The Business Analyst III position is an advanced level position in the Business Analysis Department within Information Services. The Business Analyst III (BA III) role has interaction at all levels of the organization, and serves a key role within the organization to leverage IS Services to meet Business needs and objectives. Working closely with Senior Management and Business Line Managers, the BA III functions as a portfolio/relationship manager for Information Services by participating in strategic and tactical planning activities with business units to understand their vision and roadmap requirements, providing Business Opportunity documents where required. The role serves as one of the primary conduits for business areas to engage IS for large change requests. The position facilitates the negotiation of IS Services for approved projects and initiatives, working closely with all stakeholders to establish agreement for Service Level Objectives and prioritization that aligns with corporate goals and objectives.

This position requires proficient competency in all areas of business analysis techniques and disciplines. The BA III is accountable for managing the delivery of BA Services on large or increasingly complex projects which are mostly cross-functional in nature. The BA III must possess highly developed communication, negotiation, conflict resolution, change management and leadership skills; working closely with PMO resources to transform highly ambiguous environments with competing business priorities into a structured environment. The ability to think strategically, understand organizational implications and risks, and accelerate collaboration between business and technical resources for successful outcomes are key success traits for this role.

The BA III provides leadership to the Business Analysis Department by driving continuous improvement to standards and templates, mentoring the professional development of others, and fostering a culture of continuous improvement and commitment to maturing internal business analysis core competencies. This position is key to establishing and supporting a Business Analysis Centre of Excellence for Servus Credit Union.

Information Services Portfolio Management

• Understand strategic imperatives of the organization, and conduct needs analysis through participation in strategic and tactical planning activities with business units within their portfolio.
• Work with IS Architects to define architecture required to support the strategy and roadmap of business units within their portfolio.
• Identify and promote IS Services that can be leveraged to meet business needs and goals.
• Engage IS and Business Stakeholders to negotiate Service Level Objectives, priorities, and timelines that support the strategic and tactical priorities of the organization.
• Build and maintain positive relationships with business units within their portfolio by conducting regular visits to discuss quality of IS Services and opportunities for improvement and/or additional services.
• Support the IS Efficiencies department by providing feedback loop to identify areas that should be assessed and improved.
• Promote and support the understanding and adoption of IS standards as they apply to business resources through dialog, education, and facilitating a feedback loop into IS for continuous improvement.

Business Requirements Definition

• Understand strategic imperatives of the organization, and ensure requirements are aligned with strategic and tactical goals.
• Understand and be proficient in a full range of techniques for Requirements Management, including planning, eliciting, validation and documentation.
• Demonstrate ability to select and utilize most effective approach for each requirements gathering assignment.
• Demonstrate ability to effectively gather and document requirements for complex initiatives, and be accountable for the management and delivery of requirements on projects they are assigned to.
• Contribute to development of Requirements Management Strategy that includes tools, standards, templates, and processes that focus on efficient utilization of resources and continuous improvement.
• Facilitate cross-functional business requirement gathering sessions effectively, ensuring all stakeholders’ needs are addressed and represented as appropriate.
• Mentor less experienced BA’s through peer review, developing competencies within the team and ensuring quality of deliverables meet department standards.
• Research and analyze appropriate information and data necessary to accurately and effectively document and validate requirements.

Business Process Management

• Contribute to the development and adoption of a Business Process Framework that supports a business-centric approach to business process analysis and continuous improvement.
• Understand business process modeling notation and techniques, as well as process improvement methodologies and approaches.
• Work collaboratively with Business Analysts and Business Subject Matter Experts (SME’s) by facilitating process reviews to support accurate modeling of current state and/or future state, particularly for significant business process transformation initiatives that cross multiple functions and systems.
• Identify process strengths and weaknesses; research and recommend areas of improvement for overall productivity and efficiency.
• Understand business drivers of process improvement, and contribute to establishing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) that can be efficiently measured and are aligned with strategic goals and objectives.
• Improve upon existing approaches by seeking opportunities to creatively transform current business practices into enhanced alternative solutions.

Solution Recommendation, Testing & Implementation

• Foster alignment of objectives and solution approaches across discrete functional units by working with Architects and Business Leads to identify constraints/conflicts or opportunities to leverage existing technologies for improved integration across the organization.
• Conduct gap analysis effectively against solution alternatives, identifying functional gaps, risks, benefits and pros/cons that will contribute to the overall recommendation of a solution in collaboration with appropriate IS resources.
• Understand technical and functional design specifications.
• Assist in identification and definition of test scenarios and test conditions necessary to validate requirements.
• Support testing phase by participating in defect reviews as required and facilitating appropriate collaboration between business and technical resources for acceptable defect resolution.

