Business Analyst

IOP Publishing; West of England; Hybrid; GBP 41,000 - 50,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Pension scheme

Discretionary annual bonus

Hybrid working

Job summary

IOP Publishing is seeking a curious and analytical Business Analyst to join our PMO. You will explore problems, map processes and gather requirements to deliver practical recommendations that add value for colleagues, customers and the business.

You’ll work across discrete initiatives with Change Management, Product Management and IT to support strategic improvements. You’ll lead discovery, facilitate workshops, develop user stories and business cases, and help shape evidence-based decisions

Qualifications

• Experience in business analysis, continuous improvement, project delivery or product management.
• Strong skills in process mapping, requirements elicitation and documentation.
• Experience turning data into actionable recommendations.
• Ability to influence stakeholders at different levels and drive change.
• Knowledge of change delivery methodologies and business transformation.
• Experience building business cases, ROI or benefits frameworks.
• Familiarity with Agile and writing user stories.
• Lean, Six Sigma or Kaizen experience is beneficial.

Responsibilities

• Lead discovery to understand business challenges and opportunities.
• Facilitate workshops to gather, prioritise and document requirements.
• Map and analyse processes, identify inefficiencies and suggest improvements.
• Apply structured problem solving and root cause analysis.
• Use data to identify trends, support decisions and evaluate solutions.
• Create user stories, acceptance criteria and change doc.
• Help define business cases, benefits and ROI measures.
• Collaborate with project, product and technology teams to deliver change.
• Introduce practical BA tools and frameworks to build capability.

Skills

Business analysis

Continuous improvement

Process improvement

Project delivery

Product management

Operations

Requirements elicitation

Data analysis

Stakeholder management

Change delivery methodologies

Business transformation

Business case development

ROI assessments

Agile / user stories

Lean / Six Sigma (beneficial)

Job description

Business Analyst

JOIN THE COMMUNITY.

Making science better, together.

[e-mail]

Be part of a community working together to make science better. A society publisher with the perfect blend of not-for-profit purpose and commercial perspective. Here, we help each other be the best we can be: a team big enough to impact and small enough to care.

Help shape how we improve, innovate and deliver change

At IOP Publishing, we’re looking for a curious and analytical Business Analyst to join our Project Management Office (PMO). This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in helping us understand complex challenges, identify opportunities for improvement, and support the delivery of meaningful change across our organisation.

As a Business Analyst, you’ll work closely with colleagues from across the business to explore problems, analyse data, map processes, gather requirements and develop practical recommendations. You’ll help bring clarity to ambiguity, ensuring decisions are evidence-based and focused on delivering value for our colleagues, customers and the business.

This role sits within our PMO team, working alongside specialists in Continuous Improvement, Project Management, Change Management and Product Management to support strategic initiatives that improve how we work and the experience we provide.

Role Summary

What you’ll be doing

• Leading discovery activities to understand business challenges and opportunities.
• Facilitating workshops and working collaboratively with stakeholders to gather, prioritise and document requirements.
• Mapping and analysing business processes, identifying inefficiencies and recommending improvements.
• Applying structured problem-solving techniques and root cause analysis to complex issues.
• Using data and insight to identify trends, support decision-making and evaluate potential solutions.
• Creating user stories, acceptance criteria and supporting documentation for change initiatives.
• Helping define business cases, benefits, return on investment and measures of success.
• Working with project, product and technology teams to support the successful delivery of change.
• Introducing practical business analysis tools, approaches and frameworks that strengthen organisational capability.

What we’re looking for

We’re looking for someone who combines strong analytical thinking with excellent communication and stakeholder management skills. You’ll be comfortable working with a wide variety of people, asking insightful questions and helping others navigate complex decisions.

You’ll bring:

• Experience in business analysis, continuous improvement, process improvement, project delivery, product management, operations or a related field.
• Strong process mapping, requirements elicitation and documentation skills.
• Experience analysing data and translating insight into actionable recommendations.
• The ability to influence and engage stakeholders at different levels across an organisation.
• A structured approach to problem-solving and continuous improvement.
• An understanding of change delivery methodologies and business transformation.
• Experience developing business cases, benefits frameworks or ROI assessments.
• Knowledge of Agile ways of working and writing user stories.

Experience with Lean, Six Sigma, Kaizen or recognised Business Analysis qualifications would be beneficial, but we’re equally interested in the experience, skills and perspectives you can bring

Who We Are:

IOP Publishing is a society-owned scientific publisher, providing impact, recognition and value for the scientific community. As the publishing arm of the Institute of Physics, 100% of our profit goes towards public and scientific good.

Why work with us at IOP Publishing:

Purpose: We are a world leader in the development of electronic publishing for the scientific community – working in the interests of science and scientists, we aim to maximise the impact of the research we publish.

Culture: We offer a truly international culture with offices in Europe, Asia and the US and our reach is global. Our culture is the perfect blend of dedicated and intelligent professionalism, informal, friendly collaboration and authenticity with a social conscience.

• Financial Benefits: A competitive salary starting from £45,000 (Band C), an excellent pension scheme, a discretionary annual bonus scheme and a range of other useful and cost‑saving benefits available through our benefits platform.
• Health and Wellbeing: 33+ days holiday (including bank holidays), plus an extra day’s leave to use for a moment that matters to you, a 35‑hour working week, life assurance, cycle to work scheme, dental insurance, health care cash plan, and a great positive working environment in our brand new office in central Bristol – modern airy and designed with all of our colleagues in mind – for work and social time.
• Flexibility: a flexible hybrid working environment to suit everyone’s needs– we don’t need you in the office every day so we can consider applicants from further afield who can travel to Bristol at least once per week, and team in-person days, depending on when face to face time is needed (any travel to the Bristol office is at the employees own expenses).

And last but not least, did we mention that we are unique : IOP Publishing is central to the Institute of Physics, a not-for-profit society and we gift‑aid all our profits to support science through the activities of the Institute.

IOP Publishing is an equal opportunity employer. Our goal is to ensure that diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) are built into our identity in a way that is natural and sustainable, visible through the work we produce, our company branding, our professional networks and the communities we serve and support, which includes our employees, talent communities and candidates. We particularly welcome applicants from under‑represented backgrounds.

We make recruitment and workplace adjustments wherever we can, so please let us know if there’s anything that we can do to support you.

Please note that we are unable to provide visa sponsorship for candidates. If however you already have the right to work in the UK or hold an eligible work permit or visa, we encourage you to apply for this position.