Senior Business Analyst in Leeds

Hippo is looking for experts in business analysis who enjoy working with different kinds of teams. As a senior consultant here, you will be a leader, guiding both people and teams. You will also know how to use different ways of working to clearly explain what a business needs to our various clients.

As a Senior Business Analyst at Hippo, you will:

• Look closely at challenges and suggest different ways to improve existing services or create new ones, giving clear and helpful advice.
• Use visual tools to show how processes work and find ways to make them better, with clear benefits.
• Lead workshops with teams and the people we work with to agree on goals and solutions.
• Build and maintain strong, long-lasting relationships with our clients and stakeholders.
• Work with designers to create and test early versions of products, making sure they solve user problems.
• Help with and attend research sessions, using what we learn and data to guide your thinking and explain business decisions.
• Work closely with Product Owners and Delivery Managers to plan and keep track of what the team will work on.
• Find and use the best ways of working for projects and measure how well they work.
• Encourage the use of Agile business analysis methods to deliver useful products and services.
• Coach and guide your colleagues and other team members.
• Be an active part of Hippo's Business Analyst profession by sharing good ideas, going to events, and writing for our blogs.
• Be willing to travel occasionally to meet clients for business analysis work.

Skills and experience that you need:

• Analytical and critical thinking.

We're looking for someone who:

• Can look carefully at information from different places, figure out what it means, and suggest what to do, choosing the best approach for the team.
• Confidently shares what they've found and why with the project team and senior people involved, using facts and evidence.
• Can answer questions from people with little help from the team.

It would also be great if:

• You can share your findings in different ways (like presentations or reports) and know which way is best.

Requirements Gathering and Management:

We're looking for someone who:

• Manages the process of figuring out what's needed for a project using different methods and knows who to talk to.
• Can guide other team members and Business Analysts on how to choose the best ways to figure out what's needed for a project.
• Manages the documents that explain what's needed, including important rules the project needs to follow.
• Takes responsibility for making sure the team has a clear understanding of what needs to be done and can decide which things are most important, asking others to help when needed.

It would also be great if:

• You can encourage other team members to follow the best ways of working.

User-Centred Design:

You'd be great for this role if:

• You can give advice on how to design things with the user in mind and explain the Business Analyst's role in this.
• You can work well with designers, influence how user research is planned, and question the research methods used.
• Are familiar with service design standards, such as the Government Digital Service (GDS) standards or equivalents.

It would also be great if:

• You can coach and guide other Business Analysts on the best ways to focus on the user and the Business Analyst's role in that.

Modelling Methods & Techniques:

We're looking for someone who:

• Can clearly document how processes work or information is structured in complex projects and choose the best visual tools to use.
• Can find, measure, and understand ways to make business processes better or identify problems in complex situations.

It would also be great if:

• You can coach others on how to choose and use the best methods or how to approach making processes better.

Working with Clients:

We're looking for someone who:

• Manages their work by always focusing on what the client needs and making sure the solutions we create meet those needs.
• Understands and clearly defines what clients need and presents a clear and complete plan.
• Understands and uses the knowledge of others, using your network to figure out client problems and come up with new solutions.
• Helps to grow our relationships with clients on existing projects.
• Regularly checks and prioritizes their own work and knows when to change priorities if needed.

It would also be great if:

• You can recognize when there might be disagreements and know the best way to handle them.
• You can work with others to make sure the project plan fits the client's budget and goals.
• You can help new team members get started on a project.

What makes us great:

As well as a competitive salary which we're transparent about from the outset, you can also expect a range of benefits:

• Contributory pension scheme (Hippo 6% with employee contributions of 2%)
• 25 days holiday plus UK public holidays
• Perkbox access for a wide range of discounts
• Critical illness cover
• Life assurance and death in service cover
• Volunteer days
• Cycle-to-work scheme for the avid cyclists
• Salary sacrifice electric vehicles scheme
• Season ticket loans
• Financial and general wellbeing sessions
• Flexible benefits scheme with options of: private health cover, private dental cover, additional company pension contributions, additional holidays (up to an extra 2 days), wellbeing contribution, charity contributions, tree planting.

Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at Hippo:

At Hippo, we are dedicated to creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace that works for everyone. We understand that having a diverse team unlocks our capacity for innovation, creativity and problem solving. Only by building a community of diverse perspectives, cultures and socio-economic backgrounds can we create an environment where all can contribute and thrive.

We actively encourage applications from underrepresented groups including women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+, neurodivergent and people with disabilities. We are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment process that reflects our workplace culture. We are a registered Disability Confident Employer, Mindful Employer, Endometriosis Friendly Employer and a member of the Armed Forces Covenant. Hippo continually strives to remove barriers, provide accommodations and offer reasonable adjustments to ensure equity throughout our practices.

Hippo locations:

We are headquartered in Leeds and have offices across the UK in Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, London, and Bristol. We are looking for top talent nationwide but you need to be located within reasonable travelling distance from one of our offices which will be your contracted office location. Given the dynamic nature of a consulting business, you may be required to work on-site at a Hippo office or at an in/out of town client location for a number of days per week (client dependent) and therefore candidates will need to be open/flexible to travel. We also offer a generous relocation support package of up to £8k (please ask for terms and conditions) to help make your move a smooth one.