Position:Senior Business Analyst

Children’s WorkerNo

Location:National Office

Group:Housing–StrategicManagement and Planning

Reporting to:National Manager Housing Programme

Issue Date:March 2018

Delegated Authority:No

Staff Responsibility:No

Our Role

The Ministry of Social Development (MSD) is the lead agency for the social sector. We help the Government to set priorities across the sector, co-ordinate the actions of other social sector agencies and track changes in the social wellbeing of New Zealanders.

The Ministry provides policy advice, and delivers social services and assistance to young people, working age people, older people, and families, whānau and communities. We work directly with New Zealanders of all ages to improve their social wellbeing.

We serve over a million people, working out of more than 250 centres around the country. It is likely that every New Zealander will come into contact with the Ministry at some point in their life.

Our work, together with our social sector partners, is essential to achieving a sustainable and prosperous future, where all New Zealanders are able to take responsibility for themselves, be successful in their lives and participate in their communities.

Our Purpose

We help New Zealanders to help themselves to be safe, strong and independent.

Ko ta ātou he whakamana tangata kia tū haumaru, kia tū kaha, kia tū motuhake.

Our Principles

MSD people: All own what we all do | Take responsibility for what we do | Understand our role in the big picture, who can help us and who we can help | Navigate through ambiguity and the opportunity it brings to create better ways of doing things | Act with integrity, courage and transparency | Celebrate our achievements and those of our clients.

Position Description Approved By:

______
Deputy Chief Executive, Housing
Date: ……/……/……

Housing

The Ministry is responsible for leading the cross-agency Social Housing Reform Programme of work. This Programme will increase the supply of social housing in New Zealand. It builds on a number of measures taken over recent years to provide more New Zealanders in need with quality and affordable housing.

The key objectives of the programme are to:

  • Ensure social housing is the right design and size, and in the right place for people who need it
  • Increase affordable housing supply
  • Ensure people who need housing support can get it and receive social services that meet their needs
  • Encourage and develop more diverse ownership of social housing, with more innovation and responsiveness to tenants and communities

Help social housing tenants to independence, as appropriate.

The Housing Programme Team

The Housing Programme Team are programme, design, and change specialists supporting the business to think, create, plan and deliver better outcomes across MSD’s housing responsibilities.

They do this by:

  • being the champions of future-focused continuous performance improvement
  • ensuring appropriate project management disciplines are in place at all times
  • providing managed structure, planning, governance and resource coordination
  • supporting change and using creative design and strategic thinking.

The Housing Group behaviours

The housing behaviours enable us to build a high performing team and create a great working environment. Housing group people collaborate, put people first, and innovate.

Through our behaviours we continue to build the culture we need to succeed and to better help New Zealanders with their housing needs.

Purpose of the Position

The Senior Business Analyst is responsible forproviding quality analysis, business delivery, and support to the Housing Programme.

The evolving work programme is a change vehicle to improve delivery capability for housing. Change initiatives span improvements to operations, processes, data and systems, people capability, and performance measurement.

The work programme also currently supports some time-bound business initiatives and trials.

The Senior Business Analyst will:

  • work closely with and own relationships with business stakeholders
  • work closely with team members, especially Project Managers, and Scrum Master
  • be involved in a variety of activities including (but not limited to):
  • development of business requirements or similar for housing processes
  • transfer of business requirements into a form where these can be translated into working IT applications and services, including advice through testing and implementation phases
  • process mapping and process improvement design
  • preparation of reports and papers related to the Housing Portfolio
  • advice and analysis, including financial and non-financial performance reporting
  • change control and impact analyses
  • budget bids and business case development and reporting.
  • lead the development of new process and tools to improve and support a portfolio view of organisational housing responsibilities
  • participate actively in specific projects, including business analytics , data improvement and technology initiatives
  • support the National Manager Housing Programme as required.

