Business Analyst 4

Sammons Financial Group Companies; Sioux Falls (SD); On-site; USD 76,000 - 159,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health coverage

ESOP

Paid time off

Tuition reimbursement

401(k)

Job summary

Sammons Financial Group Companies seeks a seasoned Business Analyst to bridge business needs with IT solutions. You will lead requirements gathering, create user stories, and define future state processes across business units.

Strong collaboration with product owners, QA, and development is essential to ensure successful delivery. The role emphasizes stakeholder management, data-driven analysis, and mentoring others while aligning with Sammons Financial Group values and standards.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Business or related field required or suitable BA experience.
• 6+ years of work experience in business analysis.
• Experience facilitating formal process improvement activities preferred.
• Financial services background preferred.
• Agile framework experience preferred.
• Excellent verbal and written communication; strong questioning and listening skills.
• Ability to lead teams and work with stakeholders across locations.

Responsibilities

• Act as a liaison to project teams, agile teams, product owners and stakeholders.
• Develop business analysis plan, gather requirements and create user stories with acceptance criteria.
• Define goals and map current and future state processes.
• Analyze current state processes using data and metrics to drive improvements.
• Collaborate with product owners, QA, and development to ensure understanding of requirements.
• Manage scope, risks, and communication with project leadership.
• Document standards, procedures and transition requirements.
• Mentor others on business analysis practices.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Requirements gathering

User stories

Agile methodologies

Analytical skills

Communication skills

Problem solving

Data analysis

Education

Bachelor's degree in Business or related field

Tools

Jira

Confluence

Aha!

Azure DevOps

Job description

What You Can Expect In This Role

Responsible for investigating and identifying options to improve business systems, connecting the needs of the business with the use of IT. Perform analysis activities consistent with business analysis techniques. Work as a liaison among stakeholders across business units in achieving business objectives within different project methodologies in a concise and streamlined manner. Accountable for initiatives that involve multiple business functions with a potential high level of business risk and complexity.

What You'll Do In This Role

• Act as a liaison to project team, agile team, product owner and stakeholders on initiatives, enhancements, technical capabilities and production support. Efforts may cross multiple agile teams, impact multiple business units and functions and are time critical to the organization.
• Develop business analysis plan approach, create lean business cases, gather requirements and create user stories with diagrams and acceptance criteria. Communicate plan for each work assignment. This process requires complete transparency and collaboration with all parties, including business teams and IT.
• Define the organization’s goals in relationship to assigned work. Use strategic partnerships, collaboration and investigative analysis to identify accurate requirements.
• Analyze Current State Processes and Systems using a variety of techniques including Data-flow Diagrams, Functional Decomposition, Interviews and Analysis of Metrics and Key Performance Indicators.
• Define the future state of technical initiatives such as hardware and software upgrades and system conversions for both internal and external stakeholders. Advocate on behalf of all stakeholders, using experience to leverage technology to solve complex business and technical problems.
• Serve as subject matter expert in utilizing a variety of techniques like User Stories, Use Cases, and Diagrams in requirements documentation.
• Work closely with Business Partners and Product Owners at all levels in the organization to proactively define business requirements, complete backlog refinement, define acceptance criteria and collaborate with other stakeholders related to requirements definition and impact analysis.
• Facilitate creation and documentation of abstract models depicting enterprise capability maturity and structured process improvement events, such as Value Stream Mapping.
• Clearly define Business, Stakeholder solutions Functional and Non-Functional stakeholder solutions and transition requirements.
• Drive conversations with technical development staff and Quality Assurance to confirm understanding related to requirements. Collaborate with other team members during technical design and test planning to insure overall coverage and understanding.
• Manage initiative scope and risks by recommending and negotiating solutions and effectively communicating with the Project Manager, Scrum Master and Product Owner in a timely manner; make recommendations for product enhancements.
• Identify risks, drive solutions and coordinate with the teams and stakeholders to mitigate effectively.
• Participate in initiatives utilizing external consultants while being cognizant of the need for different communication styles and processes.
• Manage customer-facing issues and oversee the successful escalation and assignment of issues related to business requirements delivery.
• Proactively identify areas of systems improvement and make recommendations that drive results.
• Act as a liaison between Business Users and IT to ensure constant communication cycle with critical parties throughout the life of the initiative.
• Drive initiatives from ideation to implementation with proactive follow-up with stakeholders to confirm objectives were met, remaining flexible and adjusting to multiple tasks and circumstances.
• Ensure that appropriate documentation is kept current and meets all internal controls requirements related to content and approval.
• Proactively manage change throughout the lifecycle of the initiative by communicating with team, evaluating impact, updating documentation and negotiating alternatives.
• Develop and mentor others on business analysis standards by reviewing and editing standard operating procedures for SFG member companies.
• Embrace, adapt and lead through change, fostering effective partnerships and driving effective collaboration with peers and vendor resources.
• Display critical, quality-oriented, skeptical thinking about the product.
• Establish and cultivate relationships with key business partners, team members, industry contacts, and vendors.
• Support key working relationships with others and promote effective development of those relationships long-term.
• Drive career development planning and learning opportunities.
• Seek industry, technology and job related educational opportunities. Increase knowledge of insurance industry and business processes through training or reading material and present information to peers and manager. Enhance and continuously upgrade technology skills and apply to daily work.
• Seek and drive best practices in areas of analysis and technology. Improve efficiency and quality within initiatives and in the business analysis discipline.
• Commitment to embrace Sammons Financial Group Companies shared values (Accountability, Connection, Openness, Respect and Integrity).
• As stated within the Company Attendance and Punctuality policy, regular attendance is required and expected in order to meet the business service levels and workflow demands.
• Participate in other initiatives and/or projects as necessary.

