Lead Business Analyst

Description
Position Summary:
The lead business analyst oversees themselves and other business analysts in the business process analysis and execution of the collection, elicitation, and recording of business requirements for strategic project developments.
As part of elicitation, this individual will evaluate and analyze the business request to understand the business objective - what problem the business is trying to solve, or what opportunity they are trying to pursue. This information is then used to work with IT development to craft a solution which meets these objectives. They assist the business with user acceptance testing and evaluate concerns to identify if UAT feedback is a defect or a new enhancement.
The lead business analyst serves as an intermediary between business stakeholders, IT product management, other business analysts, and IT development. For this purpose, they work closely with senior business heads in the development and execution of program strategy and facilitate negotiations and settling of conflicting priorities that may arise between involved parties. They will lead large project work efforts and other BAs on the analysis tasks for the project.
To ensure everyone understands the problem, opportunity, requirement, solution properly, the lead analyst is able to use the most effective communication tool to represent the requirements. Additionally, they are able to extend communication preferences to stakeholders, and know which prefer email, text, or Teams messaging, and when to use the different styles to overcome roadblocks
They also complete initial scopes of product operation and recommends cost effective and time estimates for projects. They will assist IT demand planning with estimating analysis work effort and allocating BA resources against the pipeline.
As one highly knowledgeable on the job, they play the role of an adviser on new projects and makes adequate contribution to align to business goals to ensure project success. They can break-down complicated business requests into specific deliverables, and mentor other business analysts in the same critical thinking skills.
Role Specifics:
· Recommend and provide insight into the best techniques to use to clearly communicate requirements to both business stakeholders and product delivery teams. This could be ERDs, DFDs, workflows, business rules, etc
· "Own" the requirement initiative, managing it through the feasibility, requirements, solutioning, and quality assurance
· Record all process flows and requirements deliverables for an initiative.
· Facilitate all communications concerning the requirements process across both their own and their team's projects. Ensure successful requirement turnover to the development teams so they can plan their deployment work
· Facilitate customer meetings to ensure requirements and action plans are understood, agreed-upon, coordinated, and followed-up with a timeline.
· Record and contribute to performance and testing where needed for projects.
o Liaise with IT development and business units to identify and evaluate project requirements.
o Facilitate successful delivery of project requirements to meet client specification.
o Facilitate business UAT and testing plans and provide education as required.
o Ensure documented requirements are clear for training team to create adoption projects. Outline and administer requisite training when needed and make sure training needs for new projects are available.
o Ensure smooth transition from Project to Support with necessary documentation.
o Complete and document workflow mapping and re-design/improvement opportunities accordingly.
· Manage communication (and trust) between business and IT teams and identify the right communication tool for the message and urgency
· Works with sponsor, product management, and other business unit leads to prepare business case, project scope, assumptions, constraints, and identify the deliverables of the solution.
· Ensures sponsor's and stakeholders' expectations are clearly understood and managed to.
· Conducts project kick-off meeting with team members to explain roles/responsibilities, relationships with other groups, deliverables, timelines, assignments, and status reporting. Update and revise plan as necessary
· Mentor other business analysts and help build a strong team
· Allocate business analyst capacity against the business pipeline requests
· Asses change control procedures to effectively protect and manage project scope. Monitor to ensure the items approved are implemented and closed out.
· Identifies and drives resolution or escalation of issues. Facilitate problem resolution to remove blockers that are preventing project progression.
· Ensures quality of relevant deliverables and stage gate requirements.
· Exude energy and enthusiasm. Promotes and recognizes the contribution of team members and creates a positive work environment.
· Responsible to move requirements through lifecycle, and manage them from inception to deployment.
Education:
The role requires a bachelor's degree in MIS / Computer Science / Engineering / Technology / Business Administration or related experience in the job discipline.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
Proven experience of creating IT services/products that generate strategic impact for the function/business.
Visible passionate leader.
Broad working knowledge of multiple business functions and processes.
Understands & works with the organization's mission, operations, structure and goals.
Ability to manage critical feedback, changing priorities and a dynamic landscape with poise and professionalism.
Thrives in a fast-paced environment.
Equal Opportunity Employer/Protected Veterans/Individuals with Disabilities
The contractor will not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against employees or applicants because they have inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own pay or the pay of another employee or applicant. However, employees who have access to the compensation information of other employees or applicants as a part of their essential job functions cannot disclose the pay of other employees or applicants to individuals who do not otherwise have access to compensation information, unless the disclosure is (a) in response to a formal complaint or charge, (b) in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action, including an investigation conducted by the employer, or (c) consistent with the contractor's legal duty to furnish information. 41 CFR 60-1.35(c)