Working Relationships

Internal:

  • Housing Programme Manager and Team, especially Project Managers and Scrum Master
  • Housing Group Leadership and Management Teams

MSD’s Policy, Service Delivery, Insights and Technology teams

External:

  • Government Agencies
  • Housing stakeholders
  • Technology vendors

Key Accountabilities

Key Result Area / Accountabilities
Analytical Insights /
  • Cross-analyses quantitative and qualitative data
  • Interrogates data in relation to business proposals
  • Applies logic and analytical thinking to solve problems or capitalise on opportunities
  • Competently uses purpose-built analytical tools
  • Converts a diverse range of ideas into a logical framework

Solution design and technology literacy /
  • Can articulate a problem they are trying to solve
  • Understands the notion of business value in a solution
  • Can develop broad business requirements and contribute to solution design
  • Is accountable for business processes and understands the full business process architecture in their area
  • Can lead a Solution Options Analysis, working with Technology and Process Business Analysts
  • Proactively contribute to applications architecture design
  • Can prepare SWOT analyses on options and provide recommendations
  • Acts as a Senior User or Business Owner in delivery projects to ensure the solution is fit for purpose and will deliver on agreed business benefits.
  • Provide User Acceptance Testing support, liaising with developers, and negotiating solutions to issues that arise.
  • Provide post-implementation support.

Strategic Thinking /
  • Applies logic and critical thinking to consider strategic components (vision, purpose, problems, opportunities, objectives, outcomes, benefits, etc.)
  • Understands competing priorities and how to order them logically
  • Contributes to future state thinking.
  • Contributes to shaping policy proposals into strategy
  • Contributes to transforming a diverse range of stakeholder views into strategy
  • Implements business activities aligned to strategy.

Financial Analysis and Commercial Acumen /
  • Understands the government budget process
  • Understands value for money and return on investment concepts
  • Produces financial reports and complete financial analysis
  • Can read a balance sheet
  • Understands commercial structures
  • Familiar with contract management and procurement processes

Stakeholder engagement /
  • Can build strong relationships with colleagues and management
  • Plans stakeholder management activities and can lead cross-agency work
  • Builds high trust relationships with stakeholders
  • Comfortable engaging in free and frank discussions with stakeholders
  • Regularly reviews and acts on stakeholders’ expectations

Planning /
  • Demonstrates time management skills
  • Proactively responds to Manager’s workflow needs
  • Can separate overall objectives into component tasks, and understands the dependencies on tasks
  • Supports others to manage their priorities
  • Sets personal goals and develops personal work plans
  • Contributes to translating vision and strategy into an overall work programme and action plan

Programme / Project Management /
  • Develops detailed business cases aligned to Government best practice
  • Contributes to the implementation of projects
  • Monitors and manages risks, issues, actions and decisions
  • Monitors and manages performance against business value, outcomes and benefits
  • Estimates and prioritises the backlog of work

Support Housing Group delivery /
  • Understands key risks, problems and opportunities in the housing environment.
  • Provide advice/support to managers and project team leads.
  • Escalate issues as appropriate.
  • Contribute to other areas of the work programme in accordance with the needs of the Ministry, professional areas of interest, and/or personal development plan

Technical/Professional Knowledge and Experience

  • Experience working with business analysis and project management tools and methodologies
  • Relevant experience of technology solutions within the business environments in general, includingknowledge of the software development life cycle and best practice processes.
  • Working knowledge of a variety of software packages / current business systems modelling tools.
  • Experience prioritising in a complex environment and applying sound judgement when dealing with competing deadlines.
  • Experience of working in an environment that requires a high level of discretion, sensitivity and interpersonal interaction
  • Demonstrates initiative and harnesses change for the customer benefit
  • Has skills and experience enabling them to strike a balance between the detail and the big picture
  • Experience in co-design, continuous improvement, backlog refinement, impact analysis, writing user stories, defining acceptance criteria, creating prototypes and models, experimenting with different analysis techniques, familiar with or willing to adopt the agile delivery mindset, willing to take on the Product Owner role
  • Process improvement/system optimisation specialist.
  • Able to mentor/train others
  • Experience in a government environment
  • Computer literate with competence in the use of the Microsoft Office suite.

Attributes/Success Factors

  • Adopts team focus: able to stretch their skills and step outside their role to support the team needs.
  • Excellent communication, self-management and interpersonal skills and excellent documentation skills.
  • Excellent at engaging stakeholders, aggregating opinions, and presenting options.
  • Ability to analyse and simplify complexity, and suggest appropriate solutions to problems.
  • Ability to manage multiple tasks and deliver on priorities.
  • Ability to write to a high standard (clear, accurate, concise, appropriate to the audience).
  • Is biased towards action – helps eliminate waste, builds in flexibility and enables continuous improvement.

Senior Business Analyst / 1