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Job description

Senior Business Analysts (SBAs) within the CoE will have a varied role, the exact content of which will shift according to the context of the project/programme at hand and the EA’s wider business change and transformation agenda. They will report to the Head of the CoE and will be responsible for planning and delivering a wide range of consultancy-style assignments to enhance and standardise project and programme management and practice right across the EA. When operating centrally within the CoE they will deliver specific assignments which may include advising and supporting non-specialist EA staff in the scoping, design and initiation of their projects/programmes. Other assignments may involve the development and roll out of project/programme management training components and/or standardised project/programme management resources and templates. Other assignments may involve reviewing and quality assuring existing project/programme processes and outputs across the EA. When deployed to work full-time on a project within the EA, CoE SBAs may be required to take on key project roles such as leading a particular workstream or specialist analytical team. .

Responsibilities

• Line manage employees aligned to the business analyst functional area;
• Lead and support specialist project/programme teams in the effective and efficient operation of projects, programmes and services;
• Work with project/programme managers to establish, maintain and communicate a clear and compelling strategic direction for the relevant project/programme;
• Provide analysis and reports that can inform policy and strategic direction using formative and summative information which will guide the development of future service models;
• Contribute to the CoEs strategic planning, management and continuous improvement;
• Ensure effective and rigorous quality assurance systems are in place to maintain high standards;

Skills and Qualifications

Essential Skills

• Hold a Bachelors Degree (UK Qualification and Credit Framework Level 6) or an equivalent or higher qualification AND three years demonstrable experience of successfully scoping and delivering technical and business requirements
• for large scale or complex projects or programmes, including contributing to the preparation of complex business cases OR have five years demonstrable experience of successfully scoping and delivering technical and business requirements for large
• Demonstrable experience working with internal and external stakeholders to achieve targets/objectives and meeting challenging deadlines on complex projects
• Demonstrable experience using a range of techniques to engage with internal and external stakeholder including interviews, workshops and secondary research to elicit and analyse relevant business information, eliciting requirements
• and producing quality requirement documents, including process models and data models
• Functional knowledge of a broad range of modelling and analysis tools and techniques to enhance requirements analysis
• Functional knowledge of PRINCE2 and Managing Successful Programmes (MSP) or other comparable project/programme management methodologies

Desirable Skills

• Demonstrable experience of successfully delivering complex service improvement projects and/or programmes within a public sector environment
• Hold a widely recognised business analysis/process improvement qualification (e.g. Six Sigma)
• Be formally certified or accredited in a widely recognised project/programme management methodology (e.g. PRINCE2 or MSP)

Further Information

Base location to be agreed on appointment. Suitable applicants not appointed to an immediate vacancy will be placed on a reserve list valid for one year and may be offered similar appointments at the EA’s discretion during that period. A full list of responsibilities, essential and desirable skills can be found on the Education Authority website. The Education Authority is an equal opportunities employer.

Application Information

Please apply via this link: https://eani.taleo.net/careersection/jobdetail.ftl?job=22004190&lang=en (copy and paste this link into your browser).