Business Analyst in Lansing, Michigan

SUMMARY: The Business Analyst is responsible for ensuring that business requirements are documented and every functional/business consideration is identified before implementing each project. This position must clearly understand and review/confirm with the client and internal departments before functional requirements are finalized – alternative approaches are suggested where viable. The Business Analyst is also responsible for functional requirements that are completely documented and understood, along with innovative solutions with best practices identified and explored for most prevalent use cases. ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include the following. Other duties may be assigned. * Creates functional specifications. Collects, understands, and transmits business requirements for projects and translates into functional specifications, database designs, and detailed test plans. * Works with client business to understand requirements. Partners with clients to gather all requirements to formulate business process specifications and translates those into application functionality, understanding the value proposition(s) of the project and deciding when to advocate and when to compromise to arrive at mutually acceptable solutions. * Works with technical staff to translate requirements. Assists the technical team in translating application functionality into application architecture and the production of system functionality documents. * Communicates business directives, goals, and needs to the technical team and serves as a client interface for managing user expectations and client satisfaction. * Manages development life cycle. * Manages projects and processes as required. * Works with product team to stay abreast of overall product strategy, roadmap(s), and release management processes. * Assists in the definition of business cases and Cost Benefit Analyses that effectively inform prioritization decisions. * Support capacity planning to optimize the effectiveness of the department Assists in the leading organization and execution of user acceptance testing. * Ability to learn the resolution of technological challenges such as, work flow, scheduling, testing processes and procedures. Builds relationships with key business unit resources to gain understanding of overall business unit direction. * Partner with internal team members to lead IT activities for small to medium business initiatives using appropriate project management methodology * Contributes to status and management reports as required. * Participates in configuration changes in systems. EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE Relevant combination of education and experience may be considered in lieu of degree. Bachelor’s degree in a related field. Three years experience as a business analyst in healthcare or health insurance, Medicare, and commercial business lines; or, completion of Company IT apprenticeship/trainee program. QUALIFICATIONS To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. OTHER SKILLS AND ABILITIES * Ability to be innovative, creative, and think outside of the box when presented with roadblocks. * Ability to work and solve practical problems in potentially chaotic and unstructured environments. * Ability to learn the resolution of technological challenges such as, work flow, scheduling, testing processes and procedures. * Ability to understand impacts to other areas and project inter-dependencies. * Knowledge of Business Models, Process Models, Data Models, Workflow Models, and Object Models as needed. * Expertise in gathering requirements, designing products (database and UI), and achieving high quality results within specified timeframes. * Ability to learn how to define all levels of