What is a Business Analyst?
Business Analysts help organisations understand problems and make effective changes. You investigate how work is done, listen to the people involved and identify what an improved process or digital solution needs to achieve. You connect business and technical teams, turning needs into clear requirements. You could work across many sectors, supporting changes to services, systems and ways of working.
Your responsibilities
- Investigate business problems and opportunities for improvement
- Use interviews, workshops and research to understand stakeholder needs
- Map current and proposed processes, identifying gaps and opportunities for improvement
- Define and prioritise business, user and data requirements, including what a solution must do and how well it must perform
- Compare options and explain their costs, benefits, risks and impacts
- Support business acceptance testing against agreed requirements and acceptance criteria
- Maintain requirements, record agreed changes and keep stakeholders informed
What You'll need
Core skills
- Active listening and effective questioning
- Analytical thinking and an interest in business processes
- Clear written and verbal communication
- The ability to work with people with different perspectives
What You'll Gain
Transferable skills
- Facilitating discussions and reaching shared understanding
- Researching problems before proposing a solution
- Comparing options and explaining recommendations
- Managing priorities and adapting to changing requirements
What You'll Use
Key skills
English
- Write precise requirements, process descriptions and meeting records
- Present recommendations and check that stakeholders understand them
Maths
- Compare costs, benefits, timescales and performance measures
- Use percentages and estimates to assess proposed improvements
IT
- Use process mapping, spreadsheets and collaboration software
- Record requirements and understand how digital systems support business needs
Role opportunities
These are some possible roles you may consider in your career journey. Discuss with your Inspiro Coach for further guidance.Â
Other related routes
National Careers Website
The National Careers website is a government database that provides information for a job you are looking to explore.
Digital and IT Sector Roles
Use our Sector Roles map to see if there is a role within your chosen sector that you are interested in.
Resources
Career Development Handbook
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to download the
career development handbook
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