Project Execution

• Work with Architects, I.S. experts, Project Managers and Business Owners to ensure business and technical implications and risks at an enterprise level are identified for mitigation and resolution on projects and change initiatives.
• Able to act as Business Analyst Lead on large and/or complex projects, working closely with Project Manager, Project Owner, and IS Lead to define scope, identify IS Services required and manage Business Analyst deliverables.
• Assist in enforcement of project scope, identifying and escalating change requests to Project Manager. Participate in negotiating change requests with Project Owner and IS Management as appropriate.
• Remain focused on the larger business needs/issues and work with Project Manager and Information Services Management to effectively remove obstacles that impact the project team’s ability to deliver based on defined success criteria.
• Develop and/or validate Requirements Gathering Plan appropriate for stakeholder needs and project objectives, and to support project schedule.
• Communicate progress and status of Business Analyst deliverables to Project Manager regularly, identifying impacts to project deadlines and schedules.
• Understand IS and project standards and applies them consistently.

Communication and Team Effectiveness

• Possess strong active listening and needs analysis skills. Promote active listening with team members.
• Manage group collaboration with business stakeholders, effectively facilitate senior level or cross-functional meetings and workshops and elicit meaningful input from all members of the group.
• Demonstrate above average communication and interpersonal skills through ability to accelerate collaboration between business and technical resources, successfully dealing with conflict resolution and consensus building.
• Control scope of own work effectively (prioritize, identify potential issues with estimates or deadlines early), recognize when assistance is required and will actively seek help.
• Communicate in a timely manner, escalate own issues and potential team issues appropriately to Senior Manager or Project Manager as appropriate.
• Prepare written business correspondence accurately that is coherent, grammatically correct, effective, professional and engaging.
• Strong presentation skills and ability to effectively adapt approach and content to demographic of audience.
• Promote and drive Peer Review of team deliverables, contributing to the development of consistent and effective documentation that adheres to team standards and templates.
• Effective team member within Information Services department, active participant and contributor in group discussions.
• Foster a culture of team collaboration and continuous improvement.

Support Development & Integration of Business Analysis Department

• Work collaboratively with Business Analysis team to develop and promote effective business analysis approaches and techniques appropriate for Servus that foster strong Business-Information Services engagement.
• Promote and support the development of greater understanding and expertise of business functional areas within the business analysis team.
• Support the transition from the current diverse relationship models between business and Information Services to a business analyst contact/relationship manager concept for each business area, and actively promote Information Services support and collaboration with business resources.
• Participate in the development and establishment of Business Analysis standards, procedures, and processes that support the general competencies outlined in the Business Analysis Body of Knowledge (BABOK).
• Participate in the development and deployment of new business analysis approaches and techniques, focusing on proactive involvement with all business areas in order to better understand their strategic imperatives and work collaboratively in the development of their strategic and tactical plans.
• Promote the sharing of business strategic directions within the Information Services team to ensure that these elements are included in the development of the Information Services strategic and tactical plans, and that maximum alignment is achieved between Information Services and all the other departments

Experience:

• A minimum of 8 - 10 years’ experience in a Business Analyst role with demonstrated ability to apply business analysis techniques to increasingly complex projects or initiatives.
• Experience with process modeling techniques and methodologies.
• Experience with all aspects of Requirements Management, with proven ability to oversee this process.
• Proven effectiveness in facilitation of senior and/or cross-functional groups.
• Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
• Working knowledge of Visio, ARIS or other modeling tools desirable.
• Working knowledge of Microsoft SharePoint desirable.
• Financial sector experience (preferably in banking) is considered an asset.
• Previous experience in a business portfolio management role considered an asset.

Education and Training:

• Post-secondary certification in Business Analysis strongly preferred, but combination of experience and education is also considered.
• Bachelor’s degree or diploma with Commerce, IT, Finance or Business Administration.

Licenses/Certificates:

• Business Analysis Citation or Certificate provided by International Institute of Business Analysts (IIBA) endorsed education provider.
• Certified Competency in Business Analysis (CCBA) or Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP) designation is considered an asset but not required.

Any other special requirements necessary to do the job:

May be required to work outside normal business hours to meet project deadlines or support implementations. Note that Servus operates a province wide network of over 100 branches in 62 communities, including 3 regional centres which may result in management of teams in geographical dispersed locations. Weekend or shift work, available to travel, etc.

The business may from time to time ask for branch and/or department support for special projects and/or areas experiencing staff shortages. All employees may be asked to volunteer to assist in areas of need during these times. These assignments could result in a change of hours, location, and/or travel.

Why Servus Credit Union? We live our values in how we do business and how we treat our employees. Servus Credit Union is one of Canada’s 50 Best Managed Companies. Servus is committed to being socially responsible and living the co-operative values. Through our operations, we strive to make a positive impact on our economy, the environment and society. We know that our employees are our most valuable assets so we offer ongoing growth and career advancement and we reward employees for their hard work and achievements.