Lead Business Analyst in Harrogate

This role will be key in supporting the Group on the implementation of Business Change Projects while managing a team of business analysts. It will support the delivery of an ambitious agenda for the automation of business processes across the organisation. Individuals working in the role will be experienced ERP analysts that will work closely with business super users and the Business Transformation Programme. The individual will need to be self-motivated, have excellent interpersonal, technical, and analytical skills. A key requirement of this role will be demonstrable experience in delivering Operation Design (Business-Processes), process re-engineering and supporting business-change projects required, system integrations post acquisitions and group strategic projects.

Role Responsibilities

• Working with stakeholders at all levels to ensure business and IT improvements can make to achieving business objectives; defining strategies, agreeing and prioritising business requirements, conducting feasibility studies, producing both organisational-level and detailed business models, and overseeing the definition and implementation of holistic solutions.
• As a leader, you will take responsibility for the business analysis service provision for an organisation or business unit, where advice given, and decisions made will have a measurable impact on the profitability or effectiveness of the organisation.
• You’ll determine the value proposition for the business analysis function. You’ll define the roles and responsibilities for the business analysis staff, at all levels and grades.
• You will take an active part, together with other senior technical staff and specialised IT management, in IT policymaking and in both software and hardware procurement.
• You’ll act as an advocate for the business, ensuring the IT provision meets the strategic objectives of the organisation or business unit.
• You will recognise opportunities for the business from organisational and technological change and define change initiatives that will exploit such opportunities. You’ll ensure that business benefits are clearly defined, appropriately quantified and are managed through to realisation.

Additional Responsibilities

• As a Lead BA, you will advise and influence executive management throughout the business change lifecycle, ensuring that change initiatives are aligned with the strategy and enterprise architecture.
• To work with the business at all levels, assess problems and identify opportunities, progressing projects from concept, eliciting requirements, and proposing options.
• Constantly evolve company approach to business analysis and ensure we are using best available methodologies, tools, and processes.
• Allocate workload across your team for support, change and project, closely working alongside other stakeholders for support and project activities.
• Use your SAP knowledge and experience to build SAP configuration as a core competency in the team, and in the wider business.
• Ongoing reviews of business processes, digital customer/user journeys and developing optimisation approaches. Management of business analysis, procedural and training documentation documents; including creation, review, updating and maintenance.
• Workshop and presentation delivery are part of the day to day, ensuring new ideas and findings are communicated to stakeholders and the wider team.
• When required, you will support testing cycles with IT and business resource to ensure credible and fit for purpose solutions are delivered into the business, including the documentation of test traceability criteria, test cases/scripts and defect logs.

Key Measures of Performance

• KPI indicators from our platforms and projects/programmes including: Process optimization results.
• Incident management led KPIs: aged cases/on time closure.
• Project led KPIs: on time/ on budget etc o Quality effectiveness.
• Stakeholder Engagement feedback.
• Project management KPIs.
• Team management metrics include: Staff 121’s, appraisals, and reviews on time.

Skills & Personal Attributes

• Writing and presenting fluently and persuasively on all aspects of business analysis work will be a core skill of yours, while communicating effectively with external parties, executives, and staff at all levels.
• You’ll be an expert in applying techniques which help when investigating, analysing, modelling, and recording a business area or system of interest, including business environment analysis and process modelling.
• You’ll be an expert in methods and techniques for preparing and presenting business cases, requests for proposal (RFP) invitations to tender (ITT) and statements of requirements/work both verbally and in writing.
• Hand on experience and ability to conduct rigorous analysis and testing, utilising techniques such as Persona Development, Customer Journey Mapping, Requirements Engineering, Benefit Analysis, Change Impact Assessments, Pulse Surveys, Requirement Traceability, Test Cases/Scripts etc.
• Industry recognised Business Process related qualification.
• Team management and direct report related duties.
• Experience of agile or waterfall project delivery, and business analysis methodologies.
• Experience of reporting project updates to steering groups and stakeholders.
• Excellent verbal and written communication.

Experience & Knowledge

• The ideal candidate for this position would have worked within a Business Analyst position before where they have led a team, so is comfortable with leading meetings, holding 1-2-1's with the team and ensuring best practice is embedded.
• Since so many business processes are centred on our SAP ERP system, experience in using and configuring SAP is a must.

CMS believes that a diverse and inclusive workforce enriches and is integral to the success of our company. We value diverse opinions and perspectives, and therefore welcome candidates from all backgrounds including but not limited to, ethnicity, gender, age, nationality, culture, religious beliefs, sexual orientation and neuro-diversity.