Senior Business Analyst in Wokingham

About the Role

National Energy System Operator (NESO) recognises the potential of bright and talented individuals, and we encourage you to join us as Great Britain’s energy system undergoes an ambitious, exciting, and vital transformation to a cleaner, more sustainable energy future.

NESO Business Analysts perform a vital role in framing business outcomes for project delivery that support our transformation goals. As a Senior Business Analyst, you will be accountable for the successful articulation of business outcomes to corresponding technology, process, data, people and organisational needs. Your repertoire of business analysis approaches and methods (e.g. Agile, Waterfall, DevSecOps, Design Thinking, product / feature-led delivery) will provide structure and shape to deliverables.

Success in this role requires strong analytical, influencing, and stakeholder management skills, along with the ability to drive a customer- and user-centric approach. You will work closely with colleagues across the business and technical teams to ensure project scope and intended outcomes are respected, with a strong focus on quality and business acceptance of feature delivery. You will need to be comfortable providing constructive challenge to ensure we remain focused on delivering to our intended outcomes and strategic vision.

In this senior role, you will provide leadership, mentoring and coaching to junior business analysts. You’ll share your learnings and expertise across the wider NESO community of business analysts for continuous improvement and practice development. Your role may or may not have line management accountability, but positive relationship building is critical to the success of this role.

This role offers a unique opportunity to contribute to NESO's vision of becoming a digital leader in the industry and transitioning the UK to a low-carbon energy future.

This role is based in Wokingham or Warwick on a full-time basis. You will need to attend your primary office location at least 2-3 times per week. #

This role comes with the following travel expectations:

• Occasional travel to other NESO offices including Wokingham, Warwick, London and Glasgow
• Occasional travel for external conferences / seminars in the UK and abroad

We continue to offer hybrid working and are open to discussions around flexible working arrangements.

Key Accountabilities

Outcomes-Driven Business Analysis Delivery:

• Apply a range of analysis techniques to understand business needs, user requirements, and the relationships between people, processes, systems and data for both product-led and solution build delivery approaches
• Develop user and customer journeys, assess current and future business capabilities, and ensure solutions are user-centred, value-driven, and aligned to organisational objectives
• Translate business needs into clear requirements, create supporting artefacts and models, support testing and change activities, and help realise measurable business benefits

Stakeholder Engagement & Collaboration:

• Build strong relationships with stakeholders and work collaboratively across multidisciplinary teams to understand business challenges, identify needs, and deliver valuable outcomes
• Facilitate workshops and research activities, provide expert guidance on business analysis approaches and constructively challenge priorities and scope where necessary
• Ensure Delivery Managers are kept informed of progress, risks, issues, and dependencies throughout the delivery lifecycle.

Process Improvement and Digital Transformation:

• Support NESO’s Digital First strategy by driving digital transformation, identifying opportunities to improve business performance, and enabling the adoption of emerging capabilities such as AI
• Work closely with business change and delivery teams to ensure change is successfully embedded, operational considerations are addressed early, and risks are minimised
• Champion continuous improvement by developing consistent business analysis standards, frameworks and best practices that enhance delivery effectiveness and organisational capability

Knowledge Leadership and Community Development:

• Contribute to organisational capability and strategic success by fostering collaboration, knowledge sharing and continuous learning across the business
• Support the development of colleagues through coaching, mentoring and line management, while maintaining a strong understanding of NESO, its strategic priorities and the wider energy industry
• Use data-driven insights and industry best practices to help align delivery activities to business objectives and enable informed decision-making

Applicants must have the right to work in the UK by the start of employment. Visa sponsorship may not be available for this role and will be considered in line with business requirements.

