My client is looking for an analytical and insightful candidate to work in the newly formed Business Process team, providing insight into improved ways of working and actionable plans to improve the efficiency of the organisation. You will have worked in a large complex business, leading workshops and educating the business and leading process improvement projects. Ideally you will have a Lean/Agile/Project qualification.
My client’s portfolio is one of the largest in the UK, comprising more than 3,000 properties with 7,000 tenants across England. Their properties range from listed buildings through to award-winning, state-of-the-art installations.
Main purpose/scope of the role:
This Senior Business Process Analyst role sits in the Business Process Improvement, Analysis & Data Governance function in Technology Services. This role enables change in the organisation through understanding business/project objectives, defining requirements, and supporting the identification of solutions that deliver value to stakeholders. It has key several elements:
- Process Demand Pipeline Management in both BAU and project/programme environments to prioritise process production/amendment to align with the business objectives
- Deliverables, governance and quality assurance to ensure process output is of high quality and standardised, with the objectives of achieving high adoption by the business and correct assignment of accountability and responsibility across the company
- Identify process improvement opportunities across NHSPS to drive culture of continuous improvement and high efficiency
As a business-facing role, the individual must be comfortable dealing with a variety of stakeholders both within the business and the technology functions. The individual will need to develop a good understanding of the functions of all the directorates and the interaction between these, which drive the business’ operations, as their work could be driven by any of the directorates. A solid grasp of the RACI concept is key to drive ownership, accountability and prevent siloed working across the organisation.
In addition to business stakeholders, the individual will need to work closely with TS colleagues, namely other Process Analysts, Business Analysts (BAs), Business Process Improvement Team Leader, Business Relationship Managers (BRMs) and Solution Architect to understand prioritisation of problem areas and ascertain where improvements should/could be made.
Processes are captured at five levels in the business and at present, process documents at Level 4 and Level 5 only:
- Level 4 processes capture the triggers/entry points, activity flows and hand-offs between teams and the exit points into either a system process or referenced process. These will be used to support business engagement and obtain buy-in of new operating models. They also provide context for the Level 5 processes
- Level 5 processes are standard operating procedures, which will capture the detail of how to execute a business process in the relevant system, and occasionally, off-system activities. They are used to ensure there is a common standard across the organisation to follow when executing a business process
The quality assurance element of the role involves in-depth checking of process documents produced by others against strict pre-defined criteria and providing feedback accordingly.
Job Purpose/Key Responsibilities:
Process Demand Pipeline Management
A. Manage process architecture, process tool and process library;
- Work with Business Process Improvement Team Leader to manage the Process Demand Pipeline through prioritisation of process work
- Act as custodians/gatekeepers of company process architecture (structured list of processes with RACI), maintaining the accuracy of process data
- Once implemented, act as one of the product owners of the process management tool, to advocate use of tool to enhance process governance across entire architecture and framework
- Maintain ‘library’ of official process documents, ensuring that latest signed-off versions are published and accessible to users
B. Delivery process documentation as part of BAU;
- Work with business unit/directorate/functional leads, BAs, BRMs and Solution Architect to transform old and develop new processes into fit-for-purpose solution designs for implementation
Identify key business stakeholders for process creation/re-design; organise and facilitate process design workshops - Interview process participants to understand exactly how their processes should work by eliciting information on how the processes actually work before applying specialist knowledge of business process modeling notations to document their definition and attributes in line with pre-defined documentation standard
- Ensure that process documentation is consistent with business and system requirements
- Facilitate stakeholder groups to consensus regarding new business process designs; educate business users responsible for owning, managing and operating business processes; seek sign-off of process documents from process owners
- Design and plan implementation of to-be business processes and manage any subsequent changes to them
- Identify, document and analyse business rules that govern implementation of business processes
- Create training materials and documentation for business users where required
C. Manage process production on projects/programmes where required;
- Act as Process Workstream Lead on projects when required, e.g.
