Lead Business Analyst - Databricks Migration

Lead Business Analyst – Databricks Migration

Overview

The Lead Business Analyst will play a pivotal role in driving a large‑scale data platform modernization initiative, leading the analysis, planning, and execution of a migration to Databricks. This role blends strategic thinking, hands‑on analysis, and cross‑functional leadership. The ideal candidate brings deep experience with cloud data platforms, strong business acumen, and a proven track record guiding complex data transformation programs.

Key Responsibilities

Program Leadership

• Serve as the primary liaison between business stakeholders, data engineering teams, architecture, and project leadership throughout the Databricks migration.
• Translate business goals into clear requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria aligned with the target Databricks architecture.
• Lead discovery workshops to assess current‑state data processes, pain points, and dependencies.
• Drive prioritization, roadmap planning, and backlog management for migration workstreams.

Business & Data Analysis

• Conduct detailed analysis of existing data pipelines, ETL processes, data models, and reporting workflows to determine migration scope and complexity.
• Document current‑state and future‑state process flows, data mappings, and functional specifications.
• Identify opportunities to optimize data quality, governance, and performance as part of the migration.
• Partner with data engineers to validate technical feasibility and ensure requirements are accurately implemented in Databricks.

Stakeholder Management

• Communicate progress, risks, and decisions to executive sponsors and cross‑functional teams.
• Facilitate alignment across business units with differing priorities and data needs.
• Support change management activities, including training, documentation, and user adoption planning.

Quality Assurance & Delivery

• Define test strategies and acceptance criteria for migrated data pipelines and analytics products.
• Coordinate UAT cycles, ensuring business validation and sign‑off.
• Monitor delivery milestones and proactively address blockers to keep the migration on track.

Required Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience as a Business Analyst, Product Owner, or similar role in data‑focused environments.
• Willingness to travel (company funded) once a month to Ohio.
• Hands‑on experience supporting or leading a Databricks migration or modernization of a legacy data platform.
• Strong understanding of cloud data ecosystems (Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud Platform), including data lakes, ETL/ELT, and analytics workflows.
• Ability to interpret complex data flows and translate them into clear business and technical requirements.
• Excellent communication, facilitation, and stakeholder‑management skills.
• Experience working in Agile environments.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with Delta Lake, Unity Catalog, and Databricks notebooks/workflows.
• Background in financial services, healthcare, retail, or other data‑intensive industries.
• Experience with data governance, data quality frameworks, or MDM.
• Certification in Agile, Scrum, or Business Analysis (CBAP, PMI‑PBA)