What is a Senior Business Analyst?

A senior business analyst is a busy person. That's not necessarily a bad thing either. We'd rather be busy than watching the time tick away. From improving business processes to accessing any risks the company is taking, you'll have plenty on your plate to get you through the day.

You probably already know that being a senior associate is not for a newbie in the career field. That means you'll have some experience under your belt. From some leadership experience to just some experience as a business analyst, your employer will be looking for a little bit of both.

Senior business analysts are highly needed in almost every industry. So you'll have no problem finding a job, we're sure of it.

What Does a Senior Business Analyst Do

There are certain skills that many senior business analysts have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed interpersonal skills, problem-solving skills and time-management skills.

Learn more about what a Senior Business Analyst does

How To Become a Senior Business Analyst

If you're interested in becoming a senior business analyst, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 68.4% of senior business analysts have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 22.6% of senior business analysts have master's degrees. Even though most senior business analysts have a college degree, it's impossible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.

Learn More About How To Become a Senior Business Analyst

Senior Business Analyst Job Description

Senior business analysts are tenured professionals in the organization where their main responsibility is to study company-related data, assess its relevance to performance, and provide recommendations to improve company strategies. They are expected to be able to analyze and visualize data to manage the deliverables needed in the role.

Learn more about Senior Business Analyst Job Description
Top Senior Business Analyst Jobs Near You

Senior Business Analyst Career Paths

In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of project manager you might progress to a role such as senior project manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title director project management office.

Senior Business Analyst

Average Salary for a Senior Business Analyst

Senior Business Analysts in America make an average salary of $96,844 per year or $47 per hour. The top 10 percent makes over $129,000 per year, while the bottom 10 percent under $72,000 per year.
Average Senior Business Analyst Salary
$96,844 Yearly
$46.56 hourly
See More Salary Information

What Am I Worth?

salary-calculator

Roles and Types of Senior Business Analyst

The role of a senior business analyst includes a wide range of responsibilities. These responsibilities can vary based on an individual's specific job, company, or industry.Here are some general senior business analyst responsibilities:

  • Drive solutions and requests through to completion. Gather user requirements using standard ba documentation types
  • Gather and document requirements for regulatory changes, enhancements,
  • Integrate with, understand and support all gcm activity in london. Provide trading desk support for trading activities including interest rate, fx

There are several types of senior business analyst, including:

Business Analyst

Role:

As a business analyst, your job is to study the market and analyze the product lines and profitability of a business. You can then take that knowledge and help a business identify certain problems and come up with solutions.

Business analysts are important for the future of many businesses, they help with budgeting and predicting the market. Plus, they're helpful in identifying problems that business owners didn't even know existed.

In order to help businesses have brighter futures, you're going to need a bachelor's degree and probably some real world experience as well - let's say maybe 5 years. Basically, you've got to know what you're doing to become a business analyst.

  • Average Salary: $74,431
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Technical Business Analyst

Role:

A technical business analyst is chiefly responsible for overseeing technical business projects and the implementation of various solutions across business processes. They are also often referred to as a market technician, security trader, chartist, or researcher, depending on their employer or industry of employment.

Aside from these main duties, a technical business analyst is also typically responsible for documenting, mapping, and analyzing business projects. To get to know this job more, specific examples of a technical business analyst's tasks include leading team members on Java technologies, spearheading the migration of payroll systems, and generating SSRS reports on a periodic schedule.

For this job, a four-year degree in a business-related field is often a must. The same goes for work experience, as the duties of a technical business analyst require both theoretical and practical business knowledge that can only be acquired through real-life work.

In terms of compensation, the average salary of a technical business analyst averages around $75,000 per year. Some technical business analysts, especially those working in top-paying states, can even earn as much as $97,000 or more.

  • Average Salary: $81,757
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree

Business Analyst-Consultant

Role:

Business Analyst-Consultant is the one who meets with the clients to help them document and understand business needs. These needs can be anything, from an IT-based project to initiating the improvement of a process. It is not a typical 9-5 job; instead, you will be meeting with clients on some hourly rate, on average, $37.24 for one hour. The hourly rate is usually set according to the negotiated contract between the company and your consulting firm. You are looking at a job that is expected to grow by 14% by 2028.

Training staff, analyzing client requirements, business processes, and monitoring all resource requirements all fall in your list of responsibilities. You will be meeting with clients in different places and viewing every business operation firsthand. It is crucial to understand what exactly are the client's concerns and what they expect from the company.

