Business Analyst Intern

Description The Business Analyst Intern supports data-driven decision making across J. Lorber Company by turning ERP, CRM, and vendor data into clear analysis that leadership can act on. The role takes on a rotating set of analytical projects spanning sales and customer performance, vendor and product profitability, and recurring dashboard reporting in Phocas. Working closely with the Management team, the Business Analyst Intern delivers findings as clean spreadsheets, dashboards, and concise written recommendations that support pricing, inventory, purchasing, and sales strategy decisions across all branches. Requirements Essential Duties & Responsibilities Core duties and responsibilities include the following. Other duties may be assigned. Analyzes customer purchasing history to identify growth opportunities, at-risk accounts, and declining buying patterns; summarizes findings for sales leadership. Builds customer segmentation and ranking analyses (revenue, gross margin, order frequency, product mix) to support territory planning and account assignment. Measures sales performance against goals by branch, salesperson, product category, and customer segment; identifies variances and probable causes. Supports quote-to-order conversion analysis, identifying business lost to price, availability, or follow-up gaps. Evaluates vendor performance across purchase volume, rebate attainment, lead time, fill rate, and pricing competitiveness. Analyzes product-line profitability and margin trends; flags items with pricing, cost, or turn issues for review by the Director of Purchasing. Assists with inventory analysis including slow-moving and dead stock review, stocking-level evaluation, and turn-and-earn calculations. Prepares data summaries supporting vendor negotiations, line reviews, and new product evaluations. Builds, maintains, and improves dashboards and recurring reports in Phocas, the company’s business intelligence platform. Converts manual, one-off spreadsheet reports into repeatable dashboards and scheduled distributions. Validates report accuracy against source data in Eclipse (ERP) and Nutshell (CRM); documents data definitions and calculation logic. Prepares monthly and ad hoc reporting packages for store managers, the sales team, and the leadership team. Gathers requirements from stakeholders, scopes the analysis, and presents findings with a clear recommendation. Documents processes, data sources, and report methodology so completed work can be maintained after the internship concludes. Supports special projects in operations, marketing, and administration as assigned. Presents a summary of project work and recommendations to the leadership team at the conclusion of the internship. Handles customer, vendor, pricing, and margin information with strict confidentiality. Adheres to all company policies, procedures, and ethical standards. Supervisory Responsibilities None. Qualifications Education: Currently enrolled in a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree program in Business Analytics, Finance, Accounting, Economics, Information Systems, Supply Chain, Statistics, or a related field; rising junior standing or above preferred. Experience: Prior internship, co-op, or academic project experience involving business, financial, or data analysis preferred. Strong Microsoft Excel skills required, including pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, IF and nested logic, conditional formatting, charting, and working with large data extracts. Exposure to a business intelligence or data visualization platform (Phocas, Power BI, Tableau, or similar) preferred; ERP/Eclipse or CRM familiarity a plus. Coursework or working knowledge of SQL, Power Query, or Python for data analysis preferred. Demonstrated analytical and quantitative reasoning ability; comfortable working with data that is incomplete, inconsistent, or requires cleanup. Strong attention to detail with a consistent habit of validating figures before distributing results. Clear written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to explain a finding to a non-technical audience. Proficiency with Microsoft 365 (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Teams). Strong time management skills, ability to manage multiple concurrent projects, and willingness to raise obstacles early. Interest in wholesale distribution, supply chain, or the building trades (plumbing, HVAC, mechanical) preferred. Valid driver’s license and reliable transportation required for occasional travel between branch locations. Physical Requirements Ability to sit and work at a computer for extended periods (up to 8 hours). Ability to lift up to 25 lbs occasionally. Ability to bend, reach, and walk warehouse and outdoor storage areas during operational observation and inventory-related project work. Work Environment Work performed primarily in an office environment, with periodic time spent at the counter, in the warehouse, and at other branch locations. Occasional exposure to varying temperatures, weather conditions, moving mechanical parts, and moderate noise levels. This is a full-time, temporary summer position of approximately 10 to 12 weeks; local travel among the branches is required.