Business Analyst

At the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), we are responsible for protecting the natural environment. This includes thinking innovatively about how we can improve water and air quality, and how we can tackle natural threats and hazards. Not only that, but we play an important role in bolstering the UK's rural economy and supporting our food and farming industries. The ever-changing nature of these sectors means that we must be ready to respond quickly to emerging challenges, and as such, our colleagues work in a truly dynamic environment.

We are currently at an exciting point in our development, as we are transforming our capabilities with a number of ambitious projects relating to IT systems, infrastructure, business transformation, organisational change, legislation and policy implementation. The success of these projects will determine the way in which we are delivering government policy, so your input will ultimately have an impact on the environment, the rural economy, food sustainability and our net zero ambitions.

Coordinating and supporting highly complex business change, you will take the lead in projects that are against the backdrop of a complicated environment such as across government bodies or between different sectors. Specifically, you will:

• Work with stakeholders to understand their requirements, and define the value of proposed changes. Coordinating all requirement activities, you will validate and sign-off on these. 
• Maintain oversight of the evaluation of requirements against the present state and the target state. Supporting less experienced colleagues in delivering these, you will nurture relationships with the relevant stakeholders to ensure a smooth transition between the states.
• Take the lead in identifying both benefits analysis and the potential consequences of change, working with project sponsors, senior managers and project stakeholders to ensure they remain engaged throughout the project.
• Take responsibility for ensuring recognised methodologies are being used by the team, ensuring every action can be tracked in an audit, and that BAU enhancements are being delivered.
• Build constructive relationships with a wide range of colleagues and partners to identify systems and technical solutions that will meet future business needs.

To make the most of this senior-level opportunity, you will have experience of working as a Business Analyst, or you will have a background in supporting technical and business change within complex projects. Well-versed in everything from planning, risk, issue and quality management through to change control, benefits and knowledge management, you will have significant experience in developing solutions and business cases, and you will be comfortable managing stakeholder expectations. With the capacity to analyse, interpret and present information to a variety of audiences, you will have the ability to inspire others. Crucially you will enjoy developing the skills of the team, and you will be able to facilitate collaborative thinking.

When you join Defra, you will benefit from immense scope for both personal and professional development. We want you to thrive in our team, so we will provide you with ongoing training and development opportunities, and we will also provide you with a competitive benefits package that includes a contributory pension scheme, generous annual leave, salary sacrifice options, staff bonuses and a variety of employee discounts.

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