Business Systems Analyst

Women in Data®; Thatcham; Hybrid; GBP 42,480 - 51,920; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

10% non-contributory pension

29 days holiday

Group Life Assurance

Salary Sacrifice schemes

Enhanced parental leave

Financial Coaching & Wellbeing Platform

Health Cash Plan

Reward & Recognition Programme

Discounted gym membership

Sports & Social club

Payroll charitable giving

Subsidised on-site restaurant

Free on-site parking

Job summary

A leading research organization in Thatcham is seeking a Business Systems Analyst to enhance operational efficiency across key business areas. You'll lead initiatives, run workshops, and optimize processes while collaborating with stakeholders. The ideal candidate should possess strong problem-solving skills, knowledge of business analysis tools, and be ready for a hybrid working model. The position offers a competitive salary, pension, and generous leave policies.

Qualifications

• Skilled in business analysis toolkit including requirements elicitation and process mapping.
• Comfortable across the COTS implementation lifecycle.
• Engage clearly with stakeholders and manage expectations.

Responsibilities

• Lead operational change initiatives from request through to delivery.
• Run workshops and perform gap/root-cause analysis.
• Review current systems and assess supplier options.

Skills

Requirements elicitation

Workshop facilitation

Process mapping

Gap/root-cause analysis

Data-driven insights

Stakeholder management

Problem-solving

Change management principles

Planning and tracking in Jira

Curiosity and self-motivation

Job description

At Thatcham Research, we connect people, processes, and technology to make operations run smarter. As a Business Systems Analyst, you’ll help us maximise the value of our commercial off‑the‑shelf (COTS) applications and lead both system changes and the process reviews that support daily operations across Finance, Commercial, HR, and other key business areas. Through structured process, you’ll generate the insight the organisation needs to make informed decisions turning challenges into practical, data‑driven solutions that enhance efficiency, user experience, and overall system effectiveness.

You’ll collaborate with stakeholders across the organisation to understand challenges and opportunities, shape effective solutions, assess supplier options, and support delivery using established governance and best‑practice business analysis.

This role is perfect for someone who enjoys solving challenges, shaping smart systems, and driving meaningful organisational change.

As the Business Systems Analyst, you’ll:

• Lead operational change: Own well-scoped initiatives from request through to delivery, assessing impact across people, process, data, and technology.
• Understand the need: Run workshops, map processes, capture and validate requirements, and perform gap/root-cause analysis to inform decision‑making.
• Evaluate options: Review current systems and research COTS or light customisation routes, clearly outlining benefits, risks, assumptions, and constraints.
• Enable delivery: Coordinate configuration, testing, and training with suppliers and internal teams to drive adoption and outcomes.
• Review and optimise processes: Document current workflows using structured business analysis techniques to assess operational efficiency and highlight opportunities for improvement.
• Partner with stakeholders: Build strong relationships, manage expectations, and communicate clearly throughout the project lifecycle.
• Generate documentation: Prepare well‑defined documentation (requirements, designs, process maps, comms plans, risks/issues) and follow organisational policies and governance practices.
• Be the glue: Collaborate with PMO, IT Services, Cloud & Security, InfoSec, Legal and Finance to land changes safely and on budget.
• Improve continuously: Bring ideas that lift how we work - tools, templates, process, and practice

Skills & experience that will set you up for success in this role:

• Business analysis toolkit: Skilled in requirements elicitation, workshop facilitation, process mapping, gap/root-cause analysis, and data‑driven insights.
• COTS implementation experience: Comfortable across the implementation lifecycle (exposure to integrations/data flows is a plus, not a must).
• Stakeholder confidence: You engage clearly and adapt your style to different audiences; you maintain alignment and manage expectations.
• Problem‑solving mindset: Pragmatic, outcome‑focused solutions that balance business need, technical feasibility, and risk.
• Change‑ready: Understanding of change management principles and how to support user adoption.
• Structured & proactive: Able to plan, track, and deliver work (e.g., in Jira), escalating early and documenting decisions well.
• Growth‑oriented: Curious, self‑motivated, and keen to learn new systems, tools, and methods.

Salary - Circa £47,200 dependent on skills & experience.

• 10% non‑contributory pension
• 29 days holiday (inclusive of Christmas shutdown) + public holidays
• Group Life Assurance (equal to 4 x basic salary)
• Salary Sacrifice schemes (cycle to work, home & tech scheme)
• Enhanced and competitive parental leave for all parents, regardless of gender or family structure
• Moneyhealth’s Financial Coaching & Wellbeing Platform
• Health Cash Plan (cash back on eligible medical treatments)
• Reward & Recognition Programme
• Discounted gym membership
• Sports & Social club
• Payroll charitable giving
• Subsidised on‑site restaurant
• Free on‑site parking

When we work

Our standard working hours are 8:30 - 16:30 Monday - Thursday, early finish on Friday - 8:30 - 15:45 (Talk to us about flexible working if this doesn’t quite suit you – we take work‑life balance seriously!)

How we work

We understand the benefits of remote and in‑person collaboration and therefore have a hybrid working model – you’ll be expected to work from our office in Thatcham at least two days per week.

All applicants must have Right to Work in the UK.