Data Migration Analyst (12-month… at The Howard de… · England

About the role:

The Company is embarking on a business-wide modernisation programme, to revitalise ways of working, data, systems and processes. Project Elevate has been initiated to replace the current Property Management and Accounting system (MRI Platform X), in place for nearly three decades.

The programme will deliver a unified, scalable and supportable SaaS platform covering finance, property management, procurement, project accounting and reporting. It is a strategically important initiative that will fundamentally change how the organisation operates and how colleagues interact with core systems.

Project Elevate is a multi‑year transformation programme to implement Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Supply Chain Management as the organisation’s core ERP platform, integrated with existing Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement and M-Files Document Management applications. The project will also incorporate specialist Independent Software Vendor (ISV) solutions, including Yavica’s FlexProperty and SignUp’s ExFlow products. This role will be engaged in Phase One of Project Elevate, which has a target go‑live of April 2027.

As with any major transformation programme, high-quality data is fundamental to success. The ability to accurately migrate property, customer, supplier and financial information into the new platform will be critical to ensuring a successful implementation and long-term operational effectiveness.

The Data Migration Analyst will play an important role in helping to establish these foundations and will contribute directly to one of the most significant transformation programmes undertaken by the Estate.

The Data Migration Analyst will be responsible for supporting the preparation, cleansing, validation, reconciliation and migration of business-critical data into Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations and associated Project Elevate solutions.

Working closely with business subject matter experts, Finance, Property Management, IT colleagues and implementation partners, the postholder will help ensure that accurate, complete and reconciled data is available throughout the programme lifecycle, including System Integration Testing (SIT), User Acceptance Testing (UAT), migration rehearsals, cutover activities and go-live.

This is a hands-on role requiring strong analytical skills, attention to detail and the ability to work with large and complex datasets across multiple business functions.

What you will do:

Project Elevate Responsibilities:

The Data Migration Analyst will support the end-to-end preparation, cleansing, validation, reconciliation and migration of business-critical data required for Project Elevate.

Data preparation, cleansing and governance

• Support the identification, extraction, profiling and assessment of data held within legacy systems, spreadsheets and business-managed data sources.

• Work with business subject matter experts to understand current data structures, business rules, data ownership, data quality issues and known operational dependencies.

• Cleanse, enrich, standardise and rationalise data so that it is suitable for migration into the new Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations, Yavica FlexProperty and ExFlow environment.

• Identify and help resolve duplicate, incomplete, obsolete, inconsistent or inaccurate records, ensuring that decisions and remediation actions are properly documented.

• Contribute to the development of sustainable data governance practices, including clear ownership, quality standards, validation routines and controls for post-go-live operation.

Mapping, transformation and migration delivery

• Assist in defining and documenting source-to-target mappings, transformation rules, migration logic, data dictionaries and supporting migration procedures.
• Prepare and maintain migration templates, load files and supporting working papers in line with agreed programme standards and partner requirements.
• Support data migration activities across development, test, training, System Integration Testing, User Acceptance Testing, dress rehearsal and production environments.
• Use, or work alongside colleagues and partners using, appropriate migration and integration tools, which may include D365 Data Management Framework, KingswaySoft, SQL-based routines, Excel, Power Query or other agreed tools.
• Support the planning and execution of migration cycles, ensuring inputs, dependencies, assumptions, risks and defects are clearly tracked and escalated where required.

Project Elevate data domains

• Support the migration of property and asset data, including estate, building, unit, lease, tenancy and related property management structures.
• Support the preparation and validation of customer, tenant, occupier, supplier, contractor and stakeholder records, ensuring data is accurate, complete and appropriately classified.
• Support the migration of finance-related data, including opening balances, transactional history where required, account structures, dimensions, bank details and supporting reference data.
• Assist with project accounting, procurement, service charge, facilities management and operational datasets where these form part of the agreed Project Elevate migration scope.
• Ensure migrated data supports the end-to-end business processes being implemented through Project Elevate, rather than simply replicating historic legacy system structures.

