Lead Business Analyst

Lindenwood University; Saint Charles (MO); On-site; USD 95,000 - 125,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Tuition benefits

Medical benefits

Paid holidays

Free lunch Fridays

Professional development

Job summary

Lindenwood University is seeking a Lead Business Analyst to guide the PMO, elicit and document complex business requirements, and lead junior analysts across IT initiatives. This role bridges university stakeholders and technology solutions to ensure alignment with strategic goals.

You will manage requirements, model processes, and support UAT, while collaborating with project managers and IT leadership to deliver high-impact enterprise solutions for the university community.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in IT, business, CS, or related field; master’s preferred.
• CBAP/PMI-PBA or PMP is a plus; PMO experience preferred.
• Experience in higher education or complex multi-stakeholder environments is preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead requirements elicitation sessions, identify business needs and define functional specs.
• Develop and maintain BRDs, Functional Specifications, use cases, and process flows.
• Conduct gap analyses and cost-benefit analyses to inform decisions.
• Model current and future workflows using BPMN/UML; ensure traceability.
• Define acceptance criteria and support UAT planning and defect tracking.
• Present findings to project steering committees and IT leadership.
• Lead junior analysts and assign work to align with timelines and PMO standards.
• Collaborate with project managers to plan scope, schedule, and risks.
• Support data migration planning, system configuration reviews, and integrations.

Skills

Business analysis

PMO leadership

Requirements elicitation

Process modeling (BPMN/UML)

Stakeholder management

UAT planning

Translate technical concepts

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Business Administration, Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field

Master’s degree preferred

Tools

Jira

Confluence

Smartsheet

Microsoft Project

Azure DevOps

Job description

Welcome to Career Opportunities at Lindenwood University.

Benefits of Being a Lindenwood Employee:

• Upon hire, employer-paid tuition benefits for bachelor’s(employee, spouse, and dependent) and master’s degree programs(employee and spouse only).
• Tuition discounts for doctoral programs (employee only).
• Comprehensive benefits plan: medical, dental, vision, lifeinsurance, disability insurance, and retirement options.
• Paid holidays: MLK Jr. day, Good Friday, Memorial Day,Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving break(Wednesday – Friday), and winter break (Dec. 23 – Jan. 1).
• Free lunch Fridays: LU employees are eligible for a free mealon Fridays at the Evans Commons Dining Hall or Spellman DiningHall; Chick-fil-A and Qdoba included.
• Professional development opportunities through the Lindenwood Learning Academy.

JOB TITLE SUMMARY

Job Title: Lead Business Analyst

Division: Information Technology

Evaluation Group: Staff

FLSA Status: Exempt

Reports To: Director, Project Management Office

Positions Supervised: NA

Job Summary

The lead business analyst serves as a team lead within the ProjectManagement Office (PMO) and plays a critical role in bridging thegap between institutional stakeholders and technology solutions.This position is responsible for eliciting, analyzing, anddocumenting complex business requirements; facilitating processimprovement initiatives; and leading junior analysts in deliveringhigh-quality business analysis across Information Technology (IT)projects. The lead business analyst partners closely with projectmanagers, IT leadership, and university departments to ensure thattechnology solutions align with strategic goals, operational needs,and user expectations.

Essential Job Functions and Performance Indicators

The intent of this job description is to provide a representationof the types of duties and level of responsibility that will berequired of positions given this title. This job description shallnot be construed as a declaration of the total of the specificduties and responsibilities of any particular position. Employeesmay be directed to perform job-related tasks other than thosespecifically presented in this description.

Job Responsibilities and Execution

• Leads requirements elicitation sessions including interviews,workshops, surveys, and observation to identify business needs,process gaps, and functional specifications
• Develops and maintains comprehensive requirements documentationincluding Business Requirements Documents (BRDs), FunctionalSpecifications, use cases, and process flow diagrams
• Conducts thorough gap analyses, feasibility assessments, andcost-benefit analyses to inform solution selection and projectscope decisions
• Facilitates process mapping and modeling sessions usingstandard notation (e.g., Business Process Model and Notation(BPMN)) to document current-state (as-is) and future-state (to-be)workflows
• Defines and manages requirement traceability throughout theproject lifecycle, ensuring delivered solutions meet documentedbusiness needs
• Develops acceptance criteria and supports user acceptancetesting (UAT) planning, execution, and defect tracking incollaboration with project teams and stakeholders
• Translates complex technical concepts and solution designs intoclear, accessible language for non-technical audiences, includingexecutive stakeholders
• Presents analysis deliverables, findings, and recommendationsto project steering committees, IT leadership, and executivestakeholders
• Collaborates with project managers to define project scope,schedule inputs, resource needs, and risk factors related tobusiness analysis workstreams
• Manages project change requests and scope change processes byassessing business impact, facilitating approvals, and updatingdocumentation accordingly
• Supports system implementation projects through data migrationplanning, system configuration reviews, and integration validationactivities
• Maintains up-to-date knowledge of enterprise systems (e.g.,Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer RelationshipManagement (CRM), Student Information System (SIS), and LearningManagement System (LMS)) and participates in vendor evaluation andselection processes
• Serves as team lead for business analysis staff within the PMO,providing day-to-day guidance, mentorship, and quality oversightfor business analysis deliverables
• Assigns and monitors work for junior business analysts,ensuring alignment with project timelines, PMO standards, andstakeholder expectations
• Reviews and approves requirements documentation, processmodels, and other business analysis artifacts produced by teammembers to ensure accuracy and completeness
• Leads onboarding and skills development for new businessanalysts, establishing standard practices and tool proficiencyacross the business analyst team
• Contributes to the continuous improvement of PMO businessanalysis frameworks, templates, and methodologies
• Participates in PMO governance activities, status reporting,and portfolio-level planning sessions as a subject matter expert inbusiness analysis
• Coordinates with the Director of Project Management to alignthe business analyst team capacity with project portfolio demandsand institutional priorities

