Strategic Business Analyst – Higher Education (Hybrid)

Xpand Group; Preston; Hybrid; GBP 43,000 - 50,000; Full time

Job summary

Salt is recruiting for a Senior Business Analyst to join an established higher education institution, helping shape strategic change across the organisation.

Based in Preston with hybrid working, you will translate business needs into detailed proposals and measurable outcomes, guiding investment decisions and service improvements. You will lead stakeholder workshops and produce business cases to support governance forums.

Qualifications

• Lead analysis on complex, high-impact projects.
• Experience in higher education is preferred.
• Undergraduate degree or equivalent practical experience required.
• Knowledge of demand and portfolio management principles.
• Understanding of benefits realisation approaches.
• Strong requirements elicitation, modelling and documentation.
• Experience with process analysis and service design.
• Familiar with PRINCE2, Agile and hybrid methods.
• Awareness of enterprise architecture relationships.

Responsibilities

• Lead discovery, analysis and definition of business needs and opportunities.
• Shape demand proposals with evidence and alignment to priorities.
• Facilitate workshops, interviews and stakeholder discussions to capture requirements.
• Produce business cases with options appraisals, cost-benefit analysis and risks.
• Evaluate proposed solutions to ensure they address business needs and deliver value.
• Align initiatives with architectural standards and roadmaps.
• Develop current and future state process models and operating models.
• Define and quantify expected benefits and measures for benefits realization.
• Undertake market, industry and organisational research for innovation.
• Assess feasibility, impact, costs, risks and dependencies of developments.
• Maintain clear documentation across requirements, analyses and maps.
• Prepare papers and recommendations for governance forums and boards.
• Collaborate with delivery teams to transition from demand to project delivery.
• Promote business analysis best practice and coach junior analysts.

Skills

Business analysis leadership

Higher education experience

Requirements elicitation

Process mapping

Stakeholder management

Documentation skills

PRINCE2 Agile hybrid

Enterprise architecture awareness

Education

Undergraduate degree or equivalent practical experience

Tools

ServiceNow SPM

Microsoft Dynamics 365

Ellucian Banner

Azure Integration Services

Job description

Salt is recruiting for a Senior Business Analyst to join an established higher education institution, helping shape strategic change across the organisation.

Based in Preston with hybrid working, you will translate business needs into detailed proposals and measurable outcomes, guiding investment decisions and service improvements. You will lead stakeholder workshops and produce business cases to support governance forums.