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Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for VBA Developer

💰 $75,000 - $120,000

ITSoftware DevelopmentData AnalysisFinancial ServicesAutomation

🎯 Role Definition

As a VBA Developer, you are the architect of efficiency within our organization. You will be instrumental in transforming manual, time-consuming business processes into streamlined, automated workflows using your deep expertise in VBA across the Microsoft Office Suite, particularly Excel and Access. Your role involves collaborating closely with business stakeholders to understand their challenges, then designing, developing, and deploying robust, user-friendly solutions. You will not just be writing code; you will be solving complex business problems, improving data accuracy, and empowering teams to focus on high-value analysis rather than repetitive data manipulation. This position is critical for driving data-driven decision-making and continuous improvement initiatives.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Data Analyst / Business Analyst
  • Financial Analyst
  • Junior Software Developer
  • Power User with strong Excel/Access skills

Advancement To:

  • Senior VBA Developer / Automation Lead
  • Business Intelligence (BI) Developer
  • Data Engineer
  • IT Project Manager

Lateral Moves:

  • Python Developer (focus on automation and data science)
  • SQL Developer / Database Administrator
  • Report Developer (Power BI/Tableau)

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Design, develop, and maintain complex and robust VBA applications within Microsoft Excel and Access to automate a wide range of business processes.
  • Create and manage sophisticated MS Access databases, including designing tables, writing complex queries, building user-friendly forms, and generating dynamic reports.
  • Develop custom functions (UDFs) and sophisticated macros to extend the native capabilities of MS Excel and address specific business requirements.
  • Automate the extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL) of data from diverse sources such as text files, CSVs, APIs, and various relational databases.
  • Engineer custom solutions to seamlessly integrate Excel and Access with other Microsoft Office applications, including Outlook for automated emailing and Word for report generation.
  • Troubleshoot, debug, and meticulously optimize existing VBA code to enhance performance, improve stability, and ensure scalability of legacy applications.
  • Translate complex business requirements gathered from stakeholders into detailed technical specifications and tangible, well-documented automation solutions.
  • Build intuitive graphical user interfaces (GUIs) using UserForms to provide a seamless and user-friendly experience for non-technical users.
  • Connect to and query enterprise-level databases (e.g., SQL Server, Oracle) directly from Excel and Access using ADO/DAO to retrieve and manipulate data.
  • Develop dynamic, interactive dashboards and data visualization tools within Excel to support real-time monitoring and business intelligence efforts.
  • Implement comprehensive error handling and logging mechanisms within all applications to ensure data integrity and facilitate quick issue resolution.
  • Write and maintain thorough technical documentation for all developed code, systems, and processes to ensure knowledge transfer and maintainability.
  • Provide ongoing end-user support, training, and troubleshooting for all deployed VBA tools and applications, acting as a subject matter expert.
  • Analyze existing workflows and business processes to proactively identify opportunities for automation and efficiency improvements.
  • Manage the full software development lifecycle (SDLC) for automation projects, from initial concept and design through to deployment, testing, and maintenance.
  • Conduct rigorous unit testing, integration testing, and user acceptance testing (UAT) to ensure the quality and accuracy of all deliverables.
  • Perform peer code reviews to enforce coding standards, share knowledge, and ensure adherence to development best practices across the team.
  • Manage version control for VBA projects to track changes, collaborate with other developers, and maintain a history of revisions.
  • Automate the generation and distribution of critical financial, operational, and management reports, significantly reducing manual effort and risk of error.
  • Create data validation and cleansing scripts to improve overall data quality and reliability for downstream analysis and reporting.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Expert-level proficiency in VBA programming for both Microsoft Excel and Access.
  • Deep understanding of the Excel and Access Object Models for advanced application control.
  • Advanced skills in core Excel features, including complex formulas, PivotTables, Power Query, and dynamic charting.
  • Strong proficiency in writing and optimizing SQL queries to interact with relational databases (e.g., SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL).
  • Hands-on experience with database connectivity libraries such as ActiveX Data Objects (ADO) and Data Access Objects (DAO).
  • Proven ability to design and implement complex UserForms and customize the Office Ribbon UI.
  • Solid understanding of software development principles, data structures, and algorithms.
  • Experience with ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) processes and data warehousing concepts.
  • Familiarity with other scripting or object-oriented languages (e.g., Python, C#, .NET) is a significant advantage.
  • Knowledge of modern business intelligence and data visualization tools like Power BI or Tableau.

Soft Skills

  • Exceptional analytical and problem-solving skills with a logical, data-driven approach.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to explain technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
  • Meticulous attention to detail and a strong commitment to delivering high-quality, accurate work.
  • Proven ability to manage multiple projects simultaneously and prioritize tasks effectively in a fast-paced environment.
  • A proactive, self-starting attitude with the ability to work independently and take ownership of projects.
  • Strong interpersonal skills and a collaborative spirit for working effectively with cross-functional teams.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent professional experience in a relevant field.

Preferred Education:

  • Master’s Degree in a quantitative or technical discipline.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Computer Science / Information Technology
  • Finance / Economics
  • Business Administration / Management Information Systems
  • Engineering

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3-7 years of dedicated experience in VBA development and business process automation.

Preferred: Demonstrable experience in a financial services, consulting, or data-intensive corporate environment is highly preferred. A portfolio of past automation projects is a strong plus.

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