Lead/Principal Consultant - Business Analysis, UK
ThoughtWorks is not your average company; so don’t expect to find average people working here.
We are a company that is synonymous with innovation in the delivery of complex software. We are a company that is passionate about collaboration. We help our clients to reduce the risk of their projects failing. We've been at the forefront of innovation around Agile methods for a long time now. Whether it's finding ways to elicit user requirements, introducing story walls, making distributed Agile a reality or introducing the concept of self-managed teams to our clients, we find ways to help technology deliver real business value. Add to this our recognition as innovators in the technical world, and you'll start to see why working here is refreshingly different.
This is a senior role within the consulting business at Thoughtworks and is suitable for an individual with very strong business architecture and analysis experience. The role may involve frequent travel to client sites in the UK and possibly abroad.
Responsibilities:
- Analyze an organization and understand what makes it tick
- Unearth the root cause(s) of a client’s pain points, validating the business opportunity or problem as an opportunity for a software solution or an organizational transformation solution
- Provide expertise in the area of business case development
- Facilitate workshops and sessions that generate the content for solutions and gain buy in for solution
- Create and articulate the “big picture” of the solution to delivery and client teams to understand cross functional inter-dependencies and impact
Where the solution involves in full or part Organization Transformation;
- Provide leadership and guidance in identifying and analyzing current governance structures, business processes and business information flows
- Define key objectives and ‘to-be” state, identify success factors, and comprehend constraints, challenges and risks
- Lead activities in transformation strategy planning and implementation, stakeholder engagement and communications planning and implementation
Where the solution involves in full or part Software Development;
- Educate and championing the processes and practices of the Agile and Lean methodology
- Design, communicate and implement effective and efficient client story interview processes
- Ensure business needs and requirements are understood, valued and prioritized in alignment with “big picture” goals and vision
- Orchestrate the collaboration between, Product Owner, Business Sponsors, SMEs, Testers and Development groups by removing roadblocks and facilitating communication
- Provide leadership and facilitation in the oversight, guidance and resolution of analysis, scope, requirements and process issues
- Ensure client satisfaction of functional expectations
- Identify skills/domain knowledge deficiencies in a team and work with the Delivery Principal to fill the gaps and mitigate risks
- Enable and mature the Business Analysis team through assignment and responsible skill development opportunities
- Become a trusted and valued partner of the Product Owner, client’s business stakeholders and client executives
- Maintain and deepen where possible, existing client relationships and nurturing Executive relationships that yield continuing opportunities for ThoughtWorks
- Be an inspiration for innovation to the client.
- Drive thought-leadership within ThoughtWorks in the Business Analysis space
- Create and support sales activities
- Maintaining strong expertise and knowledge of current and emerging technologies and products
Experience required:
- A broad enterprise-wide view and understanding of business processes and drivers having significant work experience at a senior level within large – medium size business corporations
- Demonstrated experience working successfully with teams to deliver software
- Experience prioritizing competing demands and obtaining buy-in from stakeholders
- Ideally experienced working as part of a consulting organization
- Demonstrated ability to manage and resolve conflict with stakeholders
- Experience modeling business processes using a variety of tools and techniques
- Strong facilitation experience
- Demonstrated ability to understand and explain issues from both a technical and a business functional point of view
- An understanding of traditional development approaches, and the ability to compare and contrast benefits of each
- Experience with Agile delivery methodologies (e.g. Scrum and XP) and helping teams explore, adopt and optimize Agile/Lean processes, principles and practices
Competencies required:
- Client focus –able to Identify and respond to client needs and expectations; able to build positive client relationships; digs deep to understand the dynamics and business drivers of a client environment; uses understanding of client’s perspective to identify constraints and advocate on the client’s behalf; looks for ways to add value to a client; fosters a client-focused culture among team members
- Analytical - able to understand a situation by breaking it into parts; studies a problem in a systematic way; able to identify cause and effect patterns, anticipate obstacles and consider several options; able to communicate and deliver logical conclusions
- Flexibility/Adaptability - able to thrive in a flexible and changing environment; able to adapt plans, approach, process and methodology in response to new information, changing conditions, or unexpected obstacles; tolerates ambiguity; able to objectively evaluate situations and understand variety of viewpoints
- Creativity and Innovation – able to find alternative and unique ways to attain a goal; successfully introduces products, service or processes that add value and bring improvement; able to translate concepts and ideas into practical and tactical solutions; able to step back from standard ways of thinking
- Collaborative - facilitates group processes for team-based decisions; drives participation and discussion across functions; low ego; values and honors skills, experiences and diverse perspectives of team members; communicates ideas, views, and concerns effectively and respectfully and actively participates in exchanges of ideas with others; recognizes the contribution and success of others
Role posted September 2010.
Apply here
Send your resume to work@thoughtworks.com, or apply online now.