Position: Business System Analyst
Duration: Multi-year engagement
Location: HYBRID (Boston, MA)
Extension: Highly possible
Hours/wk: 37.5 hrs /week

Position Summary:

The client is seeking a Senior Business Analyst to lead business and system analysis of technical, often complex, and highly visible agency projects one of their departments. The Senior Business Analyst (BA) will work very closely with program managers, division leaders, and other key stakeholders to document detailed business requirements. The BA will then conduct thorough gap analyses and break down those business requirements into stories and tasks. The BA will guide our product throughout the software development lifecycle, collaborating with Project Managers, Technical Leads and Agency Leads, to drive the requirements elicitation process and the execution of complex software development within targeted deadlines.
The ideal candidate will have strong experience working as a conduit between the business and the development team to identify and document requirements. The ideal candidate must be able to conduct thorough business process analysis to understand workflows and systems, document current processes and systems, create documentation for new processes such as Business Requirements Documents (BRD), Software Requirement Specifications (SRS) documents, and Functional Requirement Specifications (FRS) documents, develop use cases and user stories, and manage requirement changes. The candidate should have very strong communication and organizational skills, attention to detail and problem-solving skills. Furthermore, the candidate must possess a strong technical acumen with the ability to translate information and research into non-technical language as necessary to effectively communicate across teams. The candidate would also help with software quality assurance (QA) through different phases of software development, test, and production releases. The candidate should be able to work on multiple projects at the same time and handle multiple timelines.

Candidate must demonstrate:

• A proven track record to lead complex software engineering projects.
• The ability to lead requirements gathering sessions with business stakeholders.
• Ability to document these requirements in MS Visio, JIRA, MS Excel, etc.
• Full comprehension of all business requirements, demonstrated by the ability to accurately communicate them back to business stakeholders and technical teams.
• Very strong written and verbal communication skills.
• A calm and reassuring demeanor and well-developed negotiation skills.
• A sense of ownership and self-motivation.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Work with stakeholders to research, understand, and document business processes and requirements using common tools such as JIRA, Visio, SharePoint, and MS Office Suite.
• Analyze and document current state vs future state using UML methodologies.
• Work with software solution architects to communicate business needs, understand solution capabilities and constraints, and assist in documenting/translating solution architect visions to business partners.
• Independently lead and document requirements-gathering sessions.
• Using agile methodology, create and maintain business requirements documentation.
• Create clear organized user stories. Document detailed system specifications.
• Collaborate with UI/UX designer to develop UI specifications.
• Contribute to business analysis process maturity and governance programs.
• Perform software QA through Development, Test and Production release phases.
• Create test cases during the development process.
• Help execute tests through all phases.
• Document test results for development team and stakeholders.
• Work with development teams to analyze bugs and errors found.
• Work with project managers to execute deliverables throughout all phases of software delivery.
• May need to coordinate with Network and Infrastructure teams.
• Perform other duties related to software delivery as needed, including training end users.

Qualifications:

• Experience: 4 years of relevant experience working in technology as Business Analyst.
• BS/MS or a 4-year degree in a related field is preferred, although candidates with more than 10 years of BA experience may substitute experience for this requirement.
• Business Analysis Skills: Deep understanding of business processes, requirements gathering, and documentation is essential. Senior Client should be skilled in conducting stakeholder interviews, facilitating workshops, and translating business needs into technical requirements.
• Communication Skills: Strong verbal and written communication skills are necessary for effectively conveying complex technical concepts to non-technical stakeholders (and vice versa) and collaborating with cross-functional teams.
• Problem-solving Abilities: Senior Client should be adept at identifying and solving business problems using analytical thinking and critical reasoning. They should be able to propose innovative solutions that align with both business objectives and technical constraints.
• Business Process Improvement Skills: Proven skills in breaking down and optimizing complex business processes.
• Proven experience leading and documenting requirements-gathering sessions and developing user stories.
• Strong working knowledge of software development, Waterfall and Agile (Scrum, Kanban) methodologies.
• Demonstrated ability to prepare User Stories, Process Flows, BRDs, FRDs, Use Cases and Data Mapping documents.
• Must be able to prepare acceptance test plans, test cases, and QA processes and work directly with end-users to ensure that application functionality meets requirements.
• Experience with Jira is preferred. Experience with Smartsheet is a plus.
• Certifications: While not mandatory, certifications such as Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP) or Professional Scrum Product Owner (PSPO) are a plus.

Desired Skills:

• Adaptability and Learning Agility: The technology landscape is constantly evolving, so a willingness to learn new tools, methodologies, and industry trends is crucial for staying relevant and effective in the role.
• Effective negotiator with the ability to successfully balance business needs with IT time and resource constraints and arrive at mutually acceptable outcomes.
• Comfort working in a fluid environment where visions and requirements may change.
• Must be able to work independently, or direct technical staff with a collaborative, hands-on approach.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously.
• A customer-first approach when working with others.
• Some background in environmental issues, energy, or government preferred but not required.