Business Analyst
Role Summary
The Business Analyst will play a pivotal role in bridging the gap between business stakeholders and technical teams. The individual will be responsible for understanding and analyzing business needs, defining solutions (both process and technical), and ensuring that project deliverables align with business objectives while minimizing risk. The role will involve collaborating across multiple departments and working with stakeholders at all levels to ensure successful project outcomes. The Business Analyst will contribute to the design, development, and delivery of robust solutions that enhance business processes and optimize the use of technology.
Key Responsibilities
- Research & Situational Analysis: Conduct research and documentation reviews to critically evaluate the internal and external conditions that affect the organization or business unit, identifying opportunities and current challenges to the business unit, services or products.
- Performance Metrics: Develop and implement performance metrics to measure the success of a process change or solution implementation. Establish baselines before testing and rollout of proposed changes. Conduct post-implementation reviews to confirm objectives achieved and benefits realized, identifying unexpected benefits achieved.
- Requirements Gathering & Analysis: Conduct in-depth analysis of business processes, systems, and needs by engaging with stakeholders to gather detailed requirements and translate them into clear and actionable business and functional requirements. Capture, analyze and document the current state of existing processes and define proposed future states, including documenting the results of conducted gap analysis to achieve the desired future state.
- Business Process Improvement: Thoroughly analyze existing business processes, identify areas of improvement, and recommend solutions to enhance efficiency, streamline operations, and improve business performance, including opportunities for automation and digitization. Ensure proposed processes within identified solutions are optimized and required controls are in place. Define and deliver on process strategies to identify “best fit”.
- Solution Design & Development: Collaborate with business and IT teams to design and propose optimized process and technical solutions that meet business needs, ensuring alignment with overall business strategy and project objectives. Conduct solution evaluation activities at applicable phases in its development to verify the business needs have been satisfied and identify recommended changes that will maximise the value of the solution and improve its performance.
- Impact Analysis and Risk Management: Assess the impact of proposed changes to systems, solutions and users, identifying potential risks and challenges. Assess and develop strategies for risk mitigation associated with the proposed changes. Develop data models to analyze and illustrate the potential impact of change on different aspects of the organization or system.
- Project Management Support: Work closely with project managers to define scope, objectives, and deliverables. Participate in project planning, risk management, and issue resolution activities to ensure project timelines and objectives are met.
- Cross-Segment Collaboration: Collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop and implement process and solution improvement initiatives, utilizing techniques such as focus groups and brainstorming, and customer journey mapping exercises.
- Stakeholder Communication & Management: Conduct comprehensive stakeholder analysis, including the development of stakeholder maps and communication plans. Deliver effective communication strategies and establish strong relationships with key stakeholders throughout their lifecycle to secure buy-in and approval for proposed changes. Act as the liaison between business and technical teams, ensuring clear communication to meet both functional and technical requirements. Provide regular updates to stakeholders on project status and potential risks. Support organizational change management activities to ensure smooth adoption of new processes and systems by preparing stakeholders, fostering buy-in, and managing expectations.
- Testing & Validation: Assist in developing and executing test plans to ensure that solutions meet the defined requirements. Support user acceptance testing (UAT) and troubleshoot any issues identified during the testing phase.
- Documentation & Training: Develop and maintain detailed documentation, including business requirements, process flows, and user manuals. Facilitate training sessions for end-users to ensure they can effectively use new systems and processes.
- Data Analysis & Reporting: Provide data analysis and reporting capabilities to inform decision-making. Identify trends and insights that help the business make informed decisions and improve operations.
- Cross-Team Collaboration: Engage with Process Analysts, Project Managers, Change Managers, Technical Leads and other Business Analysts on projects and other business-as-usual (BAU) initiatives to effectively deliver of required objectives for solution and process improvement design and deployment. Foster a team approach throughout the project to ensure the delivery of optimized solutions and support adoption by end users.
Critical Skills & Qualifications
Education & Experience
- Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Information Systems, Computer Science, or a related field. A master’s degree is a plus.
- 3+ years of experience in business analysis, with a focus on both process and technical solution delivery.
- Experienced working on agile and/or waterfall projects across diverse industries, including finance, retail, and healthcare, with a strong preference for the financial sector.
Technical Skills
- Strong knowledge of business analysis methodologies (e.g., BABOK).
- Proficiency in producing quality requirements and process deliverables (e.g., BRDs, use cases, user stories, process maps) and other related documentation.
- Proficiency in process mapping and modeling tools (e.g., Visio) and techniques (e.g., BPMN).
- Familiarity with project management tools (e.g., Jira, Trello) and enterprise systems (e.g., ERP, CRM).
- Understanding of technical concepts, including databases, APIs, and software development lifecycles (SDLC).
- Data analysis and visualization skills using tools such as Excel, Power BI, or Tableau.
Key Competencies
- Analytical Thinking: Strong ability to analyze complex business problems and develop innovative, value-driven solutions.
- Communication Skills: Excellent verbal and written communication skills to facilitate collaboration between diverse stakeholders and conduct interviews and elicitation activities.
- Problem-Solving: Proven ability to troubleshoot issues, find root causes, and drive solutions in high-pressure situations.
- Project Management Acumen: Ability to manage multiple projects, prioritize tasks, and deliver results in a fast-paced environment and within specified timelines.
- Stakeholder Management: Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build relationships with stakeholders at all levels of the organization.
- Written skills: Excellent writing skills with strong technical writing and articulation.
- Best practices: Knowledgeable of industry and business analysis best practices and their adaptation and applicability within differing environments.
Certifications (preferred but not required)
- Certification of Capability in Business Analysis (CCBA) or PMI-PBA certification.
- Agile/Scrum certifications (CSPO, CSM, IIBA-AAC, IIBA-CPOA).
Originally posted on Himalayas