Business Analyst

About the role

We are looking for a Business Analyst to join our Transformation department in Bristol or London. This newly created role will support our Transformation Portfolio, a firmwide initiative to redesign how we work: to improve workflows, deliver change in a coordinated way, and build the foundations needed to be a leading AI‑enabled law firm. This is more than just deployment of new tools: it is a continuous evaluation of our operating model, and the absorption of AI into everything we do.

Your role plays a key part in the successful delivery of the firm's transformation portfolio. Working across strategic business, process, technology, data and operating model initiatives, you will partner with stakeholders to identify business needs, analyse current and future state processes, define requirements, support solution design and ensure that change initiatives deliver measurable business value. You are the bridge between business stakeholders, subject matter experts, technology teams, vendors and programme leadership, ensuring that transformation initiatives are aligned with strategic objectives and are delivered in a controlled, effective and sustainable manner.

What will you do

Main duties and responsibilities

• Elicit, analyse, validate and document business requirements using appropriate techniques.
• Facilitate workshops, interviews and stakeholder sessions to understand business challenges and opportunities.
• Translate business needs into clear requirements, user stories, process models and acceptance criteria.
• Support the definition of project scope, objectives and success measures.
• Maintain requirements traceability throughout the project lifecycle.

Business Process Improvement

• Analyse current‑state business processes, systems, data flows and operating models.
• Identify inefficiencies, risks, duplication and opportunities for improvement.
• Design future‑state processes that align with business objectives and strategic transformation goals.
• Develop process maps, operating models and business capability assessments.
• Support the implementation of standardised and scalable ways of working.

Transformation Delivery

• Work alongside programme managers, project managers, solution architects and subject matter experts to support delivery.
• Contribute to business case development, benefits definition and benefits realisation activities.
• Assist in evaluating solution options and recommending approaches based on business value, feasibility and risk.
• Support planning activities including impact assessments, dependency analysis and change readiness assessments.
• Identify and manage business analysis risks, issues and assumptions.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Build strong working relationships with stakeholders across legal practice groups, business services and technology teams.
• Facilitate decision‑making by presenting analysis, options and recommendations in a clear and structured manner.
• Manage stakeholder expectations throughout the delivery lifecycle.
• Act as a trusted advisor to programme and business leaders.

Testing & Implementation Support

• Support the development of test scenarios, business acceptance criteria and test plans.
• Coordinate business user testing activities where required.
• Support deployment, training and adoption activities.
• Assist with post‑implementation reviews and lessons learned exercises.

Governance & Documentation

Produce high‑quality project artefacts including:

• Business cases
• Requirements specifications
• User stories
• Process maps
• Decision logs
• Impact assessments
• Benefits realisation plans
• Operating model documentation

Ensure governance standards, methodologies and documentation practices are consistently applied.

Requirements

• Proven experience as a Business Analyst within transformation programmes, strategic change initiatives or major systems implementations.
• Strong requirements gathering and stakeholder management skills.
• Experience facilitating workshops and leading business analysis activities.
• Demonstrable process mapping and business process improvement experience.
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving capability.
• Experience producing clear and concise documentation for senior stakeholders.
• Ability to communicate complex concepts to both technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Experience working across multiple workstreams and priorities.
• (Desirable) Law and or professional services experience.
• (Desirable) Understanding of project lifecycle methodologies such as Prince 2 and IT best practice frameworks such as ITIL.
• (Desirable) Understanding of Enterprise Resource Planning tools (ideally Workday, Intapp and Elite 3E).

Personal Attributes

• Strategic thinker with a focus on delivering business value.
• Highly collaborative and relationship‑oriented.
• Curious and able to challenge constructively.
• Organised, proactive and self‑motivated.
• Comfortable operating in ambiguity and managing change.
• Strong attention to detail with excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Other requirements

• Flexibility and a willingness to work additional hours on occasion as required. As Simmons & Simmons is an international business, some working outside of normal U.K. hours (for example, to lead project meetings with international groups) or travel may be necessary.

Career level

The career level assigned to this role is level 3. The career level framework provides a formal structure for the business services functions at the firm. The framework, which ranges from level 1 to level 7, clearly defines the responsibilities, skills and competencies required at each level.

Equal opportunities

We are committed to fostering equality, diversity and inclusion within our firm and to ensuring equal employment opportunities. We believe that this commitment creates a vibrant and rewarding work environment. We are therefore committed to:

• Upholding equal opportunities, regardless of race, ethnicity, religion, belief, age, disability, sexual orientation, sex, gender re‑assignment or gender identity, marital status, or pregnancy, including maternity and paternity. This commitment extends to addressing any instances of perceived or associative discrimination and harassment, and to ensuring fair treatment during recruitment and selection processes for those who have served in the armed forces and their families.
• Accommodating requests for flexible working arrangements whenever possible.
• Making our roles accessible to individuals with diverse abilities. If you need reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know so we can meet your needs.
• Offering a range of employee networks to support our colleagues. More information about these networks can be found in the D&I booklet that candidates are sent when invited to interview.

We encourage you to apply even if you don’t meet every single requirement. Your unique experiences and perspectives could be a great addition to our team. We reserve the right to close this vacancy early if we receive sufficient applications for the role. If you’re interested in finding out more about this position, please contact the Recruitment Team. To apply for the role, visit our careers page for more details.