Business Analyst

The opportunity

Our client is the US business of a global insurance broker.

The technology and data platform is being built from scratch on Microsoft Azure and Databricks. As that build moves from foundations into the systems brokers and operations teams use every day, the architecture team needs someone who understands how an insurance business actually works.

The Business Analyst is that person: the link between the people who place and service insurance and the people building the technology behind them.

The role

You turn what brokers, account managers, operations and finance need into requirements that architects and engineers can build from. You know insurance well enough to ask the right follow-up question, and to spot a requirement that won't hold up in practice.

You work with the architecture team, including the enterprise architect and the data architect, and with data engineers and business leaders across the US offices. Because the platform is new, you will often be documenting a process for the first time, not updating an old one.

In the first year, success looks like:

• Business leaders trust that what they asked for is what gets built
• Core broking processes are documented clearly enough to design systems and data models against
• Each newly acquired firm or broking team has a clear picture of its current processes and data, and a plan to bring them onto the platform

What you'll do

• Meet with brokers, account managers, operations, finance and compliance to understand how work gets done and what they need from technology
• Map current and future business processes across the policy lifecycle: new business, placement, binding, servicing, renewals, billing, commissions and claims
• Write clear requirements, user stories and acceptance criteria, and keep them prioritized with business and technology leaders
• Define business rules, data definitions and reporting needs with the data architect, so data models reflect how the business really operates
• Support the selection and rollout of business systems by documenting needs, comparing options and planning how teams will adopt them
• Plan and run user acceptance testing, and confirm that what was delivered solves the original problem
• Assess the processes, systems and data of acquired firms and new broking teams, and help plan their move onto the platform
• Keep stakeholders informed on scope, decisions and trade-offs in plain language

What you bring

• 5+ years as a business analyst on technology or data projects
• Direct insurance industry experience at a broker, agency, carrier or MGA, with a working knowledge of the policy lifecycle and the people involved in it
• Strong requirements skills: interviews and workshops, process mapping, user stories, acceptance criteria and traceability through to testing
• Comfort with data: you can read a data model, write basic SQL to check your own assumptions, and define a report or metric precisely
• Experience working with architects and engineers in an agile delivery setting
• Experience leading user acceptance testing and supporting business teams through a system change
• Clear writing and confident facilitation with senior business stakeholders
• A track record in a new build or fast-growing environment, where processes were still being defined

Nice to have

• Commercial or specialty insurance broking experience specifically
• Hands-on experience with broker or agency management systems
• Experience integrating acquired businesses, or onboarding new teams onto shared systems
• Experience on Microsoft Azure, Databricks or Salesforce projects
• A business analysis certification such as CBAP or PMI-PBA