Technical Business Analyst

Virgin Active South Africa (Pty) Ltd; Cape Town; On-site; ZAR 600,000 - 900,000; Full time

Job summary

Virgin Active South Africa (Pty) Ltd seeks a skilled Business/Systems Analyst to bridge product needs with engineering teams in an agile squad. You will translate high level product requirements into functional specs, map processes, and define data requirements to ensure delivery aligns with business goals.

You’ll own backlog refinement, validate test scenarios, and collaborate across Product, Engineering, Architecture and Data to surface gaps early and keep projects on track.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional experience in business or systems analysis.
• At least 5 years in a Business/Systems Analyst or Product Owner role in an agile squad.
• Experience translating product requirements into detailed functional specs, user stories and acceptance criteria.
• Experience reading JSON, REST APIs, and API docs; working SQL knowledge for data validation.

Responsibilities

• Supporting Product discovery with evidence, journey insight, data, and technical investigation.
• Translating high-level Product requirements into detailed functional requirements, flows, stories, acceptance criteria and business rules.
• Owning backlog detail: refining and sequencing stories with Product and Engineering Leads.
• Mapping current and future-state processes affecting delivery across multiple teams.
• Tracing data requirements and data flows through systems and APIs.
• Identifying downstream impacts and signaling gaps early.
• Performing analysis to support Product prioritisation.
• Maintaining up-to-date documentation of journeys, mappings, and decisions.
• Validating that builds meet defined requirements and test scenarios.
• Investigating defects and root causes across apps and integrations.

Skills

Emotional Intelligence

Active Listening

Cultural Awareness

Empathy

Attention to Detail

Resilience

Problem Solving

Adaptability

Relatability

Situational Awareness

Curiosity

Time Management

Digital Fluency

Education

Bachelor's degree or equivalent

Tools

Jira

Confluence

Postman

SQL

Job description

Your Purpose...

• Is to “change people’s lives for the better through wellness”;
• We deliver social wellness experiences that enable people to meet their personal wellness goals, through holistic physical, mental nutritional and social wellbeing.
• To bridge Product intent and technical delivery: supporting Product with the evidence and analysis needed to shape clear outcomes and high‑level requirements, then translating those into detailed functional, process, system and data requirements so Engineering can build with clarity, and Product and Tech Leads can focus on leadership, decision‑making and stakeholder management.

Your Duties and Responsibilities...

Discovery Support

• Supporting Product discovery with evidence, journey insight, data, and technical or process investigation where needed. Product remains accountable for defining the customer/business problem, opportunity and desired outcome

Requirements Definition

• The heart of the role: translating high‑level Product requirements into detailed functional requirements, flows, stories, acceptance criteria, business rules, edge cases and NFRs in collaboration with Engineering.

Backlog ownership and refinement

• Owning backlog detail: refining and sequencing stories with Product and Engineering Leads, and running refinement sessions with engineers, so each release enters development ready to build.

Business Process Mapping

• Mapping current and future‑state process logic where it affects delivery: operational steps, hand‑offs, decisions, exceptions and change impacts. Primary working relationships are Product, Engineering, Architecture and Data, with clubs/contact centre/operations brought in for detailed process validation, and acting as the bridge between local/regional teams and the central product and engineering team so local needs are surfaced without fragmenting a shared platform.

Systems Mapping

• Tracing how changes move through systems, APIs and integrations — which system does what, where hand‑offs happen, and what each event triggers downstream — including specifying request/response contracts, sequence flows and non‑functional requirements, so implications are surfaced before build starts.

Data Mapping and Definition

• Defining and tracing data requirements — fields, sources, ownership, where data is created and mastered, how it is transformed, consumed and passed into downstream processes, and the quality expectations that apply.

Impact and Gap Analysis

• Identifying downstream impacts across systems, APIs/integrations, data, teams and processes. Flagging gaps, conflicts, dependencies and unowned areas to Product, Engineering and Delivery early.

Analysis for Prioritisation

• Analysis to support Product decision‑making: quantifying volumes, failure points, options, trade‑offs and likely implications so Product can make informed prioritisation decisions. Product remains accountable for prioritisation.

Documentation as an Asset

• Maintaining the definitive, current record of journeys, mappings, requirements, decisions and acceptance criteria so it is reusable by other squads rather than rebuilt each time

Validation

• Ensuring test scenarios cover agreed requirements, business rules, exceptions and downstream impacts, and confirming that what was built matches what was defined.

Defect and Production Investigation

• Investigating defects and production issues, reproducing behaviour and tracing root cause across app, API and downstream systems, so Engineering starts from an accurate diagnosis, not a guess.

Our Minimum Requirements...
We can’t live without…

• Experience as a Business/Systems Analyst, technical BA or Product Owner in a squad-embedded, agile product team — at least 5 years overall, including 3+ years in a technical or systems analysis role.
• Comfortable translating high‑level product requirements into detailed functional requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria, business rules and edge cases, and running refinement sessions with engineers.
• Able to trace how a change moves through systems, APIs/integrations and data and to spot downstream impacts before build starts — including specifying request/response contracts, data mappings and error handling.
• Comfortable reading and reasoning about JSON, REST APIs and API documentation (testing endpoints with tools such as Postman), with working SQL knowledge for data investigation and validation.
• Confident mapping process and data — sources, ownership, transformation, consumption and the quality rules that apply.
• Strong collaboration with Engineering, Architecture and Data; comfortable being the day‑to‑day link between Product and the Tech Lead.
• Track record of producing documentation and specifications that squads and engineers actually reuse, using tools such as Jira and Confluence.
• Experience defining test scenarios and validating a build against agreed requirements.
• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field, or equivalent professional experience in business or systems analysis.
• Experience in membership, subscription, health and fitness, or retail platforms.
• Experience in a multi‑country, multi‑brand or multi‑tenant product environment.
• Exposure to Azure services, particularly API Management, Service Bus or Functions.
• Exposure to mobile app delivery constraints — release cycles, app versioning, offline or degraded-connectivity behaviour.
• Prior experience working with external vendors and distributed or outsourced engineering teams.
• Exposure to data and AI product definition.
• Experience across member management journeys (join, amend, upgrade, freeze, cancel).

Core Interpersonal Skills:

• Emotional Intelligence- proven ability to anticipate the needs of others before they are voiced
• Active Listening- Able to genuinely hear concerns with the ability to defuse tense situations and ensuring members and staff feel heard and valued
• Cultural Awareness and Fluency- understand international norms, etiquette and diverse backgrounds to provide a welcoming environment for our international and VIP members
• Empathy – be able to understand, or and be aware of, someone else’s feelings especially during stressful situations, such as travel delays or billing disputes

Operational & leadership Skills Required:

• Attention to Detail, noticing the small things
• Resilience and Composure, be able to remain calm and optimistic under extreme pressure, during peak or periods or system failures
• Problem solving and conflict resolution – be able to turn challenges into opportunities by thinking and acting quickly to resolve issues before they impact a member’s experience
• Adaptability: be flexible to handle unpredictable shifts in processers, resource changes, last minute VIP guest arrivals, or sudden changes in event plans.
• Relatability – the capacity to connect with diverse stakeholders across all backgrounds
• Situational Awareness – constantly monitoring the environment to identify members who need support or help
• Curiosity- the ability to seek out and transform standard transactions into personalised stories and memorable experiences
• Time Management – the ability to efficiently meet stringent deadlines while maintaining a relaxed and unhurried demeanor for guests.
• Digital Fluency – must be proficient in new age technology and systems