Position Classification Description

Position Class Code / Title: A4029 / Business Analyst,Sr
Recruitment Tier: Tier 1
FLSA: Exempt
Grade: 14

This is a description of a Staff Position Classification. It is not an announcement of a position opening. To view descriptions of current openings, please go to UNMJobs and Search Postings to view positions that are currently accepting applications.

The following statements are intended to describe, in broad terms, the general functions and responsibility levels characteristic of positions assigned to this classification. They should not be viewed as an exhaustive list of the specific duties and prerequisites applicable to individual positions that have been so classified.

Summary

Serves as liaison among senior-level stakeholders in order to understand the structure, policies, and operations of an organization, and recommends solutions to enable the organization to achieve its goals. Performs enterprise-level analysis with senior university stakeholders to transform indirect organizational knowledge, unarticulated business needs, and abstract wishes and desires into concrete requirements. Works across university divisions to identify, obtain and translate disorganized information into a form that can drive creation of relevant and practical solutions to enterprise-level organizational problems. Responsible for the execution of high-profile analysis projects as delegated by senior leadership. May coach, mentor, and/or supervise other business analysts.

Duties and Responsibilities

  1. Conducts analysis with senior university stakeholders, plans the execution of business analysis tasks and communication, updates or changes the approach to business analysis as required; assesses effectiveness of and continually improve business analysis practices.
  2. Identifies and defines business needs and opportunities for improvement, develops the business case, understands organizational culture and structure, determines solution approach, and defines the solution scope.
  3. Develops advanced business analysis within a significant segment of the university where the advice given and decisions made will have a measurable impact on the effectiveness of the organization.
  4. Determines requirements using workshops, interviews, document analysis, requirements workshops, surveys, site visits, business process descriptions, user stories, scenarios, task and workflow analysis, prototyping, focus groups, and use cases.
  5. Establishes the contribution that technology can make to business objectives, defining strategies, validating and justifying business needs, conducting feasibility studies, producing high-level and detailed business models, preparing business cases, overseeing development and implementation of solutions, taking into account the implications of change on the organization and all stakeholders.
  6. Evaluates information gathered from multiple sources, reconciles conflicts, segments high-level information into details, and abstract up from low-level information to a general understanding.
  7. Progressively elaborates the stated requirements to sufficient level of detail that accurately defines the business need within the specified solution scope. Validates that requirements meet the business need. Verifies that requirements from other business analysts are of acceptable quality and maintainability.
  8. Documents business, task, and workflow processes using industry standard methods including business process descriptions, use cases, scenarios, diagrams, flow charts, etc., ensuring that these deliverables can be used to design a solution to the stated business problem.
  9. Assesses solutions to ensure that strategic goals are met and requirements are satisfied, including assessment of RFP responses, internal designs, test cases, test plans, and manual procedures. Defines acceptance criteria, identifies defects, and defines and validates corrective actions. Assesses organizational readiness for the solution. Develops metrics and key performance indicators to align solution with desired business outcome.
  10. Confirms that stakeholders have a shared understanding of requirements. Manages conflicts and issues to resolution. Obtains needed approval of solution requirements. Ensures that stakeholders have access to business analysis work products. Uses communication methods appropriate to senior executive stakeholders. Manages requirements traceability and oversees the entire requirements management process.
  11. Collaborates with developers and subject matter experts to establish the technical vision and analyzes tradeoffs between usability and performance needs.
  12. Serves as liaison and resource to project managers, developers, and other project team members throughout each phase of the process to help clarify and/or resolve issues related to requirement, design, testing and acceptance specifications.
  13. Collaborates with project managers in project scoping and planning.
  14. Guides senior management towards accepting change brought about through process and organizational change. Serves as a leader to demonstrate the utility of business analysis to the university community and promotes the value of business analyst work.
  15. Performs miscellaneous job-related duties as assigned.

Minimum Job Requirements

  • Successful completion of at least 60 college-level credit hours; at least 7 years of experience directly related to the duties and responsibilities specified.
  • Completed degree(s) from an accredited institution that are above the minimum education requirement may be substituted for experience on a year for year basis.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required

  • Strong organizational and critical thinking skills
  • Advanced experience with quality frameworks such as ITIL, Six Sigma, etc.
  • Knowledge of project management practices
  • Ability to develop and deliver presentations to senior stakeholders
  • Teamwork and interpersonal skills
  • Skill in fact-finding and data collection
  • Strong analytical and product management skills to include effective documentation
  • Business process and data modeling
  • Ability to lead and facilitate meetings and groups
  • Strong verbal and written communication skills.
  • Ability to interpret and evaluate client informational needs and to determine appropriate alternative solutions
  • Broad IT Domain expertise, particularly applications architecture
  • Business Domain expertise or the ability to rapidly gain domain expertise
  • Conflict resolution and negotiation skills
  • Experience with strategic planning and business case development
  • Applications design experience
  • Ability to consume and clarify large amounts of information

Distinguishing Characteristics

    Position requires: a) regularly communicating to and working with senior executive stakeholders; b) managing requirements traceability, and overseeing the entire requirements management process; c) understanding organizational culture and guiding senior management towards accepting change brought about through process and organizational change; 3.Develop advanced business analysis within a significant segment the university where the advice given and decisions made will have a measurable impact on the effectiveness of the organization.

Working Conditions and Physical Effort

  • No or very limited physical effort required.
  • No or very limited exposure to physical risk.
  • Work is normally performed in a typical interior/office work environment.

The University of New Mexico provides all training required by OSHA to ensure employee safety.

Revised Date: 03/20/2017