Business Analyst - Senior Consultant

Opencast; Newcastle upon Tyne; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 65,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

7% pension

Share options

Discretionary bonus

25 days holiday

Life happens days

Job summary

Opencast, a growing technology consultancy, seeks a Senior Consultant Business Analyst to join multi-disciplinary teams in delivering user-centred solutions for government, healthcare and private sector clients. You will translate client needs into clear requirements, drive process improvements and ensure high standards across projects.

Role involves on-site weekly travel to client sites in Newcastle, Leeds or Manchester, and requires SC clearance eligibility.

Qualifications

• Apply business analysis techniques (e.g. SWOT, 5 Whys) to understand business context, processes, and systems.
• Elicit, analyse, and validate business and user requirements, using BPMN, wireframes and data analysis.
• Define epics, features, user stories, acceptance criteria, and non-functional requirements; maintain traceability.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain strong stakeholder relationships across cross-functional teams.
• Analyse and prioritise user experience needs, presenting insights in an accessible, data-informed way.
• Support testing by defining business scenarios and acceptance criteria; review prototypes and test outcomes.
• Deliver quality work adhering to GOV.UK Service Standards in large, complex organisations.
• Work in multidisciplinary Agile teams to validate process and system improvements.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Requirements elicitation

User stories & acceptance criteria

Agile / cross-functional teams

GOV.UK Service Standards

Process mapping

Job description

Want to solve impactful problems?

Are you looking to make a positive impact in your work? Do you want to work in an environment where you can grow, while solving problems to help improve government, healthcare and private sector services?

If so, Opencast could be the place for you. We're a growing technology consultancy that creates user-centred solutions with purpose.

The role

As a Business Analyst (Senior Consultant), you'll bring a depth of experience and expertise from working in large, complex organisations.

You'll collaborate in multi-disciplinary teams with product managers, software developers, user researchers, designers and other specialists to tackle interesting problems and deliver meaningful solutions for clients.

You'll build strong relationships with client stakeholders, understanding their needs and translating them into clear, actionable requirements.

You'll also ensure that all work meets Opencast's high standards, including quality, environmental and information security policies, as well as any applicable client requirements and standards.

Requirements

This role involves weekly on-site working. Applicants should be able to travel, as part of their daily commute, to client sites in one of the following locations: Newcastle, Leeds or Manchester.

We're looking for people who value in-person collaboration, enjoy building strong relationships, and are passionate about delivering solutions that make a real difference for our clients.

Due to the nature of this role, you must either hold active Security Check (SC) clearance or be eligible and willing to undergo the clearance process.

SC clearance is granted in line with UK Government security vetting requirements. Typically, applicants must have UK citizenship and have lived continuously in the UK for at least the past five years, with no single absence exceeding 28 consecutive days. Nationality and immigration status may also be considered as part of the vetting process. We are unable to progress applications from candidates who do not meet these requirements.

We are recruiting for multiple positions, with opportunities available in September.

Essential experience

• Apply business analysis techniques (e.g. SWOT, 5 Whys) to understand business context, processes, and systems; analyse root causes, define problems, evaluate options, and make recommendations aligned with strategic goals.
• Elicit, analyse, and validate business and user requirements, using techniques such as BPMN process flows, wireframing and data analysis.
• Define epics, features, user stories, acceptance criteria, and non-functional requirements; maintain traceability and facilitate prioritisation.
• Use business modelling, process improvement, and digital/data systems analysis to represent organisations, processes, relationships, and systems; identify gaps, recommend improvements, and support implementation and validation.
• Build and maintain strong stakeholder relationships and cross-functional teams, communicating clearly, reaching consensus, and adapting messages to different audiences.
• Analyse and prioritise user experience needs, presenting insights in an accessible, data-informed way.
• Support testing by defining business scenarios and acceptance criteria, reviewing prototypes, test plans, and outcomes to ensure solutions meet requirements.
• Deliver to the highest quality, adhering to recognised industry standards and frameworks (e.g. GOV.UK Service Standards), in large and complex organisations.
• Work collaboratively in multidisciplinary Agile teams, validating process and system improvements and delivering project objectives effectively.
• Present complex information in a way that is easy to understand, engaging both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Worked on major transformation programmes and/or across multiple project workstreams.
• Line managing, coaching or mentored junior business analysts, supporting their development and delegating work effectively.
• Building meaningful, long-term relationships with senior client and third-party stakeholders, managing competing interests and priorities.

With a significant proportion of our client base in the public sector, we are particularly interested in candidates with experience working in central or local government and/or the NHS.

Experience working to the GOV.UK Service Standards, including passing service standard assessments at different stages is highly desirable. If you have this experience, please demonstrate this on your CV to discuss at interview.

Essential consulting skills

• Contribute to improving ways of working and driving continuous improvements within your teams.
• Share knowledge and best practice with fellow business analysts and other disciplines, including proactively engaging in client and Opencast communities of practice.
• Positively challenge decisions or solutions you don't agree with, striving for the best client outcomes.
• Create lasting value in the projects you work on, ensuring a user‑centric, sustainable approach.
• Engage with Opencast in a meaningful way, supporting the growth of your practice and wider capability.
• Support Opencasts growth plans, by providing case studies and updates into the relevant forums of your project work.
• Support other team members to help them overcome their own challenges, providing coaching and/or mentoring support.
• Proactively pursue feedback to improve your own work and behaviours and driving a culture of continuous improvement in your team.
• Contribute to the commercial needs of Opencast, including supporting new business pursuits with business analysis knowledge.

Salary

£60,000 - £65,000 per annum.

What we offer

A competitive package including a 7% employer pension contribution, share options, and a discretionary bonus. You'll also benefit from 25 days' holiday and access to 3 annual "life happens" days to support unexpected situations. We provide wellbeing support, ongoing professional development, volunteering opportunities, and the chance to be part of a genuinely supportive team.

Where you'll work

This role requires regular on‑site attendance at our HQ, hub offices, and client sites, as well as the ability to work from home. Applicants must be able to travel to offices and client sites across the UK as part of their normal working arrangements, as travel is essential for fulfilling the responsibilities of the role.

We include you

We welcome candidates from all identities, attributes, ways of thinking and backgrounds to thrive in a career at Opencast. Our aim is for the diversity of our people to be reflected in the solutions we deliver, to help create a fairer society for all.

Interview

Interviews will be conducted via Microsoft Teams. We're happy to make adjustments to support your needs.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.