Business Analyst

A Data Products Business Analyst plays a critical role in identifying business needs, uncovering problems, and driving the development of data-driven solutions. Unlike traditional business analysts who passively gather requirements, this role is proactive in analyzing the business context, eliciting stakeholder needs, and defining optimal data product solutions.

The Data Products Business Analyst ensures that data initiatives align with business strategy, leveraging principles from BABOK (Business Analysis Body of Knowledge) to drive structured, value-focused outcomes. By taking ownership of business problem analysis, requirement elicitation, and structured documentation, this role contributes to the success of data products by ensuring solutions are well-defined, feasible, and valuable

1 Business Needs Analysis & Problem Identification

• Conduct in-depth analysis of business processes, challenges, and opportunities to identify where data products can provide value.
• Engage with stakeholders across departments to understand their pain points, operational inefficiencies, and strategic goals.
• Use techniques from BABOK, such as root cause analysis, process modeling, and stakeholder interviews, to define business needs before prescribing solutions.
• Challenge assumptions and explore alternative solutions that maximize business value.
• Proactively propose data-driven opportunities instead of waiting for stakeholders to define requirements.

2 Solution Generation & Data Product Strategy

• Work collaboratively with stakeholders and product teams to define problem statements, ideate solutions, and validate hypotheses.
• Leverage industry best practices, market research, and internal data to design innovative and scalable data products.
• Conduct feasibility assessments and cost-benefit analyses to determine the viability of potential solutions.
• Define data product vision, scope, and success criteria based on business needs and strategic alignment.

3 Requirements Management & Documentation (BABOK-aligned)

• Apply BABOK's requirement lifecycle management framework to ensure traceability, consistency, and alignment of requirements.
• Elicit requirements using structured techniques such as interviews, focus groups, prototyping, surveys, and document analysis.
• Develop and maintain structured Business Requirement Documents (BRD), Functional Requirement Specifications (FRS), and Product Requirement Documents (PRD).
• Categorize requirements into business, stakeholder, solution, functional, and non-functional categories to ensure clarity.
• Utilize use case modeling, process flow diagrams, and data flow diagrams to document and communicate requirements effectively.
• Ensure requirements are clear, testable, and adaptable to changing business needs.

4 Stakeholder Engagement & Collaboration

• Act as a trusted advisor to business stakeholders, helping them understand and articulate their data needs.
• Facilitate requirements workshops, brainstorming sessions, and design sprints to drive alignment.
• Manage stakeholder expectations and negotiate priorities to balance business goals and technical feasibility.
• Translate complex data concepts into clear, business-friendly language.
• Maintain ongoing communication with product managers, data engineers, analysts, and business users.

5 Agile & Product Development Lifecycle Management

• Work closely with product teams using Agile methodologies to ensure continuous delivery of valuable data products.
• Define and maintain the product backlog, ensuring well-structured epics, features, and user stories.
• Participate in sprint planning, backlog grooming, daily stand-ups, and retrospectives.
• Collaborate with engineering teams to ensure business requirements are translated into actionable technical deliverables.
• Conduct UAT (User Acceptance Testing) and validate that delivered solutions meet business needs.

6 Data-Driven Decision Making & Performance Evaluation

• Define Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Objectives & Key Results (OKRs) to measure the effectiveness of data products.
• Conduct post-launch evaluations, gathering feedback and performance data to drive continuous improvement.
• Monitor usage patterns, adoption rates, and business impact of data solutions.
• Identify areas for optimization and recommend enhancements to improve data products over time.

7 Data Governance & Compliance

• Ensure that data products adhere to data governance, security, and regulatory standards.
• Work closely with data stewards and compliance teams to enforce best practices in data management.
• Define data access policies, quality standards, and validation processes.

8 Innovation & Continuous Improvement

• Stay up to date with trends in data analytics, AI, machine learning, and cloud technologies.
• Research and recommend third-party solutions or integrations to enhance data product capabilities.
• Lead initiatives to introduce new methodologies, tools, and frameworks for business analysis and product management.
• Promote a culture of experimentation, learning, and iterative development.

Requirements

Education & Experience

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Business Analysis, Data Science, Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field.
• Proven experience in business analysis, data product management, or product ownership.
• Strong understanding of BABOK principles and structured requirement management.
• Experience working with agile teams, data platforms, and analytics solutions.

Technical & Business Expertise

• Deep understanding of data product lifecycle, data governance, and analytics frameworks.
• Ability to translate business challenges into technical data solutions.
• Familiarity with SQL, data visualization tools (Power BI, Tableau), and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Experience with Jira, Confluence, and agile methodologies.

Stakeholder Engagement & Communication

• Proven ability to influence and negotiate with stakeholders across different levels.
• Strong skills in facilitating workshops, writing business cases, and delivering presentations.
• Ability to simplify complex data concepts for non-technical stakeholders.

Metrics & Artifacts (BABOK-aligned)

• Well-defined business needs, problem statements, and impact assessments.
• Structured BRD, PRD, functional/non-functional requirements documents.
• Process models, data flow diagrams, and stakeholder analysis documents.
• Product roadmaps, backlog prioritization frameworks, and feasibility reports.
• Success metrics and post-implementation evaluation reports.

Nice to have

• Certification in CBAP (Certified Business Analysis Professional), PMI-PBA, or CSPO (Certified Scru.