What We're Looking For

• Bachelor's Degree in Business or related field from a four-year accredited university is preferred; consideration will be given to past Business Analysis experience, certifications and Financial Services background
• 6+ appropriate work experience Required
• Minimum 5 years' Experience facilitating formal process improvement activities Preferred
• Previous Business Analysis experience or leadership experience in the financial services industry Preferred
• Robust knowledge of the skills, techniques and competencies, with a preference towards industry certifications
• Previous Agile framework working experience Preferred
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills including strong questioning and listening skills and the ability to look beyond obvious answers to understand the impact across the organization
• Ability to quickly obtain and apply the knowledge of SFG member company systems, the business and related technology processes
• Ability to lead teams and resolve conflicts in problem solving and decision making using emotional intelligence to move the initiative forward
• Ability to handle complex situations holistically
• Confidence in problem solving and decision making
• Ability to work on large scale strategic initiatives that cross business units, serving as the Lead Business Analyst on a team of many analysts
• Familiarity with Agile frameworks and regression testing is a plus
• Strong analytical skills and the desire to research and formulate appropriate analytical technology or resolve problem situations
• Ability to independently perform data mining and apply analysis techniques to assigned initiatives
• Proven teamwork skills and ability to interact well with others, including the ability to work with and communicate to a variety of personalities and locations
• Self-motivated and able to work independently and effectively under deadline pressures
• Organized and detail oriented
• Deep understanding of concepts and techniques such as work simplification, workflow and process analysis, etc.
• Proficient use of the Microsoft suite of products and other Business Analysis Tools as necessary
• Ability and willingness to change in support of the best possible results for the organization
• Ability to diagram with appropriate tools for the situation and present to the team and stakeholders
• Proven experience in problem solving, decision making and process thinking skills
• Experience with Jira, Confluence, Aha! and Azure DevOps preferred
• Remain flexible and adjust to multiple tasks and circumstances.
• Ability to work with a variety of people at all levels in the organization

Other Requirements

• Criminal background check required.

Salary Range Information

USD $76,158.00 - USD $158,663.00 /Yr. Range includes data points from multiple labor markets. Specific range is dependent on the labor market where the incumbent will be hired to perform the position. Starting salary is dependent on candidate qualifications and experience. For a narrower salary range specific to your labor market, please inquire.

What you can expect when you join Sammons Financial Group

• Comprehensive health coverage for you and your family, including Medical, Dental, Vision, HSA & FSA options, and term life insurance.
• Competitive compensation with a performance-based incentive program tied to clear goals and individual and/or company success.
• Invest in your future with our 100% company-funded Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), plus automatic enrollment in our 401(k).
• Work–life balance that means something. Friday afternoons off year-round, generous paid time off, and paid holidays.
• Commit to your growth with paid development time, tuition reimbursement, and professional development opportunities across industry, individual, and leadership programs.
• Make an impact beyond the workplace through volunteer time off, and our company nonprofit matching gift program, supporting the causes that matter most to you.
• An ownership culture that inspires; join a connected, values-driven workplace where employees take accountability, support one another, and are empowered to do their best work—together shaping our future shared success.

Work Authorization/Sponsorship

At this time, we’re not considering candidates that need any type of immigration sponsorship now or in the future or those needing work authorization for this role (This includes, but is not limited to students on F1-OPT, F1-CPT, J-1, etc.)

Additional Information

Sammons Financial Group Is An Equal Opportunity Employer

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

ADA

Sammons Financial Group is committed to providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities in all aspects of the employment process. If you need assistance or a reasonable accommodation at any stage of the application or hiring process, including navigating our website or applying for a position, please contact [e-mail] or call 800-728-2987.

E-Verify

Sammons Financial Group participates in E-Verify and will provide the Social Security Administration and, if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security with information from each new employee's Form I-9 to confirm work authorization.

Policy for External Search Firms and Agencies

Sammons Financial Group maintains an internal Talent Acquisition function and does not accept unsolicited resumes or candidate submissions from search firms, staffing agencies, or other third-party recruiting vendors. Please review our Recruitment Agency Policy for additional information here.