About the role

The UK has set out its ambition to be net zero by 2050 and the energy industry is responding – together we are building a cleaner, greener Britain.

The Principal Business Analyst has a key role within our Agile DevSecOps organisation. You will be responsible for leading a team of Business Analysts investigating business situations to identify and evaluate options for transforming processes and systems to meet the desired business outcomes applying a digital first mindset.

You will apply appropriate Agile techniques to elicit, analyse, document, socialise and validate prioritised, clear, and complete requirements that the engineering teams will deliver to. You will provide constructive challenge to stakeholders as required and review requirements for errors and omissions.

You will achieve all this by focusing on customer / user driven outcomes, collaborating between our Development teams, Operations teams, Testing teams, and business stakeholders.

This role can be based from Wokingham or Warwick, and we continue to offer hybrid working from office and home.

Key Accountabilities

As a Principal Business Analyst you will operate in one of our core business areas leading a team of Business Analysts to deliver successful business outcomes across projects and programmes of change. You will support the Business Analyst Senior Managers in the running and development of the BA Community of Practice, working closely and collaboratively with leaders and subject matter experts, undertaking the following activities:

Responsible for ensuring alignment to desired business outcomes and benefits:

• Apply business modelling techniques to understand the business domain and stakeholders’ perspectives to establish how processes, systems, data and people interact and the impact of change on these.
• Identify opportunities to improve business performance through business process engineering and identifying opportunities for digital transformation.
• Gather and analyse data to create insights leading to informed decision making.
• Apply benefits management techniques to ensure that benefits can be measured and tracked to support realisation after delivery.

Responsible for Requirements Definition and Management:

• Establish and understand the entire perspective of the situation or change, using appropriate techniques and diagrams to convey this to project and business stakeholders.
• Conduct user research to identify user needs and end to end journeys that need to be considered in development.
• Define User Stories that can be understood by technical and non-technical stakeholders to include non-functional requirements and acceptance criteria written in an appropriate format, e.g. Behaviour Driven Development.
• Create documentation and diagrams to enhance User Stories where necessary, e.g. Wireframes, data models, etc.
• Refine User Stories via Agile ceremonies and socialisation, using negotiation skills to achieve the desired outcome in an acceptable way.
• Own project backlog of User Stories and work collaboratively with Product Owner/Manager to define Features and Epics.

Responsible for establishing and demonstrating the standard for collaboration across all work areas:

• Building and managing trusting relationships with internal and external stakeholders.
• Actively contributing to the growth and development of the BA Community of Practice through sharing knowledge and expertise.
• Attending and contributing to Agile ceremonies, working with team members to implement recommended improvements.
• Supporting testers by reviewing test scenarios and scripts to ensure full coverage of the requirements.

About us

The ESO has a key role to play in tackling climate change by transitioning GB’s electricity system to net zero. We already operate the fastest decarbonising electricity system in the world, with an ambition for zero carbon operation by 2025. And by 2035, we want to run 100% clean, green energy, all the time.

Becoming the National Energy System Operator
In Summer of 2024, the ESO will transition to becoming the National Energy System Operator, or NESO for short. Previously denoted as the Future System Operator (or FSO), the new National Energy System Operator will be the independent body responsible for planning Great Britain’s electricity and gas networks and operating the electricity system.

The ESO, including all of its existing roles, will be at the heart of the new National Energy System Operator. As NESO, we will build on our existing roles, capabilities, and ways of working significantly to create an organisation the energy system and its users’ need. Our new capabilities will enable us to look across vectors, including electricity, natural gas and hydrogen, and crucially consider the trade-offs between them.

The organisation will be set up as a public corporation with its own Board of independent directors, with complete operational independence from government, the regulator and any and all commercial interest. As the ESO are today, NESO will be licenced and regulated by Ofgem through price control agreements and obligated to identify optimal solutions to system operations and planning in the most sustainable, affordable and secure way for all.

The time to deliver is now. As part of our team, you won’t just be touching the lives of almost everyone in Great Britain – you’ll be shaping the way we use and consume energy for generations to come.

About you

Successful candidates will need to demonstrate the following skills:
• Ability to take initiative and act in a proactive manner; not requiring significant guidance.
• Ability to develop and lead a high performing team fostering a growth mindset.
• Customer Centric and digitally driven with the ability to communicate effectively and adapt to an ever-changing landscape where priorities will change.
• Skills in business situation analysis, including problem identification, root cause analysis, stakeholder engagement, and solution evaluation.
• Ability to influence and collaborate with stakeholders to align vision, objectives, and outcomes.
• Ability to adopt and use the most appropriate tools (mural, ADO etc) and techniques (VSM, design thinking, BPM, user research, wire-framing etc)
• Core understanding of Digital Delivery and Agile DevSecOps aspects such as design thinking, CI/CD, Cloud, Value measurement and benefit tracking etc.

Essential
• 6+ years as a Business Analyst working within an IT / Digital environment.
• 2+ years working as a Business Analyst in an Agile delivery environment
• Demonstrable experience of leading high performing teams.

Desirable
• Experience working in utility sector or regulated organisation.
• Experience of application lifecycle management tools, e.g. Azure DevOps
• Experience of wireframe creation using appropriate tools, e.g. Balsamiq, Lucidchart

What you'll get

A competitive salary between £52,000 – 73,000 – dependent on experience and capability.

As well as your base salary, you will receive a bonus of up to 15% of your salary for stretch performance, 28 days annual leave as standard, and a competitive contributory pension scheme where we will double match your contribution to a maximum company contribution of 12%.

You will also have access to a comprehensive benefits package tailored to support your well-being and professional success. From a competitive salary to flexible work arrangements, we promote your work-life balance. Enjoy fit for purpose wellbeing and lifestyle offerings, ongoing skill development aligned to our Purpose and Values, and be part of a supportive community that values your individuality and where you can belong.

More information

This role closes on 20/08/2024 at 23:59, however we encourage candidates to submit their application as early as possible and not wait until the published closing date as this can vary.

We work towards the highest standards in everything we do, including how we support, value and develop our people. Our aim is to encourage and support employees to thrive and be the best they can be. We celebrate the difference people can bring into our organisation, and welcome and encourage applicants with diverse experiences and backgrounds, and offer flexible and tailored support, at home and in the office.

We're committed to building a workforce that represents the communities we serve, and a working environment in which each individual feels valued, respected, fairly treated, and able to reach their full potential.

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More Information

Grade: Band D
Closing Date: 20/08/2024
Location: Warwick / Wokingham
Hiring Manager name and job title: Hannah Kirk-Wilson