Lead Business Analyst

Summary

A lead business analyst has a good understanding of the enterprise arena and works in highly complex problem spaces, typically spanning multiple products or services. At this role level, you will:

be a leader in the business analysis community (across government and externally)

have functional management or people management accountabilities, or a combination of both

actively share knowledge and be seen as a go-to person in the field

mentor others

own the main stakeholder relationships

Work Activity Components

Title Details
Advice and guidance (Level 5) Provides advice, guidance and expertise to promote the adoption of methods and tools, their effective use and adherence to policies and standards. Ensures that new methods and tools migrate to effective operation by promoting understanding of the effects of new methods and tools among non-users, delivering education and training for those using, or affected by, methods and tools.
Policies and standards (Level 5) Contributes to organisational policies, standards and guidelines for methods and tools providing advice, guidance and expertise in the promotion and adoption of methods and tools in adherence to policies and standards.
Strategic context (Level 5) Understands the strategic context for the entire organisation or business domain and influences the delivery of strategically-aligned change.
Requirements baselines (Level 5) Establishes requirements baselines. Ensures changes to requirements are investigated and managed.
Development needs (Level 4) Supports the identification and prioritisation of development needs for a professional practice area. Identifies development activities that align with organisational priorities, learning and development strategies and career pathways.
Communities of practice (Level 4) Provides advice, guidance and, where appropriate, support for the establishment and organisation of communities of practice.
Problem definition (Level 5) Uses an extensive range of techniques to diagnose the root cause of a highly complex business problem, and composes a statement setting out a clear definition of the problem.
Scope definition (Level 5) Defines the objectives, boundaries and deliverables of extensive changes to a value stream, service or an entire business area or organisation.

Behavioural Skills

Title Details
Analytical Thinking Acquiring a proper understanding of a problem or situation by breaking it down systematically into its component parts and identifying the relationships between these parts. Selecting the appropriate method/tool to resolve the problem and reflecting critically on the result, so that what is learnt is identified and assimilated.
Conceptual Thinking Acquiring understanding and insights regarding the underlying issues in complex problems or situations through the development of abstract representations, the identification of patterns and the analysis of hypotheses.
Strategic Perspective Keeping organisational objectives and strategies in mind, and ensuring courses of action are aligned with the strategic context.
Commercial Orientation Understanding commercial considerations and ensuring alignment with them when making decisions or recommending actions.
Customer Focus Understanding the needs of the internal or external customer and keeping these in mind when taking actions or making decisions.
Organisational Awareness Understanding the hierarchy and culture of own, customer, supplier and partner organisations and being able to identify the decision makers and influencers.
Interacting with People Establishing relationships, contributing to an open culture and maintaining contacts with people from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines. Effective, approachable and sensitive communicator in different communities and cultures. Ability to adapt style and approach to meet the needs of different audiences.
Influence, Persuasion and Personal Impact Conveying a level of confidence and professionalism when engaging with stakeholders, influencing positively and persuading others to take a specific course of action when not in a position of authority.
Critical Thinking The ability to think clearly and rationally; review and evaluation of processes and outputs; the ability to engage in reflective and independent thinking; reasoned thinking involving critique.

Technical Skills

Title Details Depth
Corporate, Industry and Professional Standards Applying relevant standards, practices, codes, and assessment and certification programmes to the specific organisation or business domain. Proficient in

Other Skills

Title Details Depth
Value Chain Concepts Identification and representation of the primary and support activities required to deliver a product or service in order to analyse aspects such as inefficiencies and costs. Proficient in
Information Elicitation Techniques The selection and application of information elicitation methods, tools and techniques that are appropriate to the information required and the sources available. Expert in
Function or Department Operations The activities, structure, and position in the organisation of the functions or departments for which services are provided. Proficient in
Techniques for Effective Meetings Methods and techniques for running effective meetings and for understanding and influencing the roles played by participants. Familiar with
Coaching Techniques Methods and techniques for coaching individuals or groups by a balanced combination of support and direction, which could include use of virtual learning environments plus add-ons to augment feedback specific to work items, workflow or career plans. Familiar with
Standards Writing Techniques Principles, methods and techniques for establishing, documenting, and maintaining standards. Familiar with

Training

Title Details
Own Organisation's Systems, Products and Services Understanding of the organisation's systems, products and services to enable selling, support and development activities.
Facilitation Methods and techniques for managing (or facilitating) a meeting or group session (both face-to-face and online) and then through a series of planned activities the creation, by consensus, of products (e.g. lists of business issues, requirements, technical options, etc.).
Coaching Concepts, methods and techniques for providing coaching in subject specialisms to individuals or groups (e.g. GROW model).
Information and Data Modelling Tools and techniques used to investigate, analyse and model the structure, relationships and use of data and information within an organisation.
Mentoring Methods and techniques for providing mentoring support to less experienced individuals.
Benefits Management The process and technique applied to identify, quantify, monitor and review benefits in order that they are realised from a business or IT change initiative.
Security Awareness Tools and techniques to help users and employees understand the role they play in helping to combat information security breaches and for IT and security professionals to prevent and mitigate risk.

