Business Analyst - B3

This opportunity is only open to internal Scottish Government applicants who are currently 'Priority Movers'. Applications from individuals not currently on the Priority Mover list will be rejected and not considered.   

Shape the future of Scotland's public service pensions by turning complex challenges into innovative solutions that make a real difference to hundreds of thousands of members.

The Scottish Public Pensions Agency (SPPA) administers pensions for Scottish Teachers, Police, Firefighters' and National Health Service employees on behalf of the Scottish Government. We’re responsible for protecting the financial futures of over half a million people - that’s around 1 in 10 people in Scotland. If you’re looking for meaningful work, a supportive environment and a career with purpose, you’ll find it at the SPPA. Our office is based in Tweedbank in the Scottish Borders, the train station is a short two-minute walk away and offers regular services to and from Edinburgh Waverley, making it a convenient and well-connected location for commuters. The surrounding area offers access to green space, walking routes and a strong sense of local community, supporting wellbeing both in and outside of work. Our modern office building is designed to support flexible and collaborative working, with spaces for teamwork, quiet focus and hybrid working. Colleagues benefit from a comfortable, welcoming environment that reflects our commitment to wellbeing and inclusion.

As a Business Analyst within SPPA, you will play a key role in delivering business and digital change across Scotland's public service pension schemes. Working closely with stakeholders, project teams and users, you will analyse business needs, identify opportunities for improvement and translate complex requirements into practical solutions. You'll help shape services, systems and processes that support the delivery of pension benefits to hundreds of thousands of public sector employees, while contributing to SPPA's wider transformation and continuous improvement agenda. 

Responsibilities:

The post has three defined accountabilities: 

• Understand the current organisational and operational situation of SPPA, identify future needs and create solutions to help meet those needs, usually (but not always) in relation to information and software systems.
• Validating and verifying requirements – making sure that all requirements map to the business need being addressed, they are approved by all the appropriate stakeholders and that they meet with relevant quality standards. 
• Collaborate across departments when establishing requirements and impacting change. 

Principal Accountabilities

• Identifying system and process design changes by conducting business and system analysis at a detailed level, using robust tools and approaches.
• Creating functional and non-functional requirements documentation, user stories and test cases and clearly explaining them to stakeholders, including developers, testers and management.  
• Engaging effectively with users and customer representatives to generate high quality research, documents and shares the outcomes of user research.  
• Contributes to selection of the user research approaches for projects and initiatives and plans own user research activities.
• Building and maintaining a deep understanding and awareness of how SPPA business operations function and helping stakeholders to explore technology and process improvements that will allow them to more effectively execute their roles. 
• Supporting project teams during all phases of the project delivery lifecycle including performing and advising on acceptance testing and preparing and delivering training and handover material.
• Acquiring in-depth knowledge of products and services delivered by SPPA and act as liaison between business users and SPPA IT / Project teams.
• Contribute to the Agency continuous improvement approach and evaluating and incorporating improvement suggestions into projects. 
• Assisting with the production of Impact Analysis and Business Case production. 
• Fully comply with all policies and procedures of SG including Procurement principles and participate in negotiating terms of contracts.  
• Leading by example in the development of staff behaviours that result in the organisational and cultural change driving SPPA to provide a team approach to all that we do. 
• Actively contribute to the delivery of the Agency’s corporate strategy and plan with strong leadership, through co-operation and communication with the wider SPPA management team. 
• In line with organisational needs, work as part of a flexible team to perform other duties as required. 

Working pattern

This role is a permanent level transfer position. 

 How to Apply

Applications for this position will only be accepted from substantive B3 employees.

Please submit a statement outlining your suitability for the role, relevant skills and experience, and what you would bring to the team (maximum 500 words).

Selection Process

All candidates will be invited to an informal discussion with the Hiring Manager. 

Informal discussion dates tbc. 

Further Information

If you have specific questions about the role, please contact [email protected] 

Read our Candidate Guide for further information on our recruitment and application processes.