Business Analyst

at Acxiom in Springfield, Illinois, United States

Job Description

The Business Analyst performs work as assigned (e.g., agile process execution, change management) within a workstream. The Business Analyst supports client engagements and internal business teams utilizing requirements management tools and techniques (e.g., user stories, backlog management) to solve business problems, issues, and opportunities in the context of business requirements throughout the delivery lifecycle. Analyzes business information, translates requirements into functional specifications, and champions client and/or internal business needs while balancing climate, priorities, capabilities, and constraints of client and Adobe environments.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

+ Holds discussions with stakeholders to understand their requirements and vision.

+ Translates requirements into business needs and works with the workstream owners, Program Managers & Adobe to create actionable development timelines.

+ Grooms the product backlog on the path to product scale based on the prioritization of user stories and development requirements.

+ Determines activities necessary to complete Requirements Management effort, including identification of stakeholders, and the selection of Requirements Management and business analysis techniques in accordance with the guiding principles of Adobe’s Delivery Methodology.

+ Organizes and synthesizes complex information provided by stakeholders, formulating information into business, functional, and non-functional requirements, documented in a correct, clear, concise, comprehensive, and cohesive format.

+ Develops a requirements management work plan to manage their own activities, priorities, tasks, deliverables, and schedule, in coordination with the Project Manager.

+ Effectively facilitates requirement sessions and uses a variety of elicitation techniques to obtain needed information from stakeholders to form business, functional, and non-functional requirements, including process mapping, JAD sessions, use cases, storyboards, prototyping, etc.

+ Understands business problems and opportunities in the context of requirements, and recommends solutions that enable the client to achieve its goals while balancing the climate, priorities, capabilities, and constraints of both client and Adobe.

+ Analyzes feasibility and resource changes as a result of requirements modifications through impact analysis reporting. Informs and advises affected parties of business impact.

+ Participates actively in the development of testing strategies and test plans to ensure requirements are validated accurately.

+ Manages conflicts, issues, and changes to requirements to ensure that stakeholders and project team remain in agreement on the solution scope, while working with the Project Manager.

Example assignments:

Agile Delivery: Support Value Analysts and Adobe program teams in developing and scaling the value scorecard. Discuss stakeholders’ requirements and product vision, translate these requirements into business needs, and collaborate with the Program Manager and Adobe to create an actionable development timeline. Groom the product backlog, prioritizing user stories and development requirements to ensure the product scales effectively.

Change Management: Support content creation, RACI development, and comprehensive change management and communications planning. This assignment would require expertise in requirements gathering and gap analysis, as well as the ability to produce business-level writing. A solid understanding of business processes and proficiency in communications and change management planning, along with skills in content design and creation.

INDIVIDUAL CONTRIBUTOR

+ Fully functional and self-directed.

+ Regularly leads self and established as a specialist. Sees the whole picture and adjusts work accordingly to Adobe’s Delivery Methodology, with a primary focus on the Requirements Management domain.

PRODUCT KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

+ Develops, maintains, and demonstrates comprehensive knowledge of clients’ and Adobe’s technical and business environments.

+ Considered as value-add by the customer to their business success.

+ Considered knowledgeable on the use of Adobe’s Delivery Methodology Requirements Engineering and Change Management procedures.

+ Considered knowledgeable of Adobe products, services, and solutions.

REQUIREMENTS PLANNING AND ELICITATION

+ Identifies requirements scope and deliverables and plans for requirements gathering accordingly.

+ Determines and utilizes appropriate requirements elicitation and management techniques based on the scope and nature of the project.

+ Forms and presents probing questions to elicit information necessary to define requirements.

+ Identifies and accurately captures information pertinent to solution requirements.

+ Determines when and how to modify approach and/or use alternative elicitation techniques.

+ Effectively describes the importance and value of requirements elicitation process mapping, JAD sessions, use cases, storyboards, prototyping, etc.

+ Participates in internal knowledge sharing discussions related to requirements planning and elicitation.

+ Contributes to the identification of process improvements related to requirements planning and elicitation techniques.

REQUIREMENTS WRITING AND MANAGEMENT

+ Self-directed during requirements management and/or documentation.

+ Organizes and synthesizes complex information to formulate business, functional, and non-functional requirements.

+ Documents requirements into an accurate, clear, concise, comprehensive, and cohesive work package.

+ Ensures functional requirements address the business needs.

+ Prioritizes requirements based on factors such as business value, cost to deliver, and time constraints.

+ Presents requirements in an understandable format to validate with stakeholders.

+ Contributes to ongoing improvement of requirements standards, reusable requirements, and requirements management techniques.

MEETING MANAGEMENT

+ Prepares agenda and materials to ensure meetings are effective.

+ Facilitates meetings and communicates effectively.

+ Uses considerable meeting management skills to keep discussions focused and organized.

+ Identifies areas of common agreement and uses negotiation skills to reach agreement in areas of conflict.

BUSINESS AND SOLUTION CONSULTING

+ Understands client’s business issues and goals related to Adobe products/solutions.

+ Occasionally recognizes opportunities beyond the underlying business needs and issues and contributes to consulting stakeholders in exploring these opportunities.

+ Able to conceptualize a solution and enable stakeholders to understand the solution’s capabilities, boundaries, dependencies, constraints, and assumptions from a business perspective.

+ The associate is expected to be able to interface with upper-level internal and client stakeholders and communicate effectively.

CONFLICT RESOLUTION

+ Recognizes conflicts and issues as they are encountered.

+ Facilitates discussion and agreement on handling conflicts.

+ Works with the Project Manager to ensure conflicts and issues are tracked to resolution.

BUSINESS ANALYSIS

+ Understands and effectively utilizes appropriate business analysis techniques to organize and synthesize large amounts of information into a simplified view.

+ Captures and illustrates stakeholder desires and/or current state using a combination of textual formats, models, diagrams, and matrices.

+ Ensures business goals are aligned to the underlying business needs and identifies gaps that may prevent the business from reaching goals.

+ Evaluates business processes based on a “big picture” view while also understanding the details related to each process step.

+ Demonstrates broad understanding of general business