Business Analyst

Enhancing existing M&A capability and capacity, the role supports one of the strategic priorities for growth within the EMEA region. We are looking for a Business Analyst to join the M&A team. You will assist in the investigation, analysis, review, and documentation of all or part of a business in terms of business functions and processes, to successfully transition acquired businesses and applications.

The BA will work closely with stakeholders, including management, customers, and internal teams to understand business needs, identify opportunities for improvement, and develop strategies to achieve business objectives. The programme is diverse, involving a range of applications from business applications to CRM and finance systems. Individual projects can involve moving whole business units from old to new systems.

An understanding of the insurance business, including broking, claims processing, and IBA functions, would be advantageous. Experience with system decommissions, data migrations, and testing would also be useful. The successful candidate will play a key role in the integration of acquired businesses, such as system re-branding, data migrations, and developing test plans to support the integration process.

Core Responsibilities:

• Support the capture and detail of the existing application and digital estate of an acquisition target, including in-depth investigation, reporting, and highlighting security risks and remediation activities to ensure compliance with company standards.
• Analyse business operations and processes to identify areas for improvement.
• Work with stakeholders to gather requirements, document processes, and develop business cases.
• Develop strategies and plans to improve business performance, including cost reduction, process improvement, and revenue growth.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to implement business solutions, including IT, sales, marketing, and operations.
• Facilitate workshops, meetings, and interviews to gather information and gain consensus on project requirements.
• Completion of and adherence to the internal application service transition process for M&A integrations.
• Develop and maintain project documentation, including project plans, status reports, and risk and issue logs.
• Develop and maintain strong relationships with stakeholders, including customers, vendors, and internal teams.
• Ensure project deliverables are completed on time, within budget, and to the required quality standards.
• Identify, escalate, and manage project risks and issues as appropriate.
• Manage internal change requests for application remediation/integration.

   

Key Interfaces:

• M&A Lead
• IT Project Managers
• Technical subject matter experts
• Project Management Office
• Key Business Stakeholders
• Internal Clients
• Other IT contacts, including Infrastructure teams, CTO, IT Security, and Compliance
• Acquisition targets (both technical and non-technical)
• Solution suppliers
• Delivery Partners
• Other external counterparties as required.

   

Key Skills and Experience:

• High-level and detailed requirements definition, comparing the current state with the potential future state (as-is vs to-be). Includes process modeling and using knowledge of systems to propose new solutions.
• Collect, understand, and transmit business requirements for the project, and translate these into functional specifications and detailed test plans.
• Work with specialist testers, or autonomously in exceptional cases, to ensure that captured requirements are testable and traceable from detailed test cases.
• Provide knowledge of existing processes, functions, and expert knowledge of existing systems to provide solutions as required.
• Work closely with steering committees and individuals to understand business requirements around existing and proposed processes and systems, developing effective working relationships and ongoing management processes for projects.
• Understand the ongoing pipeline of changes and maintain a backlog of items prioritized by the business.
• Maintain close links with third-party providers, especially related to the scope of system data extracts to enable successful system archive.
• Provide the link between the customer, development team, and third parties regarding software functionality, throughout the development cycle.
• Design and execute the test scenarios and test scripts.
• Project presentations and report compilation showing progress against milestones, status, resource requirements, issues, risk dependencies, and financials.
• Awareness of service desk issues to proactively drive solution provisioning/propose application enhancements/updates.
• Carry out duties following internal policies and procedures in accordance with applicable laws, rules, regulations, good governance, and company values, particularly putting clients at the heart of the business.

   

Experience and Qualifications:

• 3+ years of experience as a Business Analyst or related role.
• Proven experience in project management, process improvement, and change management.
• Strong facilitation and collaboration skills, with the ability to work effectively in a cross-functional team environment.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to identify and resolve complex business issues.
• Experience with Agile and Waterfall methodologies is a plus.
• Experience in the financial services industry is a plus.

   

Education / Qualifications / Attributes:

• Minimum bachelor’s degree or commensurate experience required. Specific knowledge of key business systems and/or bespoke applications is preferred.
• Knowledge of good quality processes, including peer review and documentation standards.
• Knowledge of one or more formal project management methodologies (e.g., Waterfall/Agile).
• Experience of running workshops for requirements clarification and evaluation.
• Understanding, analysis & interpretation of data, including data normalization techniques.
• Effective communication, including the ability to explain technical information to non-technical people.
• Ability to manage own workload effectively.
• Demonstrable drive and self-motivation.
• Great customer service.
• Ability to lead research and triage complex problems, tactical and strategic solutions.
• Team player, adaptable to changing priorities.
• Ability to work under pressure.
• Learns and shares knowledge.
• Close attention to detail and accuracy.
• Integrity and sensitivity when delivering information.
• Eligibility to work in Finland.
• Ability to support regular site visits to the office in Helsinki.