Senior Business Analyst

Summary

A senior business analyst has a good understanding of strategic arenas and leads large or complex projects. At this role level, you will:

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

mentor others

develop best practice

own stakeholder relationships

manage community of practice activities within a business area

Background

Description	Background
Shows a holistic, analytical approach to situation investigation and problem definition. Has strong interpersonal skills and is confident in dealing with stakeholders. Is skilled in the use of a defined range of business analysis skills and techniques within the business change and software development lifecycles. Possesses a good understanding of business and business skills.	Prior Knowledge and Skills

Work Activity Components

Title	Details
Advice and guidance (Level 4)	Provides advice and guidance to support adoption of methods and tools, and the adherence to policies and standards.
Strategic context (Level 4)	Understands the strategic context for a complex business area and questions the appropriateness and alignment of decisions taken prior to and during the execution of change.
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.
Requirements baselines (Level 4)	Establishes the requirements baselines, obtains formal agreement to requirements, and ensures traceability to source. Investigates, manages and applies authorised requests for changes to baselined requirements in line with change management policy.
Problem definition (Level 4)	Uses a broad range of techniques to diagnose the root cause of a complex business problem and composes a statement setting out a clear definition of the problem.
Scope definition (Level 4)	Defines the objectives, boundaries and deliverables of complex changes to a business process, product or system and assists with the definition of scope for complex changes.

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.
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.
Teamwork	Working collaboratively with others to achieve a common goal.
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.	Familiar with

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.	Familiar with
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.	Proficient in
Function or Department Operations	The activities, structure, and position in the organisation of the functions or departments for which services are provided.	Familiar with
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.	Aware of
Standards Writing Techniques	Principles, methods and techniques for establishing, documenting, and maintaining standards.	Aware of

Training

Title	Details
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
Research Assignments	Exploring a topic which is not part of own normal responsibilities and presenting findings to colleagues and/or management	Increasing Knowledge
Gaining Knowledge of Activities of Employing Organisation	Developing an understanding of the potentially diverse range of activities (service, governance, administrative, regulatory, commercial, charitable, industrial, etc.) undertaken by the employing organisation.	Increasing Knowledge
Gaining Knowledge of IT Concepts and Techniques	Undertaking study, learning and, where possible, practice in IT concepts and techniques external to own function.	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

Organisational Skill Name and Description

Framework	Skill	Level
Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework	Agile working Agile delivery involves encouraging teams to build incrementally, test and iterate their work based on regular feedback and other useful data.	Practitioner Agile working You can: identify and compare the best processes or delivery methods to use, including measuring and evaluating outcomes help the team to decide the best approach help teams to manage and visualise outcomes, prioritise work and adhere to agreed minimum viable product (MVP), priorities and scope
Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework	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.	Practitioner Business analysis You can: advise on the approach to identify, investigate, analyse and communicate complex business problems and opportunities within a project or programme of work inform tactical decision making and help to define longer-term strategic plans recommend the approach to options analysis, feasibility assessment and operations, and can quantify potential business benefits ensure the proposed solution aligns with business goals and objectives, and business and user needs, and achieves the required outcomes and expected benefits
Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework	Business modelling Business architecture involves using industry standards to develop integrated views of an organisation that help implement organisational strategy and solve complex problems	Practitioner Business modelling You can: lead on the modelling of processes, systems and data at varying levels of detail or complexity across a project or programme manage the effects of proposed changes
Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework	Business process improvement Business modelling involves documenting how your business operates and intends to achieve its goals.	Practitioner Business process improvement You can: identify opportunities to improve business performance, within a project or programme lead the analysis, identification, design, prioritisation and implementation of process and business changes to improve business operations and services assess the feasibility of changes and recommend new approaches support the implementation of proposed business improvements
Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework	Business process testing Business process improvement involves analysing and modifying existing and new processes to make them more efficient.	Practitioner Business process testing You can: lead on the application of business analysis and evaluation skills to support the design, execution and assessment of business process tests and usability evaluations within a project or programme of work
Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework	Methods and tools Metadata management involves establishing policies and processes that ensure data can be accessed across an organisation.	Practitioner Methods and tools You can: build capability in methods and tools, ensuring they are adopted consistently and used effectively
Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework	Requirements definition and management Prototyping a service or product involves exploring, testing and sharing different concepts before committing to the final design.	Practitioner Requirements definition and management You can: advise on the approach to requirements management within a project or programme define the most appropriate requirements management life cycle methods and ensure the requirement can be traced in the design, build, test, tender and evaluation phases co-ordinate and review the prioritisation of requirements and engage in the negotiation of solutions to help meet programme objectives
Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework	Stakeholder relationship management (business analysis) Stakeholder relationship management involves managing stakeholder requirements and communications throughout a project, while remaining focused on the user needs.	Practitioner Stakeholder relationship management You can: influence stakeholders and manage relationships effectively build long-term strategic relationships and communicate clearly and regularly with stakeholders
Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework	Systems analysis Strategy involves creating a plan to achieve a team or organisation's objectives.	Practitioner Systems analysis You can: lead the identification and analysis of IT system capabilities, developing models and system requirements use systems analysis to support a deeper understanding of how processes and systems work, and to identify gaps work with other digital professionals to design and develop system and user interfaces, identify gaps in functionality and assess the effect of proposed software changes on users or the organisation
Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework	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
Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework	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

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