Business Analyst – Sr., II or I
Southwest Power Pool Inc.
Little Rock, AR
Description
Requisition Number: BUSIN001413
Description
Southwest Power Pool (SPP) is about more than power. We're about the power of relationships. Our employees have the opportunity to work together to ensure electricity is delivered reliably and affordably to the millions of people living in our service territory. We have been voted one of Arkansas' Best Places to work by Arkansas Business and we are looking for a member of our team who is passionate about our mission to keep the lights on!
We have a core ideology here at SPP that we stand by: Do the right thing, for the right reason, in the right way.
We believe in supporting our employees through a fantastic benefits package:
- Competitive pay with bonus opportunities
- Excellent insurance package including three great medical plans to choose from, employer-paid short term disability, long term disability, and life insurance
- Relocation assistance
- Flexible working environment for positions that are eligible where employees have the flexibility to work from home and come in where collaborative in person work is needed.
- Fantastic contributions to your retirement through a 401(k) savings plan with employer-match benefits and a defined benefit plan fully funded by SPP
Overview:
Business Analysts plan, analyze, gather, record, and manage requirements throughout the project lifecycle. Requirements are a key deliverable of SPP's project management lifecycle and generally include functional and non-functional requirements that support SPP's business goals, governing entities, technical architecture, system design/development, and system testing.
Business Analysts provide input to functional design and follow the system design effort through system testing to ensure that system design/delivery satisfies requirements.
Business Analysts are responsible for test planning and preparation, including developing test cases/test plans, test approach, and test execution. Additionally, the Senior or Business Analyst II drives test automation efforts.
Business Analysts lead and/or actively support test stages such as system integration, regression, non-functional, and user acceptance testing. Senior or Business Analyst II provides overall test management including defect management and delivery of testing status and metrics.
Business Analysts may also support project activities such as data mapping exercises, coding of macros or scripts to support testing, system integration testing, technical and end-user documentation, etc., as needed.
Additional responsibilities of the Senior Business Analyst may include defining and improving requirements practice and test management processes, educating team members, providing team leadership, and project status reporting for the BA team.
The Business Analyst I scope includes any projects/tasks assigned by the Supervisor, Test Lead or Lead Business Analyst. Projects generally include assisting with key deliverables among many departments within SPP, vendors and consultants throughout all stages of the project management life cycle.
The Senior or Business Analyst II scope includes projects/tasks assigned by the Supervisor or Manager. The Senior or Business Analyst II will generally focus on a specific functional area and its related set of applications as a primary area of responsibility, and may also be assigned to other functional areas and/or ad hoc projects to meet business needs. Projects generally include creating and assisting with key deliverables among many departments within SPP, vendors, and consultants throughout all stages of the project management life cycle. The position requires extensive communication with employees at all levels of the organization, and is expected to work with minimal supervision, exercising good judgment in managing multiple tasks and priorities.
The Senior Business Analyst provides support to the Supervisor by assisting with team leadership duties, day-to-day task assignments, status tracking, resource management, and mentoring/education to the BA project team members during their portion of their assigned projects.
The position may be asked to support SPP member committees and working groups, and may represent SPP and its member companies at NERC committees and working groups
Essential Functions:
- Work collaboratively with stakeholders to gather requirements and establish test cases/test plans.
- Provide analysis of customer, business, and technical needs to articulate and develop business goals, functional requirements, non-functional requirements, etc., using SPP's established requirements methodology. Present requirements in a manner that is appropriate to the project.
- Apply requirements approval, management, and traceability throughout the project lifecycle, ensuring scope change control.
- Ensure established requirements methodology and testing strategy are effective, understood, and followed by the team as well as stakeholders.
- Identify, recommend, and implement changes and enhancements to processes and documentation to improve effectiveness and efficiency.
- Exhibit and apply knowledge of SPP's business and the systems that support the business. Develop and maintain a comprehensive understanding of the business and systems/applications of their assigned primary functional area.
- Possess and apply technical skills applicable to requirements and testing.
- Develop, document, and execute test cases/test plans, test approaches, test execution, defect management, test status, and test metrics using SPP's established testing strategy and defect management process.
- Demonstrate ability to manage/prioritize multiple assignments/initiatives, while meeting delivery dates
- Accountable for all aspects of system testing, (e.g., resource planning, test approach documentation, test cases/test plans, test management, defect management, test status/metrics, test exit, etc.). Help drive test automation.
- Execute system integration testing, as well as executing tests for other test stages as applicable, (e.g., site acceptance, functional integration/user acceptance, non-functional).
- Understand and utilize IT practices/methodologies
- Exercise planning and problem solving skills with ability to exercise mature judgment, assisting junior staff with planning and problem solving
- Establish effective working relationships with stakeholders and team
- Support complex projects/implementations that impact multiple systems, interfaces, and departments
- Provide guidance, direction, feedback, and coaching to ensure team effectiveness
- Assist supervisor of team with day-to-day task assignments, status tracking, and issue resolution
Education Requirements:
- Bachelor's degree in a Business or Information Technology-related field; Two (2) years of supporting SDLC including requirements and/or software testing experience may be considered in lieu of degree requirement
Experience Requirements:
- Sr. Business Analyst – Six (6) years of SDLC experience, including requirements and/or software testing experience
- Business Analyst II: Three (3) years of SDLC experience, including requirements and software testing experience
- Business Analyst I: No experience required
Required:
- Working knowledge/experience in various requirements approaches and/or software testing methodologies
- Thorough knowledge in the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
- Experience articulating requirements in a consumable manner
- Logical and efficient, with attention to detail
- Strong prioritization and organizational skills
- Competent with Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, Visio, PowerPoint)
- Proficient in both written and oral communication
- Strong facilitation skills
- Effective negotiation skills
- Understanding of and compliance with SPP Policies and Procedures
Preferred:
- Competent with requirements/test management products
- Applicable knowledge and experience with developing SQL queries, macros
- Basic understanding of standard programming languages such as C, C++, Visual Basic, Java, etc.
- Experience with SDLC products/tools
- Two (2) years of Wholesale Utility industry business knowledge
Contact
Southwest Power Pool Inc.
415 N McKinley
Little Rock
Arkansas United States
www.spp.org
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