata management, lineage, and BI standards.

• Maintain documentation: data models, report specifications, design documents, user guides.

• Stay up to date with Cognos releases, new features, and recommend upgrades or new capabilities.

Required Skills & Experience

• Strong expertise in IBM Cognos Analytics (or older Cognos BI) including Framework Manager, Report Studio / Dashboard, Data Modules, Transformer / Cube Designer.

• Strong SQL skills and experience working with relational databases / data warehouses.

• Experience in dimensional modeling (star/snowflake schema), metadata modelling, and data warehousing principles.

• Experience with performance tuning of BI reports, query optimization, and Cognos architecture.

• Good understanding of security and access management in Cognos, including user roles and row-level security.

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to translate business problems into technical BI solutions.

• Excellent communication skills to partner with business stakeholders, understand requirements, and explain complex technical concepts.

• Experience in mentoring or leading small BI teams / developers is a plus.

• Familiarity with software development lifecycles (SDLC), change management, and deployment processes.

• Comfortable supporting production issues and ensuring stability / reliability of Cognos environments.

Preferred / Nice-to-Have

• Experience with Cognos TM1 / Planning Analytics if relevant.

• Knowledge of Cognos SDK, scripting, or automation of Cognos deployments.

• Experience in Agile / Scrum environments.

• Exposure to BI governance, data catalogs, lineage tools.

• Familiarity with other BI tools / cloud BI platforms (optional but useful).

Education

• Bachelor’s / Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Data Analytics, or related field (or equivalent experience).