Senior Functional Analyst

ThoughtLabs Belgium; Brussel Hoofdstad; On-site; EUR 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Job summary

Infrabel is seeking a Senior Functional Analyst to bridge business needs with technical implementation within the I-ICT.211 Traffic Data Solutions team. You will collaborate with IT and railway operators on real-time to back-office data flows and ensure reliable, scalable software platforms.

Experience includes 10+ years in business/functional analysis, UML/BPMN modeling, REST/SOAP, IBM MQ, Elasticsearch, and strong stakeholder communication.

Qualifications

• Senior/Expert level in IT project analysis with Agile/Scrum.
• Extensive experience eliciting business requirements and documenting specifications.
• Proven ability to translate business needs into functional design and user stories.

Responsibilities

• Gather and analyze requirements; document functional specs and user stories.
• Collaborate with IT development teams, railway operators, and business units.
• Define test strategies; design test cases; validate software for reliability.

Skills

Agile/Scrum Functional Analysis

Requirements Elicitation

User Stories & Agile Documentation

Design & Modeling (UML/BPMN)

Functional Documentation

Test Case Definition

Web Services & APIs (REST/SOAP)

Messaging Middleware (IBM MQ)

Search & Analytics (Elasticsearch/Kib

Databases (SQL/PLSQL)

Data Formats & Schemas (XML/XSD)

Development Background (.NET)

Certifications (CSM or equivalent)

Dutch or French language (C2)

English (C1)

Tools

IBM MQ

Elasticsearch

Kibana

.NET

Job description

Job Description: Senior Functional Analyst

Department / Unit: I-ICT.211 Traffic Data Solutions

Experience Level: Senior / Expert (10+ years) On-call Duty (Standby): Required (approx. 1 week per month)

About the Role & Project Context

At Infrabel, you will take on a pivotal role in the functional and technical evolution of mission-critical software solutions. Joining the I-ICT.211 Traffic Data Solutions team, you will contribute to key projects essential for the continuity, reliability, and performance of Infrabel’s core railway business activities. These systems handle the end-to-end consolidation and distribution of rail traffic management data across all lifecycle phases (pre-processing, real-time, post-processing, and back-office) to key B2B stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• External Stakeholders: Railway undertakings operating or transiting on the Belgian network, neighboring foreign infrastructure managers, and European rail data consolidation bodies (such as RailNetEurope).
• Internal Stakeholders: Real-time timetable visualisations for signal box personnel, calculation and billing of track access charges, monitoring of operational traction electricity consumption, and data feeding into Big Data/expert systems.
• The scope covers both new application development and corrective/evolutionary maintenance of existing platforms.

Key Responsibilities & Tasks

As a Senior Functional Analyst, you will bridge the gap between business needs and technical implementation, collaborating closely with IT development teams, railway operators, and operational business units:

• Requirements Gathering & Analysis: Elicit, analyze, and document business needs and functional requirements using formal elicitation techniques.
• Process Optimization: Analyze existing operational and technical workflows and recommend improvements to increase accuracy and efficiency.
• Functional Specifications & Agile Artifacts: Produce comprehensive functional specifications, write detailed user stories, and maintain requirements traceability.
• Development Collaboration: Work side-by-side with developers and architects to ensure technical architectures and deliverables match business requirements.
• Testing & Validation: Formulate test strategies, design detailed test cases and scenarios, and perform validation testing to ensure software reliability and compliance.
• Impact Analysis: Conduct thorough impact analyses based on changing operational and business requirements.

Professional & Technical Experience

• Agile / Scrum Functional Analysis (Level 4): At least 10 years of experience in business and functional analysis within IT projects using Agile/Scrum.
• Requirements Elicitation (Level 4): At least 10 years of experience in business requirements gathering techniques.
• User Stories & Agile Documentation (Level 4): At least 10 years of experience creating user stories based on analysis and specifications.
• Design & Modeling (Level 3): At least 5 years of experience with UML and BPMN modelling techniques.
• Functional Documentation (Level 3): At least 5 years of experience authoring functional requirements documents, user guides, or operational work instructions.
• Test Case Definition (Level 3): At least 5 years of experience designing and executing test cases/test scenarios.
• Web Services & APIs (Level 3): At least 5 years of hands‑on experience with REST and SOAP web services.
• Messaging Middleware (Level 3): At least 5 years of experience with IBM MQ.
• Search & Analytics (Level 3): At least 5 years of experience with Elasticsearch & Kibana.
• Databases (Level 3): At least 5 years of experience with SQL and PL/SQL.
• Data Formatting & Schemas (Level 3): At least 5 years of experience with XML/XSD file formats and designing XSD contracts.
• Development Background (Level 2): At least 2 years of experience with .NET (a solid software development foundation is expected).
• Certifications: Certified Scrum Master (or equivalent Agile certification) is required/recognised.

Required Skills

• LanguagesDutch or French: C2 level (Native / highly proficient) in one of the two official languages.
• The second national language (Dutch or French): B1 level (Intermediate / working knowledge).
• English: C1 level (Professional / advanced working proficiency).

Preferred Skills

• Soft Skills & ValuesCompany Alignment: Understanding of Infrabel’s core mission, the railway IT landscape, and the operational challenges of traffic data management.
• Corporate Values: Embodying Infrabel’s corporate values: Care/Kindness (Bienveillance), Courage, Positivity, and Reliability.
• Interpersonal & Professional Competence: Excellent communication and presentation skills, high stress tolerance, strong sense of initiative, proactive team spirit, respectful stakeholder management, and commitment to long-term delivery.
• Strong Assets / Nice-to-HaveProven experience conducting impact analyses based on complex operational needs.
• Proven experience writing technical and functional documentation (user guides, standard operating procedures).
• Prior industry knowledge or domain experience in the railway/transportation sector.

Pay range and compensation package

Contract Type: Public Tender / Time & Material Duration: 03-01-2027 to 31-12-2031 (Estimated 9,000 hours, Full-time).