IT Business Analyst

OVERVIEW

The IT Business Analyst serves as a strategic liaison between business stakeholders and Information Technology Services (ITS), ensuring technology investments address clearly understood business needs, improve processes, and deliver measurable value.

This role leads complex business discovery, requirements definition, process analysis, solution evaluation, and business validation across strategic projects, enterprise applications, Business as Usual (BAU) enhancements, reporting initiatives, and process improvement efforts. The IT Business Analyst works independently with business and technology leaders to define problems, challenge assumptions, translate business needs into actionable requirements, and ensure delivered solutions achieve intended outcomes.

The role also proactively identifies opportunities to leverage artificial intelligence (AI), automation, data, and emerging technologies to improve productivity, decision-making, quality, and business processes.

Within IT Shared Services, the IT Business Analyst is responsible for defining the business need, desired outcome, and work required to address it, while partnering with Project Managers, Applications Analysts, Applications Engineers, developers, data resources, vendors, and other technical teams responsible for delivery and implementation.

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Business Discovery & Process Improvement

  • Lead discovery with business leaders, process owners, subject matter experts, and technology teams to understand complex business challenges, opportunities, and desired outcomes.
  • Facilitate cross-functional workshops, interviews, and working sessions involving diverse stakeholder groups.
  • Translate ambiguous or complex needs into clearly defined business problems, opportunities, and measurable outcomes.
  • Analyze current-state processes, identify root causes, inefficiencies, and risks, and help define improved future-state processes.
  • Challenge assumptions and distinguish underlying business needs from predetermined technology solutions.
  • Identify opportunities to simplify or improve processes through technology, AI, automation, data, or process redesign.

  Requirements & Solution Analysis

  • Lead the elicitation, analysis, documentation, validation, and management of complex business and functional requirements.
  • Translate business needs into actionable requirements, user stories, business rules, process flows, and acceptance criteria.
  • Ensure requirements are sufficiently defined for prioritization, estimation, solution design, and delivery.
  • Facilitate requirements reviews and drive stakeholder alignment and decision-making.
  • Maintain traceability between business objectives, requirements, solution outcomes, and acceptance criteria.
  • Partner with technical resources to evaluate solution alternatives against approved business requirements.
  • Evaluate existing application capabilities, process improvements, AI, automation, and new technologies as potential solutions to business needs.
  • For AI-enabled solutions, define expected business outcomes, requirements, data considerations, human-review needs, and appropriate acceptance criteria.

  Demand Intake & Prioritization

  • Support ITS demand intake by translating business requests into clearly defined needs, scope, expected outcomes, requirements, and business value.
  • Assess whether proposed work is sufficiently defined and ready for prioritization and delivery.
  • Provide business and process analysis needed to support informed prioritization and investment decisions.
  • Identify dependencies, requirement gaps, business impacts, and decisions needed before work moves into delivery.

  Quality, Testing & Business Validation

  • Define clear acceptance criteria and requirements traceability to support effective solution validation.
  • Lead development of business-focused User Acceptance Testing (UAT) strategies, scenarios, and validation approaches.
  • Coordinate UAT activities with business stakeholders and technology teams.
  • Help establish consistent and repeatable UAT and business-validation practices across ITS initiatives.
  • Identify opportunities to improve testing efficiency, quality practices, and test automation in partnership with appropriate technical resources.
  • Validate that delivered solutions satisfy documented requirements, acceptance criteria, and intended business outcomes.
  • Establish appropriate business validation and human-review criteria for AI-enabled solutions.

  Stakeholder Leadership & Continuous Improvement

  • Serve as a trusted partner between business stakeholders and ITS teams.
  • Facilitate complex discussions involving competing requirements, priorities, and stakeholder perspectives.
  • Translate business needs for technical teams and technical constraints, alternatives, and impacts for business stakeholders.
  • Help stakeholders understand the opportunities, limitations, and business implications of AI, automation, and emerging technologies.
  • Promote consistent business-analysis, requirements, UAT, and documentation practices across ITS initiatives.
  • Develop reusable approaches and practices that improve discovery, requirements definition, testing, and business validation.
  • Mentor and support other team members in effective business-analysis and problem-solving practices.
  • Maintain awareness of emerging technologies and identify opportunities to continuously improve ITS and business processes.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Information Systems, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• 8+ years of relevant experience in business analysis, business systems analysis, quality assurance, project/program delivery, process improvement, enterprise applications, or related disciplines.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex, cross-functional business and technology initiatives.
• Advanced experience eliciting, analyzing, documenting, and validating business and functional requirements.
• Demonstrated ability to lead discovery, facilitate decisions, and build alignment with business leaders and senior stakeholders.
• Experience with business process analysis, requirements definition, user stories, process flows, business rules, and acceptance criteria.
• Experience leading or coordinating UAT and business validation.
• Strong analytical, critical-thinking, facilitation, problem-solving, and communication skills.
• Ability to translate ambiguous and complex business problems into clear, actionable requirements and outcomes.
• Ability to work independently across multiple enterprise initiatives, stakeholder groups, and technology teams.
• Demonstrated ability and willingness to learn emerging technologies, including AI and automation, and apply them appropriately to business problems.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience working within a centralized IT, Shared Services, or enterprise technology organization.
• Experience supporting ERP, CRM, financial, resource planning, reporting, or other enterprise business systems.
• Experience with enterprise process improvement, business transformation, demand intake, prioritization, or portfolio management.
• Experience with Agile, Waterfall, and hybrid delivery methodologies.
• Experience developing or improving QA, UAT, test automation, or quality-management practices.
• Experience evaluating or supporting AI-enabled, generative AI, automation, or other emerging technology solutions.
• Familiarity with responsible AI principles, including privacy, security, transparency, human oversight, and appropriate data use.
• Familiarity with Microsoft 365, Power BI, Power Platform, process-mapping, and requirements-management tools.
• Familiarity with enterprise integrations, APIs, data, and reporting concepts.
• Business analysis or related certifications such as CBAP, PMI-PBA, PMP, or relevant Agile certifications.

TOTAL REWARDS & EMPLOYEE PROGRAMS

• Employee Ownership – All eligible U.S. employees participate in our Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), sharing in the company’s success.
• Comprehensive Compensation & Benefits – Merrick & Company offers a competitive compensation and benefits package including health insurance, dental and vision coverage, and paid time off (PTO).
• Robust Referral Program – Earn incentives for referring top talent to join our team.
• Performance Reviews – Annual reviews to recognize contributions and support career growth.
• Professional Development – Access to ongoing training and development opportunities to build your skills and advance your career.
• Employee Recognition – Formal programs to celebrate achievements and outstanding performance.
• Peer Mentor Program – Get support and guidance through structured mentorship opportunities.
• And More – Additional programs and benefits designed to support your success and well-being.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

• Apply online only. No e-mail, hard copy or third-party resumes accepted.
• At Merrick, every resume is carefully reviewed by our team of experienced human recruiters—never by AI. We are committed to a fully human-centered hiring process, ensuring each candidate receives thoughtful, personalized attention at every stage.
• Merrick is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including disability/vets.
• Employment with Merrick is contingent upon completion of a pre-employment background check, MVR check, and drug screen.