Service Excellence

• Supports the mission of the University and serves as an ambassadorof the Q2 culture of service excellence
• Models, supports, and holds others accountable to the University’s values
• Provides excellent customer service to internal as well asexternal customers
• Partners with IT leadership and institutional stakeholders toensure business analysis efforts support the university's strategicpriorities and technology roadmap

Communication, Teamwork, and Collaboration

• Communicates effectively with all levels of management andpersonnel
• Produces clear and effective written documentation
• Works collaboratively throughout the Software Development LifeCycle (SDLC), including business process analysis, solution designsupport, requirements gathering, testing, and documentation forenterprise software and integrated systems
• Proactively identifies opportunities to streamline processes,reduce redundancy, and improve operational efficiency throughtechnology solutions
• Maintains awareness of higher education technology trends,regulatory requirements, and emerging best practices in businessanalysis and process improvement
• Adapts analysis approach and communication style to meet theneeds of diverse stakeholder groups across academic,administrative, and technical functions

Job may require other duties as assigned.

Required Qualifications

– An equivalent combination ofeducation, training, and experience will be considered. Additionalrequirements may be designated by position.

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, BusinessAdministration, Computer Science, Information Systems, or relatedfield; Master’s degree preferred
• Minimum of 10 years of progressively responsible experience inbusiness analysis, including complex IT and enterprise systemimplementation projects
• Minimum of 3 years of experience serving in a team lead,supervisory, or project leadership role
• Certified Business Analysis Professional (CBAP) or PMIProfessional in Business Analysis (PMI-PBA) preferred
• Project Management Professional (PMP) preferred
• Experience working within a Project Management Office (PMO)environment preferred
• Experience in higher education or similarly complexmulti-stakeholder institutional environments preferred

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

– May be representative,but not all inclusive, of the knowledge, skills, and abilitiesnecessary to perform this job competently.

• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with individuals fromdiverse communities and cultures
• Comprehensive knowledge of business analysis frameworks,including the BABOK Guide, Agile analysis practices, andrequirements engineering methodologies
• Strong knowledge of process modeling techniques including BPMN,Unified Modeling Language (UML) use cases, swim lane diagrams, anddata flow diagrams
• Knowledge of Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK)standards and familiarity with Agile/Scrum frameworks as they applyto business analysis workstreams
• Familiarity with IT Service Management (ITSM) and ITInfrastructure Library (ITIL) frameworks as applied to business andtechnology alignment
• Excellent analytical, critical thinking, and structuredproblem-solving skills with the ability to decompose complexproblems into actionable requirements
• Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills, with thedemonstrated ability to translate technical concepts fornon-technical audiences and vice versa
• Strong facilitation and stakeholder management skills,including the ability to lead workshops, resolve conflicts, anddrive consensus across diverse groups
• Strong customer service orientation with the ability to buildcollaborative relationships across diverse universitydepartments
• Excellent attention to detail with the ability to managemultiple concurrent projects and competing priorities in a fastening-paced environment
• Strong professional integrity and ability to maintain strictconfidentiality of sensitive institutional data and processes
• Ability to analyze, query, and interpret data to validatebusiness requirements and assess solution effectiveness
• Familiarity with enterprise systems commonly found in highereducation (e.g., ERP/SIS platforms, CRM, LMS, financial aidsystems)
• Proficiency with enterprise project management and requirementsmanagement tools (e.g., Jira, Confluence, Smartsheet, MicrosoftProject, Azure DevOps)
• Knowledge of quality assurance principles, UAT practices, andtesting methodology as applied to business analysis
• Skills in organizational change management, training needsassessment, and stakeholder communication planning

Work Environment

Please click here to view Lindenwood University’sflexible work designation descriptions

• General office setting
• Non-Standard Flex Schedule

Physical Abilities

• Ability to work effectively at a computer for extended timedaily
• Ability to sit/stand for extended periods of time
• Ability to lift/carry items commonly found in an office settingincluding, but not limited to, documents, laptops, keyboards,etc.
• Ability to use repetitive wrist, hand, and finger movements totype regularly
• Regular attendance is a necessary and essential function

Equal Opportunity Employer

Lindenwood University is an Equal Opportunity employer. TheUniversity complies with appropriate federal, state, and local lawsand provides equal employment opportunities and access toeducational programs without regard to race, color, religion,gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin,veteran status, disability, or any other protected status to allqualified applicants and employees. Lindenwood University iscommitted to a policy of non-discrimination and dedicated toproviding a positive discrimination-free educational workenvironment.