Senior Business Analyst

Methods Business and Digital Technology Limited

Methods is a £100M+ IT Services Consultancy who has partnered with a range of central government departments and agencies to transform the way the public sector operates in the UK. Established over 30 years ago and UK-based, we apply our skills in transformation, delivery, and collaboration from across the Methods Group, to create end-to-end business and technical solutions that are people-centred, safe, and designed for the future.

Our human touch sets us apart from other consultancies, system integrators and software houses - with people, technology, and data at the heart of who we are, we believe in creating value and sustainability through everything we do for our clients, staff, communities, and the planet.

We support our clients in the success of their projects while working collaboratively to share skill sets and solve problems. At Methods we have fun while working hard; we are not afraid of making mistakes and learning from them.

Predominantly focused on the public-sector, Methods is now building a significant private sector client portfolio.

Methods was acquired by the Alten Group in early 2022.

Methods is currently recruiting for a Senior Business Analyst to join our team on a permanent basis - This role will be based on site, 5 days per week.

Role Overview:

As a Business Analyst within this dynamic programme environment, you will play a pivotal role in triaging incoming work requests, assessing their strategic alignment with programme objectives, and making recommendations on whether they should proceed. You will work closely with the Project Office to prioritise both new and ongoing initiatives, ensuring resources are allocated effectively. The role also involves supporting Product Owners in capturing high-level business requirements and presenting them to the programme’s Requirements Review Board, where you'll be responsible for managing the agenda, recording outcomes, and occasionally presenting on behalf of the Product Owner.

Your analytical expertise will be essential in mapping business processes using BPMN tools such as Visio or Sparx Enterprise Architect, conducting data analysis on incoming data sets, and supporting the Architecture and Design teams to ensure that high-level designs meet approved requirements. You’ll also act as a liaison between technical and business teams, facilitating trade-offs where necessary and ensuring that user stories and testing activities align with agreed requirements. Additionally, you’ll contribute to agile ceremonies including sprint planning and backlog refinement, and provide assurance at the Test Assurance Board that delivered outputs meet expectations.

This role requires a proactive and flexible approach, with a strong emphasis on collaboration, attention to detail, and a willingness to support the programme's operational needs. You'll be expected to be on-site four days a week, with occasional travel to other customer sites and the ability to respond to urgent operational requirements at short notice. Administrative support responsibilities such as onboarding new staff, managing office access and security, and maintaining Jira and Confluence platforms are also part of the remit, offering a varied and engaging opportunity for a well-rounded professional.

1. Triage Work Requests received from customers of the programme, to determine whether they are a strategic fit against programme objectives and make recommendations.
2. Work with the Project Office to help them prioritise received and ongoing Work Requests.
3. Map business processes to agreed standards using the agreed programme modelling tools (BPMN in Visio and/or Sparx Enterprise Architect).
4. Work with Product Owners to elicit and document high level requirements to a level that can be presented to the programme's Requirements Review Board.
5. Manage the Requirements Review Board agenda, take minutes and ensure that outcomes are documented in Confluence. The Business Analyst (BA) is expected to support the Product Owner (PO) in the presentation of requirements that have been prepared by the BA on behalf of the PO and may, on occasion, need to present those requirements if the PO is unable to attend the meeting.
6. Work with the Architecture/Design team to assist them in the preparation of high-level designs, and to provide assurance that those designs satisfy agreed requirements.
7. Perform data analysis against sample data sets proposed for ingestion into the Data Analytics platform and document the analysis using the agreed programme modelling tool (Sparx Enterprise Architect).
8. Manage the Technical Review Board and Test Assurance Board agendas, take minutes and ensure that outcomes are documented in Confluence.
9. Act as liaison between Architecture/Design and Product Owners to trade-out requirements that cannot be met or are not feasible to deliver within time and budgetary constraints.
10. Support Product Owners in the preparation of user stories for development work against agreed designs. This is really a Product Owner responsibility but, in practice, much of this is delegated to the BAs.
11. Provide support for agile teams' sprint planning and backlog refinement.
12. Review SAT/UAT test scripts to ensure that the requirements agreed at the Requirements Review Board (excluding any that were subsequently traded out) are adequately covered.
13. Provide assurance to the Test Assurance Board that delivered products satisfy requirements agreed at the Requirements Review Board.
14. Provide ad-hoc Import/Export (Impex) support for the movement of information between disconnected platforms.
15. Provide ad-hoc administration support for the Jira projects and Confluence spaces used by the programme (workflows, screens, custom fields, permission schemes, etc).
16. Act as an Impex Authoriser for (customer) requests to import data on to the platform. This is a future requirement as the capability hasn't been stood up yet, but it is an agreed requirement for the end-to-end process currently under development.
17. Expected four days a week on site at the programme location (with some flex to work from home around medical and other personal commitments).
18. Occasional (expensed) travel to other sites operated by customers of the programme.
19. Provide the flexibility in working pattern to support the delivery of very high priority 'urgent operational requirements' (UORs) as and when they arise. These are infrequent but demand a 'drop everything' approach when they do come up.

This role will require you to have or be willing to go through Security Clearance. As part of the onboarding process candidates will be asked to complete a Baseline Personnel Security Standard; details of the evidence required to apply may be found on the government website Gov.UK. If you are unable to meet this and any associated criteria, then your employment may be delayed, or rejected - Details of this will be discussed with you at interview.

Methods is passionate about its people; we want our colleagues to develop the things they are good at and enjoy.

By joining us you can expect:

• Autonomy to develop and grow your skills and experience.
• Be part of exciting project work that is making a difference in society.
• Strong, inspiring and thought-provoking leadership.
• A supportive and collaborative environment.

Development – access to LinkedIn Learning, a management development programme, and training.

Wellness – 24/7 confidential employee assistance programme.

Flexible Working – including home working and part time.

Social – office parties, breakfast Tuesdays, monthly pizza Thursdays, Thirsty Thursdays, and commitment to charitable causes.

Time Off – 25 days of annual leave a year, plus bank holidays, with the option to buy 5 extra days each year.

Volunteering – 2 paid days per year to volunteer in our local communities or within a charity organisation.

Pension – Salary Exchange Scheme with 4% employer contribution and 5% employee contribution.

Discretionary Company Bonus – based on company and individual performance.

Life Assurance – of 4 times base salary.

Private Medical Insurance – which is non-contributory (spouse and dependants included).

Worldwide Travel Insurance – which is non-contributory (spouse and dependants included).

Enhanced Maternity and Paternity Pay.

Travel – season ticket loan, cycle to work scheme.

For a full list of benefits please visit our website (www.methods.co.uk/careers/benefits)