Validation, reconciliation and assurance

• Perform validation and reconciliation activity between source systems, migration files and target systems to confirm completeness, accuracy and integrity of migrated data.
• Investigate migration exceptions, failed loads, reconciliation differences and data-related defects, working with business users and technical colleagues to identify root causes and corrective actions.
• Produce reconciliation outputs, exception reports, data quality summaries and evidence packs to support programme assurance, decision making and go-live readiness.
• Help distinguish between data quality issues, configuration issues, process design issues and migration tooling issues so that defects are routed and resolved appropriately.
• Maintain clear audit trails of data preparation, migration decisions, cleansing actions, reconciliations and approvals.

Testing, cutover and go-live support

• Prepare representative, accurate and appropriately reconciled datasets to support System Integration Testing, User Acceptance Testing, training, migration rehearsals and cutover planning.
• Support business testers by investigating data-related queries, explaining migrated data outputs and helping resolve issues that arise during test cycles.
• Contribute to migration rehearsal planning, including readiness checks, load sequencing, dependency tracking, defect management and lessons learned activity.
• Support cutover activities by preparing final migration inputs, monitoring migration progress, resolving data issues and supporting post-load validation.
• Assist with early-life support following go-live, helping investigate data-related queries and ensuring knowledge is transferred to business-as-usual teams.

Stakeholder engagement, documentation and reporting

• Engage with stakeholders across Finance, Property Management, Asset Management, Procurement, Facilities Management, IT and other relevant business areas to gather data requirements and resolve data issues.
• Work collaboratively with Avanade, Yavica, ExFlow and other programme partners to support migration planning, technical analysis, issue resolution and delivery assurance.
• Prepare clear documentation, working papers, trackers and status updates so that data migration progress, risks, issues and dependencies are visible to the programme team.
• Contribute to workshops, working groups, governance meetings and data readiness reviews, providing practical analysis and evidence-based updates.
• Promote a culture of data accuracy, accountability and continuous improvement throughout Project Elevate and into future business-as-usual operation.

Key Relationships:

• Director of Operations, Business Analysts, IT Project Manager (internal support stakeholders)
• External System and Change Management partners (Avanade & Yavica)
• Finance team (GL, AP/AR, reporting)
• Service Charge Accountants (in-situ SME + project FTC resource)
• Asset, Property and Facilities Management colleagues

What you will need:

Essential

• Experience supporting ERP, finance system, property system or business transformation projects.
• Practical experience of data preparation, cleansing, migration or validation activities.
• Experience working with large and complex datasets.
• Advanced Microsoft Excel skills, including PivotTables, XLOOKUP, data validation, formula-based analysis, data transformation techniques and Power Query.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving abilities.
• Experience performing reconciliations and investigating data discrepancies.
• Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively with technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Desirable

• Experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations.
• Experience supporting ERP migration programmes.
• Experience with KingswaySoft, SSIS or similar ETL tools.
• Experience using D365 Data Management Framework (DMF).
• Experience within property, real estate, finance or accounting environments.
• Experience supporting SIT, UAT and go-live activities.
• Familiarity with Azure-based data or integration platforms.
• Interest in emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, autonomous agents, and automation.

Personal Attributes:

The successful candidate will demonstrate:

• A methodical and structured approach to work.
• Exceptional attention to detail and accuracy.
• A proactive mindset and strong sense of ownership.
• Curiosity and a willingness to investigate root causes.
• Strong relationship-building and stakeholder engagement skills.
• Resilience and adaptability in a fast-paced project environment.
• A collaborative and team-oriented approach.
• A commitment to delivering high-quality outcomes.

This role description reflects the current requirements of the position. As Project Elevate progresses, responsibilities may evolve to reflect the needs of the business.

What we offer you:

• 25 days holiday per year, plus statutory holidays and 3 discretionary days to cover the Christmas office closure.
• Private medical insurance with Bupa.
• Defined contribution pension scheme with 12.5% employer contributions.
• Life assurance at 7x salary.
• Group income protection scheme.
• Interest free season ticket loan.
• Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) and wellbeing app “Help@hand”.
• Cycle to work scheme.
• Onsite gym with 7 weekly classes and 2 Wattbikes.
• Regular staff socials and an annual company away day.
• Free fruit and breakfast cereals.
• Enhanced maternity, paternity and shared parental leave policies (12-month qualifying period).
• Hybrid working arrangements -minimum of 155 days in the office per year with minimum of 2 days (not fixed) per week in the office.