-Drive and challenge business units on their assumptions of how they will successfully execute their plans and tasks from process point of view as part of an over-arching programme or project-Provide advice to project managers on process production, e.g. estimates of effort required
-Manage workstream deadlines and schedules
-Progress-reporting; ensure process risks and issues are identified, tracked, reported on and resolved in a timely manner
-Manage contractor process analysts where necessary to ensure daily completion of activities, e.g. adopt SCRUM master role during process production
Deliverables, Governance & Quality Assurance
A. Maintain process governance framework;
- Enforce adherence to pre-determined process governance framework by all those involved in process production and maintenance; work in conjunction with process owners, SMEs, BRMs, vendors, etc. to ensure that quality remains high
- Continuously review governance framework to seek better ways of working with project teams and business, and refine where necessary
B. Quality-check process output;
- Use knowledge of industry best practice along with the business’ practices, requirements and RACI concept to check process documentation produced by BAs from logic, accuracy, completeness and practicality perspectives
- Adopt role of sub-editor of process documentation so that they conform to process governance rules in terms of language and format; high proficiency in English language is essential
- Provide constructive feedback to process authors, including but not limited to BAs, on process output, prompt further analysis of gaps and inconsistencies, and provide advice to help drive process production to completion stage
- Utilise acquired knowledge of requirements processes to lead management meetings for issue resolution and decision-making
Identify process improvement opportunities;
- Examine processes holistically to understand the impact of changing them on people, strategy, systems and general business operations
- Proactively work with business unit/directorate/functional leads and perform gap analysis to identify continuous improvement opportunities across company
- Analyse as-is process models, then compare them to to-be designs and determine necessary changes for arriving at improved state, then communicate these effectively to relevant stakeholders (e.g. BRMs), building case for change where deemed necessary
- Document suggested changes to the design and implementation of existing solutions and new solutions and help stakeholders plan for process changes:
- Prepare deliver informative, well-organised presentations and contribute to business cases where required
- Provide ad-hoc support to prepare timely and informative briefings and options papers with recommendations to address process issues when required
Candidate Specification
Required Qualifications:
-At least one professional qualification from the following:
- Lean/Six Sigma yellow belt
- BA Certification
- BPM Certification
-At least A grade at GCSE English, or equivalent
Desirable Qualifications:
- Educated to Bachelors or Masters level
- Formal qualifications in Agile, and/or Project Management, e.g. Prince2 Foundation or Practitioner
Required Knowledge:
- Application of business analysis tools and techniques, including, but not limited to Business Process Modelling, BPMN, UML, Use Cases, User Stories
- Understanding of impacts of operating model changes and business/system requirements on processes
- Application of principles of project life cycle and SDLC
- Proficiency with technology, including Visio and other Microsoft applications
- Business Process Improvement (BPI) techniques to a) reduce processing time, b) improve output quality and c) cut out wastage
- Familiarity with operating model design and governance design
- Software change management processes, e.g. upgrades, functionality changes
- Process management systems/tools
Desirable Knowledge:
- Familiarity with Horizon, MS Dynamics NAV, MS Azure Enterprise Service Bus, Concept Evolution, iTrent, PMWeb, Sidetrade.
Required Experience:
- At least 2 years of business process- mapping experience (non-process elements of a generic BA role should not count towards this)
- Documentation of logical as-is and to-be process flowcharts and standard operating procedures from undefined and unstructured information
- Management of stakeholders at all levels of seniority up to C-suite and facilitating workshops to gather required information
- Working with business requirements and specification documents
- Large change/transformation programmes
- Working in a full software implementation and solution development lifecycle/SDLC project environment (Agile and/or Waterfall) through to UAT and training
- Training and coaching of more junior team members
Desirable Experience:
- Working at a Commercial/Residential Real Estate Service Provider/Managing Agent or Property Management/Investment organisation
- Property and commercial real estate sector software and applications including asset and facilities management plus core business functions such as Finance and HR
Required Skills:
- Analytical, logical, structured, creative and innovative approach to solving problems
- Ability to spot patterns, identify inefficiencies and suggest improvements
- High attention to detail applying quality standards to all tasks undertaken and ensuring that nothing is overlooked
- Strong written and verbal communication skills on all levels
- IT-literate including Excel, Visio, PowerPoint and Project
- Interpersonal skills-collaboration, facilitation and negotiation skills
Required Personal Qualities/Abilities:
- Highly analytical
- High personal and professional integrity and strong work ethic
- Results-orientated, willingness to drive tasks to completion
- Excellent time management, ability to prioritise work load, highly self-organised with ability to multi-task, manage expectations and deliver to high standards under pressure
- Self-controlled, appropriate level of assertiveness and openness
- Entrepreneurial spirit
- Emotional intelligence; self-awareness, confidence, ability to manage conflict, empathise
- Positive, people-orientated and energetic attitude
- Customer focused–anticipates client/customer (internal and external) needs before they arise and proposes solutions to address these