Professional Development Activity (PDA)

Title Details PDA Group
Deputising Standing in for supervisor or manager on a temporary basis during periods of absence. Broadening Activities
Job Shadowing and Special Assignments Undertaking temporary periods or secondments in other roles, particularly those that offer a new perspective on own function or exposure to other environments and cultures. Broadening Activities
Mentoring Acting as a mentor, advising those for whom there is no direct responsibility, on matters to do with their job role, career and professional development. Broadening Activities
Gaining Knowledge of Broader IT Issues Increasing and maintaining currency of knowledge of broader IT issues through reading, attending and participating in seminars or conferences, special studies, temporary assignments etc. Increasing Knowledge
Gaining Strategic Knowledge of Employing Organisation Developing a comprehensive understanding of the business environment in which the employing organisation operates and its position, policies and direction in relation to health and care, country and global issues. Increasing Knowledge
Participation in Professional Body Affairs Taking an active part in professional body affairs at branch, specialist group, committee or board level. Participation in Professional Activities
Negotiating and Influencing Undertaking learning and practice of negotiating with and influencing others. Developing Professional Skills
Team Leadership Undertaking learning and practice of the skills required to lead teams, including motivation, direction, coaching, delegation, appraisal, counselling and developing others. Developing Professional Skills

Qualification Components

Title Awarding Bodies
FEDIP Advanced Practitioner FEDIP - The Federation for Informatics Professionals in Health and Care
International Diploma in Business Analysis BCS - The Chartered Institute of IT

Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework Skills

Skill Level

Agile working

Agile delivery involves encouraging teams to build incrementally, test and iterate their work based on regular feedback and other useful data.

Expert Agile working

You can: coach and lead teams in Agile and Lean practices, determining the right approach for the team to take and evaluating this through the life of a project think of new and innovative ways of working to achieve the right outcomes act as a recognised expert and advocate for the approaches, continuously reflecting and challenging the team

Business analysis

Availability and capacity management involves ensuring services are available with as little down-time or disruption as possible, whilst making sure we have sufficient resources to support emerging business needs.

Expert Business analysis

You can:

  • set the direction for business analysis within a programme of work, enterprise or wider sector
  • guide tactical decision making and influence the formulation of longer-term strategic plans in an evolving, complex and unpredictable environment
  • give colleagues the means and authority to make decisions about their approach to business analysis activities
  • ensure that the proposed solutions align with the organisational strategy and vision

Business modelling

Business modelling involves documenting how your business operates and intends to achieve its goals.

Expert Business modelling

You can:

  • determine the scope and methodology for the representation of complex programmes across an organisation
  • document conceptual models to support strategic planning and decision-making

Business process improvement

Business process improvement involves analysing and modifying existing and new processes to make them more efficient.

Expert Business process improvement

You can:

  • identify opportunities and set direction within a programme to perform business activities
  • lead the exploration of ways to improve process efficiency and enhance business outcomes
  • help others recognise the potential for change in potentially ambiguous and complex projects
  • oversee the implementation of proposed improvements

Business process testing

Business process testing involves confirming that existing or new business processes are efficient and usable, from beginning to end.

Expert Business process testing

You can:

  • manage and support others in the design, execution and assessment of business process tests and usability evaluations at an organisational level or within a programme

Consultancy (business analysis)

Consultancy involves providing specialist advice to address stakeholder and business needs.

Working Consultancy (business analysis)

You can: provide advice, guidance and recommendations based on your specialist knowledge and experience propose methodologies to follow and approaches to implementation frame problems so they can easily be understood, and troubleshoot where required, to support the business in operating more effectively

Enterprise and business architecture (business analyst)

Enterprise architecture involves analysing how to achieve an organisation's objectives by designing and aligning its IT applications and technologies. Business architecture involves defining the business strategy, governance and most important processes of the organisation.

Working Enterprise and business architecture (business analyst)

You can: work with limited direction to translate business drivers, goals and constraints into business objectives help to define required capabilities and support organisational changes to create operating models that meet business objectives

Methods and tools

Metadata management involves establishing policies and processes that ensure data can be accessed across an organisation.

Expert Methods and tools

You can:

  • set direction and give others the means and authority to advise on the best methodologies and tools for the work, ensuring they are adopted consistently
  • assess the effectiveness of different approaches (such as Agile or plan-driven) and recommend tools to support organisational collaboration and build capability

Requirements definition and management

Prototyping a service or product involves exploring, testing and sharing different concepts before committing to the final design.

Expert Requirements definition and management

You can:

  • direct the approach to requirements management
  • enable others to select and apply appropriate life cycle methods
  • influence the prioritisation of complex requirement sets, enabling long-term strategic decision making and short-term tactical fixes
  • ensure the proposed solutions align with the organisational strategy and vision

Stakeholder relationship management (business analysis)

Stakeholder relationship management involves managing stakeholder requirements and communications throughout a project, while remaining focused on the user needs.

Expert Stakeholder relationship management (business analysis)

You can: develop engagement strategies and lead on communication with stakeholders at all levels actively establish relationships and apply the benefits of professional networks act as a point of consultation and escalation to resolve conflict in complex situations

Systems analysis

Strategy involves creating a plan to achieve a team or organisation's objectives.

Expert Systems analysis

You can:

  • set the direction for the identification and analysis of IT system capabilities
  • identify gaps in functionality and enable others to explore and assess the effect of software changes
  • demonstrate a strong understanding of business perspectives and technical concepts, and can bring them together to form recommendations and a common understanding
  • communicate this effectively between users, development teams and external suppliers

Testing (business analysis)

Testing involves ensuring that requirements have been fully met by using appropriate tools and techniques to verify that a product or service works.

Practitioner Testing (business analysis)

You can: recommend the value of testing and apply the relevant tools and techniques to ensure test validity advise on business scenarios and develop acceptance criteria to ensure requirements can be traced to develop functionality review prototypes, test plans and test outcome reporting

User experience analysis

Practitioner User experience analysis

You can: advise on the approach to analysis, prioritisation and validation of user experience needs recommend a range of techniques to analyse the user experience and ensure that it meets business and user needs articulate and communicate how user experience needs affect the design of a system in a project or programme of work

The Professional Body Responsible for this job family is BCS. This job role profile was created in collaboration with BCS, using Role Model Plus.

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