Lead Business Analyst (Ref: 23890)

We’re recruiting for a Lead Business Analyst here at Justice Digital, Data and Science to be part of our warm and collaborative Digital Infrastructure and Security Operations team.

This role aligns against Lead Business Analyst from the Government Digital and Data Framework.

The Digital Infrastructure and Security Operations area enables Ministry of Justice staff to stay connected and securely access business critical applications, data, and information whenever and wherever they need. The team enables staff to communicate and collaborate with each other and with users of our services across the UK.

This is a senior leadership role within the Business Analysis profession. You will work across multiple services, operating in complex and often ambiguous environments to help shape priorities, clarify problems, and ensure that business analysis activity is focused on delivering meaningful outcomes.

A key aspect of this role is partnering closely with the Digital Infrastructure and Security Operations business area. You will be expected to develop a strong understanding of this domain and become a trusted advisor to senior leaders, helping to shape and influence how services evolve to meet organisational needs. This includes supporting decision making in areas such as risk, security, and service performance, where priorities are often complex and competing.

You will provide visible leadership to a cohort of Business Analysts, supporting their development and strengthening business analysis capability within your area. Alongside this, you will play an active role in the wider Business Analysis community across JDDS, contributing to how the profession grows and evolves.

Working closely with senior stakeholders across security, technology, and product, you will help bring clarity to competing priorities and support decision making in areas where there may not be a single clear answer. You will ensure that business analysis is used effectively to understand problems, explore options, and align work to organisational goals.

This role requires you to look beyond individual services, understanding how different parts of the organisation connect and where dependencies and risks exist. You will help shape how Business Analysts are deployed, ensuring their work is focused on the areas of greatest value.

As a Lead Business Analyst, you will be expected to lead through others, creating an environment where Business Analysts are supported, challenged, and able to do their best work. You will champion the role of business analysis, building strong relationships with stakeholders and helping to embed a shared understanding of the value it brings.

You’ll receive a range of excellent benefits when you join our department, including:

• A generous employer pension contribution of 28.97% through the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
• 25 days of annual leave, (increasing to 30 days once you have reached 5 years of service), plus 8 bank holidays and a privilege day for the King’s birthday.
• Flexible working arrangements including hybrid working, working part time or compressed hours. Designed to support a positive work–life balance.
• Employees are allocated 10% of their working time for personal and professional development.
• A £1k per person learning budget is in place to support all our people, with access to best-in-class conferences and seminars, accreditation with professional bodies, fully funded vocational programmes and e-learning platforms.
• Compassionate maternity, adoption, and shared parental leave policies, with up to 26 weeks leave at full pay, 13 weeks with partial pay, and 13 weeks further leave. And maternity support/paternity leave at full pay for 2 weeks, too!

Key Responsibilities

• Provide visible BA leadership by supporting Business Analysts in meeting the user needs and business objectives.
• Provide consultative support and guidance to senior stakeholders, using aggregated analysis to form recommendations, challenge thinking or solve problems.
• Work with Head of Digital Infrastructure & Security Operations and Service Owners to establish current Business Analysis skill gaps and work with the Head of Profession to align these into the profession recruitment strategy.
• Lead, coach, develop and advocate for Business Analysts across multi-disciplinary teams and other profession leads.
• Ensure Business Analysts have a clear understanding of what good looks like and coach them into replicating it.
• Maintain and grow a strong community of practice, ensuring it has a clear purpose and good levels of engagement.
• Ensure and maintain alignment of Digital Infrastructure & Security Operations services and their dependencies.
• Collaborate with other Business Analyst Leads and the Head of Profession to continually develop the profession.
• Advocate for Business Analysis by promoting the role with other professions and outside of your business area.
• Lead initiatives to identify early talent and create pathways for entry level Business Analysts.
• Support initiatives to create early talent programmes, supporting professional growth and maturity.

Person Specification

Essential

• Understanding problems and shaping the right solutions
• Significant experience of analysing complex business problems, identifying root causes and evaluating options to recommend effective, evidence-based solutions aligned to strategic objectives.
• Developing business analysis capability in yourself and others
• Experience of developing business analysis capability through coaching, mentoring and supporting the professional development of business analysts, while promoting continuous learning and good practice.
• Leading and growing business analysis
• Strong leadership skills, with experience of providing direction, supporting and motivating others, and creating an inclusive environment where challenge, collaboration and different perspectives are encouraged.
• Building strong and effective stakeholder relationships
• Proven ability to build and maintain effective relationships with senior stakeholders, influencing decisions, managing competing priorities and achieving shared outcomes.
• Shaping how we understand and improve our systems and data
• Experience of leading systems and data analysis, using appropriate modelling and analysis techniques to understand complex environments, assess the impact of change and support effective service and organisational outcomes.
• Communicating skills
• Excellent communication and influencing skills, with the ability to explain complex information clearly, adapt communication to different audiences and influence senior stakeholders to achieve shared understanding and informed decisions.