Project Manager/Business Analyst

Role summary

We are seeking a Manager-level PM/BA to lead business analysis and day-to-day project delivery for one of our clients. This role is highly client-facing and will partner with client and project leadership to translate an Excel-based pricing process into a scalable web application with clear requirements, prioritized backlog, and effective delivery governance.

You will serve as the bridge between business stakeholders (Estimating, Sales Ops, Finance) and the delivery team (engineering, data/integration, QA), ensuring scope is well-defined, decisions are documented, and the solution meets acceptance criteria.

Core responsibilities

Delivery leadership (PM)

·       Own the plan-to-deliver lifecycle: kickoff, detailed plan, sprint cadence, RAID log, status reporting, and stakeholder management.

·       Produce and maintain clean delivery artifacts including project plans, weekly status reports, and executive-ready decks/presentations.

·       Run client-facing ceremonies: discovery workshops, backlog grooming, sprint planning, demos, and retros.

·       Drive scope clarity and change control: convert fuzzy asks into decisions, document assumptions, and manage tradeoffs.

·       Proactively manage delivery risks and change impacts: maintain a RAID/change log, surface issues early, propose mitigation options, and align stakeholders on decisions and next steps.

·       Maintain an integrated delivery plan across product, engineering, QA/UAT, and integration workstreams.

·       Partner closely with internal project leadership (e.g., delivery lead and solution architect) to keep the team operating effectively—facilitate alignment on priorities, unblock issues, help resolve conflicts, and escalate concerns early with recommended options.

Requirements & analysis (BA)

·       Lead requirements elicitation with Estimating leadership and cross-functional stakeholders.

·       Translate business needs into epics/user stories, process flows, acceptance criteria, and non-functional requirements.

·       Define the data and rules needed to replicate pricing logic (including Excel-based calculations and validations) and ensure traceability from requirement → implementation → test.

·       Support UX workflow definition (wizard steps, grid interactions, approvals, exports) and ensure alignment to user personas.

Quality, testing, and adoption

·       Own UAT planning and execution: test scenarios, scripts, defect triage, re-test coordination, and sign-off.

·       Define acceptance criteria for: calculation accuracy (vs. Excel baseline), approvals, versioning/audit, integrations, and export file formats.

·       Partner with the team on cutover readiness: training materials, release notes, and launch checklist.

Integration & data alignment

·       Coordinate requirements and testing for inbound/outbound integrations (e.g., customer master sync, pricing exports, email notifications, SSO).

·       Define and validate data mappings (source fields, transformations, reference data/lookup tables) and ensure error-handling expectations are understood.

Key deliverables (what “good” looks like)

·       A prioritized product backlog with well-written user stories and acceptance criteria.

·       Clear process maps and decision logs for the new workflow.

·       A defined MVP scope and phased roadmap with measurable outcomes.

·       A complete UAT package (test plan, scripts, scenarios, defect log) and documented sign-off.

·       Consistent weekly status reporting with risks, issues, dependencies, change impacts, and next steps.

Required experience

·       7–12 years in combined PM Business Analyst roles (or equivalent), ideally on custom application builds.

·       Strong facilitation skills: running workshops with senior stakeholders, navigating ambiguity, and driving decisions.

·       Experience delivering data-driven web applications with workflows, approvals, and reporting/exports.

·       Proven ability to write crisp requirements (stories, ACs), manage a backlog, and support an engineering team.

·       Comfort with Excel-heavy business logic and translating spreadsheets into system rules.

Required skills

·       Agile delivery (Scrum/Kanban), sprint planning, and backlog management (Jira/Azure DevOps preferred).

·       Requirements methods: user stories, use cases, BPMN/process mapping, and traceability.

·       Testing leadership: UAT planning, scenario design, defect triage.

·       Strong communication: executive-ready status updates, concise documentation.

·       Basic technical fluency: APIs, data integration patterns, relational concepts, authentication/SSO concepts.

Nice-to-have experience

·       Printing/manufacturing, estimating, pricing, or ERP/MIS integrations.

·       Experience with export formats and template-driven outputs (CSV/XLSX/XML/PDF).

·       Experience validating calculation engines against a “golden source” (e.g., Excel comparison testing).

Working model & expectations

·       Contract role supporting a cross-functional delivery team.

·       High interaction with client stakeholders; expects a confident, structured facilitator.

·       Ability to operate with partial information, drive clarification, and document decisions quickly.

Screening questions (for agency)

1.     Describe a project where you translated complex Excel/spreadsheet logic into an application—what artifacts did you produce?

2.     How do you structure UAT for a rules-heavy system (calculations workflows)?

3.     Tell us about a time you managed scope creep with senior stakeholders.

4.     What tools have you used to manage agile delivery and requirements?

5.     Any experience with ERP/MIS integrations, pricing engines, or file-based exports?