Business Analyst, CRM (12-Month Fixed-Term Contract)

Cognita; United Arab Emirates; Hybrid; AED 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Cognita is a global family of schools seeking a Business Analyst, CRM to shape how our CRM works for schools worldwide. You will drive the CRM capability from HubSpot rollout to ongoing enhancements, liaising with IT, marketing, admissions and regional teams across clusters.

This 12-month fixed-term contract involves gathering requirements, defining acceptance criteria and maintaining a live backlog aligned to the CRM product roadmap.

Qualifications

• Experience as a Business Analyst or similar requirements-gathering role.
• Strong skills in elicitation, process mapping and writing specs.
• Ability to write unambiguous functional requirements and acceptance criteria.
• Experience partnering with IT through solution design and UAT.
• Experience managing a requirements backlog and prioritising roadmap demands.
• Structured, impartial approach to facilitating trade-off discussions.
• Degree-level education or equivalent professional experience.
• Familiarity with HubSpot or similar CRM data models and configuration.
• Experience with Jira, Azure DevOps or Confluence.
• CRM experience in education or multi-site environments is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Gather and document CRM business requirements from stakeholders.
• Map current and future-state processes affected by CRM changes.
• Translate requirements into clear, structured IT specifications.
• Define acceptance criteria and test scenarios for UAT.
• Maintain a live, prioritised requirements backlog aligned to CRM roadmap.
• Lead trade-off conversations when release conflicts occur.
• Engage in solution design and UAT to ensure build meets criteria.
• Keep stakeholders informed and maintain a central requirements record.

Skills

Business analysis

Requirements elicitation

Process mapping

Functional specifications

HubSpot knowledge

CRM systems

Jira

Azure DevOps

Confluence

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

HubSpot

Jira

Azure DevOps

Confluence

Job description

Business Analyst, CRM (12-Month Fixed-Term Contract)

Cognita is a global family of 86 schools across 21 countries, with more than 100,000 students, 22,000 colleagues, 14 curricula and 9 languages of instruction. Our strength lies in our diversity. There is no single model of a Cognita school because education is inherently local. When families choose a school, they are making a deeply personal and community-based decision, and our schools reflect this.

What unites us is a shared ambition to deliver consistently high-quality education, alongside an exceptional experience for students and parents. We define this clearly through group-wide standards that articulate what “great” looks like, while allowing schools the freedom to express their local identity.

We have recently launched a new vision and strategic plan. It is ambitious and sets a clear direction for the years ahead.

Job Overview

Help shapehow CRM works for schools around the world
Cognita is aglobal community of schools committed to making a lasting difference ineducation. We believe great schools are built by great people, and we want youto help build the CRM capability that supports them.
This is a role atthe heart of how our CRM platform evolves, from the HubSpot global rolloutthrough to ongoing enhancement.

Contract Type: Fixed-Term Contract (12 Months)

What you’lldo

• Gather and document business requirements from CRMand Commercial stakeholders, acting as the formal intake channel for theCRM product roadmap
• Map current and future-state processes where achange affects how CRM is used, not just what it does
• Translate requirements into clear, structuredspecifications for IT’s Solutions Architect
• Define acceptance criteria and test scenarios to bevalidated at UAT
• Maintain a live, prioritised requirements backlogaligned to the CRM product roadmap
• Assess business impact and lead fair, structuredtrade-off conversations when requests compete for the same release
• Stay involved through solution design and UAT,confirming that what IT builds meets the agreed criteria
• Keep stakeholders informed of status and decisions,and maintain a central record of requirements and process definitions sorationale isn’t lost between releases

You’ll workclosely with the CRM Optimisation Manager and the wider CRM team, IT’sSolutions Architect, the HubSpot Global Rollout Programme Manager, andMarketing, Sales, Admissions and Parent Experience teams across our clustersand schools.

What you’llbring
Essential

• Experience as a Business Analyst, or in a similarrequirements-gathering or process-mapping role, ideally in a CRM,commercial or customer-data context
• Strong fundamentals in requirements elicitation,process mapping and turning business needs into clear specifications
• The ability to write unambiguous functionalrequirements and acceptance criteria that both business and technicalcolleagues can act on
• Experience partnering with IT teams throughsolution design and UAT
• Experience managing a requirements backlog andprioritising competing demands against a roadmap
• A structured, impartial approach to facilitatingtrade-off conversations
• Degree-level education or equivalent professionalexperience
• Familiarity with HubSpot or a similar CRMplatform’s data model and configuration
• Experience with tools such as Jira, Azure DevOps orConfluence
• A business analysis certification (e.g. BCSInternational Diploma, IIBA CBAP/CCBA)
• A professional certification in HubSpot, Salesforceor an equivalent CRM
• Experience in K-12, independent or internationaleducation, or another multi-site consumer/service sector
• Experience supporting large-scale, multi-market CRMor system rollouts

This roleinvolves flexible working across time zones, regular engagement with central ITand cluster stakeholders, and occasional international travel to schools andclusters, particularly during active rollout phases.

Weunderstand the value of AI tools and recognise the benefits they can offer topeople who may need support with their writing. However, please be aware thatwe are increasingly rejecting CVs, expressions of interest and applicationswhere the use of AI has resulted in content that feels generic, lackspersonality or is indistinguishable from other submissions.

By usingyour own words, experiences and ideas to demonstrate your motivation forapplying and your alignment with the role, you will give yourself the bestopportunity to stand out in a highly competitive field.

Cognita is committed to safeguarding the welfare of children and young people and expects the same from its employees. All new staff will be subject to detailed and enhanced pre-employment clearance, including identity checks, criminal background checks for all countries lived in, qualification checks, employment checks to include an exploration of any gaps in employment, and satisfactory reference checks for all employment in the last 10 years.