Business analyst

Question

Business analyst

Accepted Answer

This describes the role of a business analyst and the skills required, including:

an introduction to the role, telling you what you would do in this role and the full list of skills
a description of the levels in this role, from trainee business analyst to head of business analysis, specifying the skills you need and the corresponding skill levels (awareness, working, practitioner, expert)

This role is part of the Digital, Data and Technology Profession in the Civil Service.

Introduction to the role of business analyst

Business analysts help teams to:

analyse and understand a business problem or opportunity
undertake research and analysis to understand how a business or business area works, considering the people, organisation, processes, information, data and technology
identify areas for improvement, explore feasible options, analyse the effects of change and define success measures
identify and elaborate user and business needs to enable effective design, development and testing of services and business change
make decisions related to prioritisation and minimum viable product by using analysis led insights
ensure new products and services meet business and user needs, and are aligned with organisational goals
understand any business and policy constraints that need to be considered, and assess the implications

Skills needed to be a business analyst

You will need the following skills for this role, although the level of expertise for each will vary, depending on the role level.

Agile working. You can demonstrate knowledge of Agile methodology. You can apply an Agile mindset to all aspects of your work. You can work in a fast-paced, evolving environment and use an iterative method and flexible approach to enable rapid delivery. You can appreciate the importance of Agile project delivery for digital projects in government. You can be unafraid to take risks and willing to learn from mistakes. You can ensure the team knows what each other is working on and how this relates to practical government objectives and user needs.
Business analysis. You can apply structured approaches to identify, investigate, analyse and communicate complex business problems and opportunities. You can analyse data and information relating to business goals, objectives, functions and processes. You can define requirements to improve processes, systems and services. You can conduct options analysis, assess feasibility and operational impact, quantify potential business benefits and contribute to business case development. You can ensure solutions align with the vision, objectives, business and user needs and provide the expected benefits and outcomes. You can work to enable all or part of the business to make informed, strategic and tactical decisions.
Business modelling. You can represent real world situations at varying levels of detail or complexity, to aid the communication and understanding of different scenarios (existing, proposed or conceptual). You can visualise processes, organisational structures, systems, data and roles and responsibilities, communicating clearly how they interact with one another.
Business process improvement. You can lead the analysis, identification, design, prioritisation and implementation of process and business changes to improve business operations and services. You can improve business performance by identifying where changes can be made and how technology can be used, defining the costs and benefits of new approaches, and establishing metrics of success. You can be involved in the implementation or management of business improvements.
Business process testing. You can apply business analysis and evaluation skills to support the design, execution and assessment of business process tests and usability evaluations. You can apply these skills to assess how appropriate the defined business process and end-to-end service are going to be. You can assess the efficiency, usability and impact of business processes and end-to-end services.
Consultancy (business analysis). You can provide advice, guidance and recommendations based on your specialist knowledge and experience. You can understand and address stakeholder and strategic business issues, framing problems so they can be easily understood and troubleshooting where required.
Enterprise and business architecture (business analyst). You can demonstrate a strong understanding of enterprise architecture and its subdomains, with a particular focus on business architecture. You can understand the organisational landscape and strategy of an organisation, and can support the creation of future state architecture aligned to strategy. You can translate business drivers, goals and constraints into business objectives. You can define required capabilities and support organisational changes to create operating models that meet business objectives. You can describe and influence relationships between organisational structures, processes, technology, people and skills within and outside of an enterprise, to achieve transition to the new state.
Methods and tools. You can use, define, tailor, implement and improve methods and tools. You can use the most appropriate tools and techniques to support the planning, analysis, development, testing, implementation and improvement of systems and services. You can advise on the best methodologies for the work, assess the effectiveness of different approaches (such as Agile or plan-driven) and recommend tools to support organisational collaboration. You can build capability in methods and tools, ensuring they are adopted consistently and used effectively.
Requirements definition and management. You can identify, analyse, challenge and validate business and user requirements. You can manage requirements throughout the whole delivery life cycle and ensure that requirements can be traced in the design, build, test, tender and evaluation phases, so that the solution aligns with business goals. You can co-ordinate and review the prioritisation of requirements, ensuring the solution works for key stakeholders and is within operational, budgetary, technical and regulatory considerations. You can assess the context of the work and apply appropriate methods (such as Agile or plan-driven) for managing the requirements life cycle. You can create and maintain documents to record the method used and support knowledge transfer and reuse.
Stakeholder relationship management (business analysis). You can identify, analyse, manage and monitor relationships with and between internal and external stakeholders. You can communicate with stakeholders clearly and regularly, clarifying mutual needs and commitments through consultation and consideration of impacts while focusing on user and business needs. You can understand how to develop or apply communication strategies to build relationships, using informal and formal channels to engage with stakeholders at all levels. You can resolve conflict where required to achieve the desired result.
Systems analysis. You can analyse IT system capabilities and requirements to inform the development of bespoke IT systems or software packages, ensuring technology solutions meet business requirements. You can work with other digital professionals to design user system interfaces, identify gaps in functionality and assess the effect of software changes, creating and iterating models and specifications for IT systems when required. You can understand business perspectives and technical concepts and can communicate between users, development teams and external suppliers. You can use techniques such as data modelling to identify and define data needs.
Testing (business analysis). You can support the testing of a technical solution to ensure it meets business and user needs, focusing on functionality and usability of software throughout the systems development life cycle.
User experience analysis. You can understand the importance of user experience and accessibility requirements. You can use user research to inform decision making and apply design principles to ensure the user interface is intuitive. You can be involved in the analysis, validation and prioritization of user needs and understand how needs tie to system, product or service requirements. You can balance user needs against business priorities.

