Group Business Analyst (BA)

The Marlborough Group is a successful investment business that manages over £15 billion for over 200,000 clients and employs some of the UK’s most respected fund managers. The Group has its headquarters in Bolton and offices in London, Lichfield, Peterborough, Bristol and Dublin. The Group employs more than 150 people across its business lines.

Marlborough Group’s success has been built on a reputation for excellence in active fund management, with the Group leading the way in industry expertise, service quality, product understanding and added value for our investors. As we continue with our ambitious growth plans, we are looking for talented people who share our values and will grow and develop as financial services professionals.

In addition to receiving a comprehensive benefits package, successful candidates will join a team who are committed to collaborative working in an environment where personal and professional development are genuinely valued. We are open for this role to be based out of any of our office locations on a Hybrid working basis.

Role Purpose

This position is a pivotal role which serves as a strategic bridge between the Project Management Office (PMO) and the broader organisation, providing data-driven insights and analysis to enhance project management efficiency, improve decision-making, and support organisational goals.

Key Responsibilities

• Application of Business analysis tools, techniques, and supporting the duties of various project methodologies alongside the Programme Management Office (PMO).
• Explore different solutions, their risks, benefits and impacts.
• Lead, negotiate and influence challenge, drive necessary change, provide business/user support and user training where necessary.
• Collect, analyse, and interpret project data from various sources (e.g., project management tools, financial systems, and performance metrics).
• Develop and maintain comprehensive reports and dashboards to track project progress, identify trends, and measure performance against key performance indicators (KPIs).
• Provide actionable insights to stakeholders, highlighting areas for improvement and opportunities for optimisation.
• Detailed consideration from all angles and performing gap analysis to ensure that the solutions provided are thorough, robust, and effective.
• Handling/Lead, participate and contribute to the duties of a Scrum Master when required.
• Facilitating scrum activities e.g., Sprint planning, daily scrum, backlog refinement, sprint review/retrospective meeting etc.
• Exploring how the organisation is currently operating via research, which could include interviewing employees and collecting quantitative data.
• Identify and analyse inefficiencies in project management processes, methodologies, and tools.
• Collaborate with Senior Executives, PMO leadership, and project teams to develop and implement process improvements that enhance efficiency, reduce risks, and improve overall project outcomes.
• Working closely with the project stakeholders including external service/product providers as well as the technical team to deliver test scenarios, requirements, specifications, and other functional documentation.
• Facilitate communication and collaboration between stakeholders to ensure alignment and support for project initiatives.
• Maintenance of procedures for standardised and robust work practices.
• Consider customer needs and challenge what are not in their best interests.

Requirements

• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills with an informed and evidence-based approach.
• Experience of writing requirements and producing and owning project documents.
• Ability to clearly and accurately document details for tasks and projects.
• Highly organised, self-motivated, with excellent attention to detail.
• Good knowledge of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel and PowerPoint).
• Strong understanding of business processes and IT systems.

Beneficial Skills:

• Good knowledge of Microsoft Project and Visio.

Essential Qualifications:

• A degree or relevant qualifications or experience.

Beneficial Experience:

• Completed or working towards Investment Operations Certificate (IOC) or prepared to undertake this qualification on joining.
• 1 year + Experience of working in both waterfall and agile development environments.
• Experience with industry recognised business improvement methodology/tools.

Personal Qualities:

• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to talk and present to a wide range of audiences.
• The ability to work under pressure on multiple projects and tasks within assigned timeframes.
• The ability to build and maintain strong ongoing working relationships with all project stakeholders.
• An enthusiasm to deliver business improvement with a "can do" attitude.
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team.
• Great team player.
• Good listener.

Other Information

• Competitive salary with annual salary reviews.
• 25 days annual leave plus statutory bank holidays with the ability to buy/sell up to 5.
• 9% non-contributory pension.
• Annual discretionary bonus scheme.
• Private Healthcare Scheme with optical care and dental care.
• Death in Service at 5 x annual salary.
• Training for IOC and other relevant qualifications.