Business Analyst

Sand Technologies; South Africa; On-site; ZAR 300,000 - 500,000; Full time

Job summary

Sand Technologies is seeking a Business Analyst in South Africa to drive discovery efforts and manage the product backlog in a dynamic environment. The role demands a strong understanding of stakeholder engagement and the ability to produce comprehensive documentation.

The ideal candidate will have over 2 years of BA experience and strong communication skills. Working in small, collaborative teams, you will contribute to tangible value in multiple stakeholder client engagements.

Qualifications

• 2+ years of BA experience, with at least 1 year in agile environments.
• Proven track record in executing full requirements lifecycle.
• Strong written communication and technical writing skills.

Responsibilities

• Drive discovery efforts and manage product backlog.
• Facilitate requirements workshops and engage stakeholders.
• Produce documentation including BRDs and user stories.

Skills

Business Analysis

Agile methodologies

Stakeholder engagement

Problem-solving

Communication skills

Education

Business Analysis certifications

Tools

Azure DevOps

Jira

Confluence

Job description

About Sand

Sand Technologies is a global Physical AI company using data and AI to make critical industries work better. We partner with governments, cities and enterprises to improve how essential systems operate across healthcare, water, energy, telecommunications and infrastructure.

Our work delivers proven real-world impact. We have built AI systems that help manage London’s water supply, supported telecom network planning across hundreds of cities, and developed digital healthcare platforms serving tens of millions of people across Africa. From intelligent command centers to AI-powered infrastructure platforms, we help organizations sense, analyze and act in complex environments.

Our people are ambitious, curious and relentlessly practical. Our teams work alongside clients in the field, solving hard problems and deploying solutions that last. With colleagues across Africa, Europe, the UK and the US, we operate across the full stack - from research and engineering to deployment and capability building.

Our mission is simple: to harness AI to solve humanity’s most pressing challenges.

About the role

This role owns the requirements and analytical work across the full delivery lifecycle alongside the technical lead, from requirements discovery and sprint planning through to UAT, documentation governance, and value tracking.

Our Business Analyst operates semi-autonomously alongside the product owner to support the “what” and the “why” of solution’s development for our client. They own client relationships, maintain and improve analytical standards for the squad, manage the full artefact estate, and provide mentorship to our junior Business Analyst team members where possible. They are expected to bring a point of view and resolve scope, stakeholder, and quality challenges without defaulting to escalation.

What you’ll do

Requirements & Backlog Ownership

• Own the BA workstream by driving discovery efforts, framing problems, and managing the product backlog across near, mid, and far horizons.
• Write, refine, and validate user stories and clear acceptance criteria while championing a culture of Continuous Discovery.
• Act as a strategic thought partner to the Product Owner, stepping in as the de facto PO to prioritize use cases and guide solution direction when necessary.

Stakeholder Facilitation & Engagement

• Independently design and facilitate requirements workshops, design conferences, and process walkthroughs.
• Manage complex, multi-level stakeholder relationships across client and delivery organizations (including technical, financial, and executive sponsors).
• Proactively communicate progress, scope changes, and risks to build client confidence through reliable, outcome-focused engagement.

Analysis & Documentation

• Produce and maintain comprehensive documentation, including BRDs, FSDs, user stories, and BPMN-aligned As-Is/To-Be process models.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to define data requirements, source systems, and transformation logic.
• Curate the squad’s knowledge base, playbooks, and reusable artifacts to ensure consistent delivery standards.

Testing, Quality & Agile Delivery

• Lead User Acceptance Testing (UAT), and conduct ad-hoc functional testing to ensure features meet requirements and reduce late-cycle rework.
• Actively participate in and facilitate core Agile scrum ceremonies (stand-ups, planning, refinement, reviews, retrospectives) while continuously improving the squad's operating cadence.
• Manage defect resolution, consolidate stakeholder feedback, and secure final client sign-off.

Value Measurement & Broader Accountability

• Collaborate with the Product Owner to track KPIs, measure delivery against business outcomes, and frame sprint reviews around tangible value delivered.
• Operate with high autonomy to navigate scope challenges, proposing constructive solutions rather than simply escalating problems.
• Mentor junior BAs and actively contribute to the broader BA practice by improving standards, templates, and ways of working.

Who you are

• 2+ years of BA experience, with at least 1 years delivering in agile squad environments
• Business Analysis certifications gained from recognised bodies (IIBA and PMI etc.).
• Proven track record of executing the full requirements lifecycle, from discovery through to UAT, on complex, multi-stakeholder client engagements.
• Ability to translate company goals and objectives into roadmaps for digital transformation.
• Strong written communication and excellent technical writing, presentation and communication skills
• Good planning and time-management skills
• Proficiency in Azure Devops or equivalent backlog tooling; Jira, Confluence, Notion, or Miro for documentation and facilitation
• Experience in data, analytics, or enterprise systems environments (SAP, cloud data platforms, BI / analytics dashboards)
• Collaborative team player approach to tasks
• Strong problem-solving skills
• Entrepreneurial and adaptable mindset
• Pro‑active approach to personal and professional development and mentoring of others in best practices

Nice to have

• Experience and understanding of utilities or related sectors
• Passion or demonstrable skills in a digital environment e.g. programming, data science
• Good understanding of the technology marketplace with knowledge of products, platforms and emerging technologies

How we work

Due to the highly collaborative and internationally distributed nature of our work, successful candidates must be comfortable operating in small teams while contributing to larger, globally coordinated efforts. A strong sense of ownership, self-motivation and discipline in maintaining clear and consistent communication through virtual collaboration tools and video conferencing is essential.