Lead Business Analyst

Job Type: 6 month FTC

Closing Date: 27th November

Location: Telford or London

Salary and benefits: Up to £60,000 dependant on experience, discretionary bonus,  private medical cover, 38 days annual leave, up to 12% employer pension contribution, 12x salary life assurance, career breaks, income protection, 3x volunteering days and much more!

Flexible working: All roles are open to part-time, job-share and other types of flexibility. We will discuss what is important to you and balancing this with business requirements during the recruitment process. You can read more about flexible working here.

Who are we?

We’re Standard Life, a retirement specialist focused entirely on retirement savings and income. We champion the belief that everyone’s journey to and through retirement can be better, and for more than 200 years, we’ve been helping our customers plan and prepare for their financial futures.

Life today is increasingly complicated, uncertain and unpredictable. People move through different careers, face unexpected moments and navigate important choices. We offer our colleagues flexibility, trust and benefits that work for whatever life brings. In return we expect curiosity, connection, accountability and high standards. We make room for what matters - so you can bring your best, every day.

The Lead Business Analyst will join Standard Life’s Retirement Solutions & Asset Management (RS&AM) business unit on a 6-month fixed-term contract to support proposition development and business change across the PRT value chain.

Working across cross-functional business and delivery teams using agile methodologies, the role will take independent ownership of business analysis across complex initiatives, with the autonomy to determine the most effective approach, engage the right stakeholders and progress activity without reliance on detailed day-to-day guidance.

The role will engage users and senior business stakeholders to define outcomes, end-to-end journeys, requirements and process maps; translate findings into clear, testable delivery artefacts; and ensure the analysis remains practical, commercially aware and aligned to customer, user and business outcomes. Operating with attributes of a junior Product Owner, the role will also help shape priorities, refine the backlog, support iterative delivery decisions and maintain alignment between stakeholders and delivery teams.

The role holder will remain accountable to Programme Management through regular progress reporting, transparent management of risks, issues and dependencies, and timely escalation where decisions or support are required.

We’re looking for an experienced Lead Business Analyst to join our Retirement Solutions & Asset Management team and support proposition development and business change across our Pension Risk Transfer (PRT) business.

This is an opportunity to take real ownership of complex analysis, working across business and delivery teams to turn challenging or ambiguous problems into clear outcomes, requirements and practical solutions.

You’ll operate with a high degree of autonomy, identifying the right approach, engaging the right stakeholders and driving analysis forward. Alongside core Business Analysis responsibilities, you’ll also have the opportunity to undertake Product Owner-style activities, helping shape priorities, refine the backlog and support iterative delivery.

If you enjoy bringing structure to complexity, influencing senior stakeholders and working closely with agile delivery teams to turn ideas into deliverable change, this could be a great fit.

What you’ll be doing

You’ll:

- Lead business analysis across complex change and proposition development initiatives.
- Take ownership of ambiguous business problems, defining scope, outcomes, dependencies and the most appropriate analysis approach.
- Work with users and stakeholders across the PRT value chain to understand needs, challenges and opportunities.
- Define end-to-end business and user journeys, requirements and process maps.
- Translate business outcomes into clear features, user stories and acceptance criteria.
- Facilitate focused workshops with senior stakeholders to secure input, challenge assumptions and drive decisions.
- Present evidence-based options and recommendations in clear business language.
- Work closely with Product Owners and delivery teams to support backlog refinement, prioritisation, sprint planning and iterative delivery.
- Balance user, customer, commercial and delivery considerations when developing recommendations.
- Maintain clear traceability between the original business need and the solution being delivered.
- Proactively manage risks, issues and dependencies, providing clear progress updates and escalating where appropriate.

What we’re looking for

You’ll be an experienced Business Analyst who is comfortable taking ownership and progressing work without needing detailed day-to-day direction.

Ideally, you’ll bring:

- Significant experience independently leading business analysis across complex change or proposition development.
- Strong requirements elicitation, process mapping and user-journey definition capability.
- Experience turning business requirements into features, user stories and testable acceptance criteria.
- Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, particularly in ambiguous or early-stage environments.
- Experience facilitating workshops and influencing senior stakeholders.
- Strong experience working within agile delivery teams, including backlog refinement, sprint planning and reviews.
- The confidence to challenge constructively and recommend pragmatic solutions.
- Excellent communication skills, with the ability to translate complex or technical information into clear business language.
- The ability to manage competing priorities and work effectively across different business and delivery teams.

It would be great if you also have

- Experience performing elements of a Product Owner role, particularly backlog refinement and prioritisation.
- Experience of proposition development.
- Experience working on complex, data-rich business or digital change.
- Knowledge of pensions, annuities or Pension Risk Transfer.
- Experience within insurance, asset management or another regulated financial services environment.
- A BCS/ISEB Business Analysis qualification or similar.
- Agile Product Owner or product delivery training.

Why this role?

This isn't a role where you'll simply document requirements handed to you.

You'll have the opportunity to shape the analysis, influence decisions and help determine how solutions progress from business problem through to delivery.

You'll work with stakeholders across the PRT value chain and have exposure to both traditional Business Analysis and Product Owner activities, making this an excellent opportunity for an experienced BA looking for broader ownership and influence.

You'll be joining an environment where you'll be trusted to use your judgement, challenge constructively and help turn complex business needs into practical, deliverable outcomes.

We want to hire the whole version of you.

We are committed to ensuring that everyone feels accepted and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. If your experience looks different from what we’ve advertised and you believe that you can bring value to the role, we’d love to hear from you.

If you require any adjustments to the recruitment process, please let us know so we can help you to be at your best.

We’re reviewing applications as they come in, so apply early to avoid missing out.

Find out more about working at Standard Life

- Guide for Candidates: standardlifeplc.pagetiger.com/guideforcandidates (https://standardlifeplc.pagetiger.com/guideforcandidates/guideforcandidates)
- Find or get answers from our colleagues: www.standardlifeplc.com/careers/talk-to-us (http://www.standardlifeplc.com/careers/talk-to-us)

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