Business Analyst and Product Owner
Hours: 40 hours per week; CST
Position Summary:
The Business Analyst & Product Owner plays a critical role in shaping, delivering, and evolving technological solutions that align with client business objectives. This role goes beyond traditional requirements gathering or task coordination and serves as a solution owner and strategic advisor for client-facing initiatives, primarily in custom software development and web-based business applications.
This position combines business analysis, product ownership, and project leadership to ensure solutions are clearly defined, prioritized based on business value, and successfully delivered. The Business Analyst & Product Owner leads business-level discovery conversations, translates outcomes into actionable solution roadmaps, and guides delivery teams to execute with clarity and purpose. In a small team environment, this role also performs hands-on functional quality assurance for select web application projects to ensure solutions meet defined acceptance criteria and business expectations prior to release.
Duties and Responsibilities:
Solution Ownership & Business Alignment
- Lead discovery conversations with clients to understand business goals, challenges, constraints, and success criteria.
- Act as a strategic advisor to clients, helping define and prioritize solutions that deliver measurable business value.
- Own the solution vision and direction throughout the lifecycle, ensuring alignment between business objectives and delivered outcomes.
- Develop solution roadmaps that balance short-term needs with long-term scalability.
- Act as the final quality gate for assigned web application solutions prior to client delivery.
Requirement Gathering and Analysis
- Translate business objectives into clear, actionable functional and technical requirements.
- Document and communicate requirements with emphasis on business intent and measurable outcomes.
- Design workflows and process improvements to enhance operational efficiency.
- Maintain alignment between evolving requirements and original business objectives.
Project Planning and Scope Management
- Partner with delivery teams to develop project plans including scope, deliverables, timelines, and budgets.
- Create Statements of Work (SOWs) that clearly define solution scope and success criteria.
- Evaluate and manage scope changes through business impact analysis and tradeoff discussions.
Data Analysis and SQL Querying
- Conduct data analysis to support solution design and decision-making.
- Write and optimize SQL queries to extract, validate, and analyze data.
- Use data insights to support prioritization and post-implementation evaluation.
Solution Validation & Quality Assurance (Web Applications)
- Define acceptance criteria for web application features based on business requirements.
- Perform hands-on functional testing for web applications.
- Identify and prioritize defects based on business impact.
- Collaborate with developers to validate fixes and confirm release readiness.
- Participate in post-release reviews to improve solution quality.
Communication and Stakeholder Management
- Serve as primary contact for solution-related discussions with stakeholders.
- Provide clear communication regarding direction, progress, risks, and decisions.
- Facilitate meetings that align stakeholders around objectives and priorities.
Documentation and Reporting
- Maintain solution and project documentation, including requirements, roadmaps, and decision logs.
- Ensure documentation reflects business intent and delivered outcomes.
- Prepare post-project summaries outlining results and recommendations.
Support and Troubleshooting
- Support clients post-implementation by assisting with issue analysis and solution refinement.
- Collaborate with technical teams to reproduce and resolve issues.
Project Types
- Own and guide custom software development and web-based business application projects.
- Support infrastructure initiatives when they intersect with broader business solutions.
Internal Projects, Integrations, and Reporting
- Support internal software integrations and workflow initiatives.
- Contribute to KPI reporting and dashboard development.
Requirements
Education
- Associate’s Degree (AA) or equivalent in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business, or related field.
Experience
- Minimum of 5 years of experience in Business Analysis, Product Ownership, or IT Project Management.
- Experience leading discovery and translating business needs into delivered solutions.
- Experience performing functional QA testing for web-based applications.
- Familiarity with SDLC and Agile-based delivery environments.
Certifications
- Product Owner, PMP, PRINCE2, or similar certifications are a plus.
Technical Skills
- Working knowledge of SQL and data analysis concepts.
- Ability to engage with development and infrastructure teams at a technical level.
- Strong understanding of modern business applications and IT systems.
Soft Skills
- Strong business acumen and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to lead executive-level conversations.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Comfort managing ambiguity and guiding tradeoffs.
- Ability to work independently and collaboratively within a team.
Key Performance Indicators for this position:
- Accuracy of Solution Definition
- Solution Value Realization
- Project Delivery Timeliness
- Quality of Deliverables
- Scope Stability
- Stakeholder Confidence
- Release Quality (Post Release Defects)
- Documentation Accuracy