Strategic Business Analyst: Service Strategy & AI

northwesternmutual; Franklin (WI); On-site; USD 85,000 - 115,000; Full time

Job summary

Northwestern Mutual is seeking a Senior Business Analyst to advance our Service Strategy by identifying opportunities, defining solutions, and delivering capabilities that improve experiences for clients, field representatives, and home office teams.

Working closely with Product, Engineering, Operations, Analytics, and business stakeholders, you'll uncover customer and business needs, facilitate discovery, evaluate opportunities, and drive alignment across teams to shape future state servicing

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience.
• 5+ years of Business Analyst, Product Analyst, or related experience delivering measurable business outcomes.
• Demonstrated ability to make data-driven decisions.
• Experience working within Agile, product-focused, or cross-functional delivery environments.
• Strong analytical thinking, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
• Demonstrated initiative, ownership, and bias toward action.

Responsibilities

• Define success measures, establish baseline performance metrics, and evaluate outcomes to ensure solutions support Service Strategy objectives and business value.
• Serve as a strategic thought partner by focusing on business problems, root causes, and opportunities rather than simply documenting requirements.
• Lead discovery efforts, stakeholder discussions, and process analysis to identify opportunities and define future-state experiences.
• Apply systems thinking to understand how processes, technology, products, data, and organizational decisions impact the broader servicing ecosystem.
• Facilitate workshops, process mapping sessions, and alignment discussions that help teams move from ambiguity to actionable solutions.
• Leverage quantitative and qualitative data to identify trends, evaluate opportunities, and support prioritization decisions.
• Translate complex business needs into clear requirements, user stories, process flows, acceptance criteria, and solution recommendations.
• Partner closely with Product, Engineering, Operations, Analytics, and business stakeholders to support roadmap priorities and delivery efforts.
• Influence stakeholders and delivery teams across organizational boundaries while driving decisions without direct authority.
• Support rapid test-and-learn approaches by identifying opportunities, validating assumptions, incorporating feedback, and measuring outcomes.
• Utilize AI-enabled tools and emerging technologies to improve analysis, decision-making, delivery effectiveness, and operational efficiency.
• Contribute to strong business analysis practices, continuous improvement efforts, and knowledge sharing across teams.
• Communicate effectively with working teams, business partners, leadership, and executives, tailoring information appropriately to each audience.

Skills

Analytical Thinking

Business Analysis

Cross Functional Partnering & Planning

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Job description

Northwestern Mutual is seeking a Senior Business Analyst to advance our Service Strategy by identifying opportunities, defining solutions, and delivering capabilities that improve experiences for clients, field representatives, and home office teams.

Working closely with Product, Engineering, Operations, Analytics, and business stakeholders, you'll uncover customer and business needs, facilitate discovery, evaluate opportunities, and drive alignment across teams to shape future state servicing