Business Analyst - GDS - SEO

Manchester Digital; Manchester; On-site; GBP 40,000 - 60,000; Full time

Job summary

A government digital service is seeking a Business Analyst to join their Performance and Assurance team. This hybrid role will focus on the 'Get Approval to Spend' service, enhancing government spending processes. Candidates should have experience in software development, excellent communication skills, and the ability to work within agile teams. This position plays a key role in supporting major spending improvements across government departments.

Qualifications

• Solid experience working on medium to large-scale software or service development programmes.
• Ability to balance multiple analysis activities in a fast-paced delivery environment.
• Excellent communication skills to influence and engage stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Perform analysis activities in agile delivery teams.
• Conduct critical analysis for team focus and prioritisation.
• Manage and analyse support queries on the GATS support desk.
• Build stakeholder relationships with central departments.
• Document epics and stories with meaningful acceptance criteria.
• Analyse support data to identify trends and improve self-service.

Skills

Experience as a business analyst

Agile methodologies

Excellent communication skills

Stakeholder engagement

Data analysis and insights

Job description

Location: Bristol, London, Manchester

About The Job

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is the digital centre of government. We are responsible for setting, leading and delivering the vision for a modern digital government.

Our priorities are to drive a modern digital government, by:

• joining up public sector services
• harnessing the power of AI for the public good
• strengthening and extending our digital and data public infrastructure
• elevating leadership and investing in talent
• funding for outcomes and procuring for growth and innovation
• committing to transparency and driving accountability

We are home to the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (I.AI), the world‑leading GOV.UK and at the forefront of coordinating the UK’s geospatial strategy and activity. We lead the Government Digital and Data function and champion the work of digital teams across government.

We’re part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and employ more than 1,000 people all over the UK, with hubs in Manchester, London and Bristol.

The Government Digital Service is where talent translates into impact. From your first day, you’ll be working with some of the world’s most highly‑skilled digital professionals, all contributing their knowledge to make change on a national scale.

Join us for rewarding work that makes a difference across the UK. You’ll solve some of the nation’s highest‑priority digital challenges, helping millions of people access services they need.

Job Description

You’ll be joining the Performance and Assurance team as a Business Analyst on the ‘Get Approval to Spend’ (GATS) service — a digital service that enables government departments to submit and assure cases for Cabinet Office spend controls. GATS supports better cross‑government collaboration, reduces duplication, and simplifies compliance with functional standards and policy. It is already helping departments improve the quality and speed of their approvals, while giving central functions greater visibility and consistency in how controls are applied.

This is a hybrid role. Alongside your business analysis responsibilities such as defining user needs, supporting iteration, and collaborating across disciplines; you’ll also take ownership of the service desk and support channels. You’ll work closely with colleagues across DSIT and the Cabinet Office, while also engaging with stakeholders in all ministerial departments to support their onboarding and use of the service. It’s a varied and high‑impact role at the heart of improving how government manages and assures major spending.

As a Business Analyst You’ll

• perform analysis activities in agile delivery teams or cross‑cutting programme teams, including live service teams, advising on Agile ways of working and how they support product development and service operation
• independently conduct critical analysis to help guide team focus and prioritisation, including across service and support channels
• take ownership of the GATS support desk and associated channels — managing, triaging and analysing support queries, ensuring a high‑quality response to users, and using insights to feed into product and service improvements
• build and manage stakeholder relationships across central departments, as well as with Cabinet Office and DSIT teams, supporting Product Managers in developing and refining service backlogs
• ensure that epics and stories are clearly documented with meaningful acceptance criteria to support development, testing and continuous improvement
• analyse support data to identify trends, model future demand and surface opportunities for better self‑service, automation and clearer guidance
• stay up to date on digital service standards and cross‑government priorities, bringing relevant knowledge to shape service delivery and support transformation

Learn More About What Business Analysts Do In Government

Person specification

We’re Interested In People Who

• have solid experience as a business analyst working on medium to large‑scale software or service development programmes, and can give practical examples of where you’ve improved user journeys, services, or support models based on insight and evidence
• can balance multiple analysis activities across a fast‑paced delivery and live service environment, defining needs, pain points, dependencies, flows and journeys — particularly for high-volume digital products — and collaborating effectively across multidisciplinary, agile teams throughout the product lifecycle
• have excellent communication skills and the confidence to influence, engage and build trust with a wide range of stakeholders across departments and professions, ensuring that user needs, service desk insights and functional policies are clearly understood and inform service priorities
• can work independently to produce quality requirements, stories and acceptance criteria that lead to well‑designed features and reliable support experiences, using a variety of appropriate analysis techniques to suit the context
• are comfortable using service desk data, performance metrics and user research to understand behaviours and frustrations, identify trends, and support continuous improvement — including where the evidence challenges current assumptions or approaches