Trainee business analyst

A trainee business analyst receives direction from more senior business analysts. At this level, you will work with others or under supervision to build and develop your skills.

Skills needed for this role level

Agile working. You can show an awareness of Agile methodology and the ways to apply the principles in practice. You can take an open-minded approach. You can explain why iteration is important. You can iterate quickly. (Skill level: awareness)
Business analysis. You can support structured approaches to identify, investigate, analyse and communicate complex business problems and opportunities. You can work under supervision to analyse business goals, objectives, functions and processes, using relevant information and underlying data to support the definition of requirements. You can help to ensure a proposed solution meets business and user needs. You can complete task-based, discrete outputs for parts of the project as directed, using predetermined methods and techniques. (Skill level: awareness)
Business process improvement. You can provide distinct task-based outputs, working under direction to support the design and implementation of process improvements and efficiencies to business operations and services. (Skill level: awareness)
Business process testing. You can work under direction to apply business analysis and evaluation skills to support the design, execution and assessment of business process tests and usability evaluations. (Skill level: awareness)
Requirements definition and management. You can support identifying, analysing, capturing and validating business and user requirements. You can work under supervision to manage requirements and support their prioritisation, within a defined scope. You can provide distinct task-based outputs for parts of the project as directed, using a predetermined requirements management life cycle. (Skill level: awareness)
Stakeholder relationship management (business analysis). You can identify, analyse, manage and monitor relationships with and between internal and external stakeholders. You can work under supervision to communicate with stakeholders clearly and regularly. (Skill level: awareness)
Systems analysis. You can support the analysis of IT system capabilities and work under supervision to identify and specify system requirements. You can support the development of specifications and models for bespoke IT systems or software packages. (Skill level: awareness)
Testing (business analysis). You can understand the stages and purpose of testing and have an awareness of tools and techniques used. You can work under supervision to support the representation of business scenarios and to trace requirements to develop functionality. (Skill level: awareness)

Junior business analyst

A junior business analyst receives direction from more senior business analysts but is responsible for the output of specific tasks. At this level, you will have limited skills and will work with others or under supervision. You will support stakeholder relationship management.

Skills needed for this role level

Agile working. You can demonstrate experience working in Agile, and an awareness of Agile tools and how to use them. You can advise colleagues on how and why Agile methods are used and provide a clear, open and transparent framework in which teams can deliver. You can adapt and reflect and be resilient. You can see outside of the process. (Skill level: working)
Business analysis. You can support structured approaches to identify, investigate, analyse and communicate complex business problems and opportunities. You can work under supervision to analyse business goals, objectives, functions and processes, using relevant information and underlying data to support the definition of requirements. You can help to ensure a proposed solution meets business and user needs. You can complete task-based, discrete outputs for parts of the project as directed, using predetermined methods and techniques. (Skill level: awareness)
Business modelling. You can demonstrate an understanding of basic business modelling techniques. You can support the representation of business situations, within the defined parameters of a task. You can visualise distinct business processes. (Skill level: awareness)
Business process improvement. You can provide distinct task-based outputs, working under direction to support the design and implementation of process improvements and efficiencies to business operations and services. (Skill level: awareness)
Business process testing. You can work under direction to apply business analysis and evaluation skills to support the design, execution and assessment of business process tests and usability evaluations. (Skill level: awareness)
Methods and tools. You can follow advice to apply the most appropriate tools and techniques to support the planning, analysis, development, testing, implementation and improvement of systems and services. (Skill level: awareness)
Requirements definition and management. You can support identifying, analysing, capturing and validating business and user requirements. You can work under supervision to manage requirements and support their prioritisation, within a defined scope. You can provide distinct task-based outputs for parts of the project as directed, using a predetermined requirements management life cycle. (Skill level: awareness)
Stakeholder relationship management (business analysis). You can identify, analyse, manage and monitor relationships with and between internal and external stakeholders. You can work under supervision to communicate with stakeholders clearly and regularly. (Skill level: awareness)
Systems analysis. You can support the analysis of IT system capabilities and work under supervision to identify and specify system requirements. You can support the development of specifications and models for bespoke IT systems or software packages. (Skill level: awareness)
Testing (business analysis). You can understand the stages and purpose of testing and have an awareness of tools and techniques used. You can work under supervision to support the representation of business scenarios and to trace requirements to develop functionality. (Skill level: awareness)
User experience analysis. You can understand the importance of making data-informed decisions based on user research findings. You can support the analysis and prioritisation of user experience needs and understand how needs tie to system, product or service requirements. (Skill level: awareness)