About You

We’re forging the path, and we know we can’t do it alone. That’s why we need visionary minds like yours to join us on this transformative journey. In this case, we’re looking for someone who:

• Has strong experience of Business Analysis: using a wide range of tools, techniques and methods to elicit and communicate requirements – with a strong focus on user-centric approaches and a holistic approach
• Has wide experience of applications delivery: understanding what it takes to deliver a solution from discovery, development, testing, business change and deployment
• Is an excellent communicator: with an adaptive style across written, digital and verbal communication methods to convey complex ideas to a wide-ranging audience
• Is passionate about business outcomes: with a strong background in stakeholder engagement to drive outcome-based activities and focus on real value
• Takes the initiative: acting in a proactive and collaborative manner to deliver results, providing leadership to others
• Is a relationship builder: with an ability to develop and nurture strong relationships across multiple teams and act as a trusted partner in shaping delivery outcomes
• Is adaptable within a changing environment: as we take on this journey towards net-zero and through our digital transformation, we need someone who excels at adaptability to an ever-changing landscape where priorities may shift

Essentials

• Experience in BA tools and techniques including problem identification, root cause analysis, stakeholder engagement, journey mapping and solution evaluation
• A relevant bachelor’s degree or the equivalent digital, data and technology experience within the industry

Desirables

• Relevant industry knowledge, or understanding of critical operational environments within a regulated environment
• In addition to the standard background checks, ideal candidates would meet the criteria to apply for and maintain National Security Vetting clearance

What You'll Get

A competitive salary of £57,500 - £64,000 (circa) dependent on experience and capabilityAs well as your base salary, NESO's core benefits are the essential perks and advantages that form part of your employee package. - You will receive a bonus based on company performance- 26 days annual leave as standard - A competitive contributory pension scheme where we will double match your contribution to a maximum company contribution of 12%. - Annual Enrollment to NESO Savings Plan, when you save between £20- £500 a month from your take-home pay, we will pay a 50% matching contribution.

NESO's flexible benefits programme provides you with more flexibility around your health, lifestyle and protection benefits, here's just a few available:
- Flexible Bank Holidays & Holiday Trading
- Additional Birthday Day Off
- Cycle to Work Scheme, Retail & Gym Discounts
- Private Medical Insurance, Critical Illness Insurance & Personal Accident Insurance

About Us

At the National Energy System Operator (NESO), we play a vital role in tackling climate change and securing Great Britain's energy future. We already operate the world's fastest decarbonising electricity system and are working towards our ambition to run it carbon-free for a short period this year - provided the market supplies electricity exclusively from renewable sources. Alongside this, we provide expert advice to government on how to deliver a clean power system by 2030.

In autumn 2024, the Electricity System Operator (ESO) transitioned to become NESO - an independent, expert public corporation with a whole-system view across electricity, gas, and hydrogen. NESO operates independently and transparently, always acting in the best interests of all energy users.

Licensed and regulated by Ofgem, we make impartial decisions that balance sustainability, affordability and security. Our organisation is fully independent from government, the regulator and all commercial interests, with a clear focus on system-wide benefit, long term thing and public value.

The time to deliver is now. Join the energy transformation and help shape the future.
Your energy. Our future. Together

National Energy System Operator (NESO) recognises the potential of bright and talented individuals, and we encourage you to join us as Great Britain’s energy system undergoes an ambitious, exciting, and vital transformation. Together with industry, we are creating a cleaner, more sustainable energy future.

More Information

This role closes at 23:59, on the day before date shown above, however we encourage candidates to submit their application as early as possible and not wait until the published closing date as this can vary.

Research shows that some people may hesitate to apply unless they meet every single requirement. At NESO, we believe potential comes in many forms and we're committed to a fair, inclusive recruitment

We're committed to building a workforce that represents the communities we serve, and a working environment in which each individual feels valued, respected, fairly treated, and able to reach their full potential. If this role sparks your interest but you're not sure you tick every box, we still want to hear from you. process where everyone has the opportunity to show their talents. We celebrate the difference people can bring into our organisation, and welcome and encourage applicants with diverse experiences and backgrounds.