Senior Business Analyst

Job Title: Senior Business Analyst

Location: Springfield, IL.

Consultants must work onsite at the office full-time for the first 30 days, then transition to a hybrid schedule of two onsite days (Wednesday and Thursday) per week.

Duration: 2 years

No. of FTE's: 1

Job Summary:

We are seeking a Senior Business Analyst with a minimum of five years of experience capturing business requirements from a variety of sources and translating them into detailed user stories and acceptance criteria for development teams. The role also requires at least five years of experience supporting User Acceptance Testing (UAT), along with a minimum of three years working with Product Owners or Data Owners to review and understand existing system functionality. Strong experience in writing and executing test cases is essential. This position offers the opportunity to play a key role in delivering accurate, high-quality software solutions through close collaboration with business and technical teams.

Key Responsibilities:

• Requirements Elicitation & Documentation (5+ years experience):
  • Lead and facilitate comprehensive business requirements gathering sessions, workshops, and interviews with a wide array of stakeholders, including executive leadership, product owners, data owners, and end-users.
  • Analyze complex business processes, workflows, and data flows to identify current state challenges and future state opportunities.
  • Translate diverse business needs into detailed, unambiguous, and technically feasible user stories, functional specifications, and non-functional requirements.
  • Define precise and measurable acceptance criteria for each user story, ensuring clarity for development teams and alignment with business expectations.
  • Utilize various elicitation techniques (e.g., prototyping, use cases, process modeling) to ensure a thorough understanding of requirements from multiple perspectives.
• User Acceptance Testing (UAT) Management & Support (5+ years experience):
  • Plan, coordinate, and facilitate all phases of User Acceptance Testing (UAT), serving as the primary liaison between business users and the development team during testing cycles.
  • Develop comprehensive UAT strategies, test plans, and test scripts to validate that implemented solutions meet defined business requirements.
  • Provide expert guidance and support to UAT participants, assisting with test execution, defect logging, and issue resolution.
  • Track UAT progress, manage defect backlogs, and ensure timely resolution and retesting of identified issues.
  • Facilitate stakeholder sign-off on UAT completion, ensuring solutions are fit for purpose prior to deployment.
• Functional Analysis & Collaboration with Product/Data Owners (3+ years experience):
  • Collaborate extensively with Product Owners and Data Owners to gain a deep, nuanced understanding of current system functionalities, data structures, and existing business processes.
  • Analyze existing data and system behaviors to inform new feature development and identify potential impacts or dependencies.
  • Act as a subject matter expert on current system capabilities, providing insights and context to development teams.
  • Proactively identify gaps, inconsistencies, or areas for improvement in existing functionalities and propose solutions.
• Test Case Development & Execution (3+ years experience):
  • Design, develop, and maintain detailed, comprehensive test cases based on user stories, acceptance criteria, and functional specifications.
  • Execute test cases rigorously, documenting results and identifying discrepancies or defects.
  • Collaborate with Quality Assurance (QA) teams to ensure test coverage, consistency, and alignment with overall testing strategies.
  • Utilize defect tracking systems to log, prioritize, and manage issues through resolution.

Required Skills & Qualifications:

• Minimum of 5 years of extensive professional experience in capturing diverse business requirements from various stakeholders and expertly translating them into clear, actionable user stories and precise acceptance criteria for software development teams.
• Minimum of 5 years of dedicated experience in supporting, facilitating, and managing User Acceptance Testing (UAT) cycles, including test planning, execution, and defect management.
• Minimum of 3 years of focused experience working collaboratively with Product Owners and Data Owners to thoroughly review, analyze, and understand current system functionalities and business processes.
• Minimum of 3 years of practical experience in meticulously writing and executing detailed test cases to validate software functionality and ensure quality.
• Proven expertise in Agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban) and their application in requirements management.
• Exceptional analytical, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills with a strong attention to detail.
• Superior verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical and business concepts clearly and concisely to diverse audiences.
• Strong interpersonal skills, with a proven ability to build rapport and foster collaborative relationships with stakeholders at all levels.
• Proficiency with requirements management tools (e.g., Jira, Azure DevOps, Confluence) and test management tools.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Relevant certifications (e.g., CBAP, CSPO, CSM).
• Experience with data analysis and basic SQL querying for data validation.
• Familiarity with UI/UX principles and their impact on user experience.
• Experience in a specific industry relevant to our business (e.g., Finance, Healthcare, E-commerce).
• Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Information Systems, Computer Science, or a related field.