As a Business Analyst-Consultant, you should have a comprehensive set of skills such as analytical, communication skills, and a touch of art and creativity to meet your responsibilities. It is so because you have to analyze various things that are listed as your obligations. In general, business analyst consultants hold a bachelor's degree in business administration. But you can still have a career as a business analyst consultant having only a high school degree.

  • Average Salary: $90,127
  • Degree: Bachelor's Degree
View More

States With The Most Senior Business Analyst Jobs

Mouse over a state to see the number of active senior business analyst jobs in each state. The darker areas on the map show where senior business analysts earn the highest salaries across all 50 states.

Average Salary: Job Openings:

Number Of Senior Business Analyst Jobs By State

RankStateNumber of JobsAverage Salary
1California3,846$114,680
2Texas2,498$83,020
3Ohio1,892$84,863
4New York1,856$100,416
5Florida1,826$78,294
6Virginia1,631$92,448
7Illinois1,611$87,364
8Minnesota1,398$85,647
9Massachusetts1,293$88,329
10Pennsylvania1,283$89,880
11Michigan1,263$85,710
12North Carolina1,244$89,766
13Georgia1,144$83,389
14New Jersey1,100$101,927
15Missouri1,086$78,652
16Indiana988$80,657
17Tennessee969$80,001
18Wisconsin942$84,391
19Washington930$104,659
20Maryland850$97,181
21Arizona760$86,633
22Colorado754$76,967
23Alabama614$75,005
24Kentucky613$79,538
25Oregon611$92,475
26South Carolina589$86,636
27Iowa576$81,258
28Kansas567$77,867
29Arkansas466$76,126
30Nevada453$92,379
31Louisiana444$76,998
32Nebraska438$75,764
33Connecticut396$91,076
34Oklahoma389$75,614
35Utah380$79,299
36New Mexico322$75,928
37Mississippi238$76,948
38Montana230$80,850
39Delaware228$91,419
40South Dakota204$76,988
41West Virginia186$83,347
42Alaska183$77,008
43New Hampshire173$88,491
44Idaho168$83,828
45Rhode Island166$84,927
46Hawaii113$77,005
47Maine105$77,344
48Vermont93$76,747
49North Dakota88$77,351
50Wyoming54$76,817

Senior Business Analyst Education

Senior Business Analyst Majors

Business
28.5 %
Computer Science
11.1 %
Finance
8.7 %

Senior Business Analyst Degrees

Bachelors

68.4 %

Masters

22.6 %

Associate

5.8 %

Top Colleges for Senior Business Analysts

1. Stanford University

Stanford, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$51,354

Enrollment

7,083

2. University of Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$55,584

Enrollment

10,764

3. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

In-State Tuition

$54,568

Enrollment

8,451

4. Maine Maritime Academy

Castine, ME • Private

In-State Tuition

$13,478

Enrollment

979

5. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$56,225

Enrollment

19,548

6. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,309

Enrollment

9,142

7. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-State Tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

8. Villanova University

Villanova, PA • Private

In-State Tuition

$53,308

Enrollment

6,819

9. San Diego State University

San Diego, CA • Private

In-State Tuition

$7,488

Enrollment

30,018

10. Bentley University

Waltham, MA • Private

In-State Tuition

$49,880

Enrollment

4,177

Top Skills For a Senior Business Analyst

The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 5.7% of senior business analysts listed project management on their resume, but soft skills such as interpersonal skills and problem-solving skills are important as well.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Senior Business Analyst Resume templates

Zippia allows you to choose from different easy-to-use Senior Business Analyst templates, and provides you with expert advice. Using the templates, you can rest assured that the structure and format of your Senior Business Analyst resume is top notch. Choose a template with the colors, fonts & text sizes that are appropriate for your industry.

Senior Business Analyst Resume
Senior Business Analyst Resume
Senior Business Analyst Resume
Senior Business Analyst Resume
Senior Business Analyst Resume
Senior Business Analyst Resume
Senior Business Analyst Resume
Senior Business Analyst Resume
Senior Business Analyst Resume
Senior Business Analyst Resume
Senior Business Analyst Resume
Senior Business Analyst Resume
Senior Business Analyst Resume
Senior Business Analyst Resume
Senior Business Analyst Resume
Senior Business Analyst Resume

Senior Business Analyst diversity

Senior Business Analyst Gender Distribution

Male
Male
56%
Female
Female
44%

After extensive research and analysis, Zippia's data science team found that:

  • Among senior business analysts, 44.0% of them are women, while 56.0% are men.

  • The most common race/ethnicity among senior business analysts is White, which makes up 67.7% of all senior business analysts.

  • The most common foreign language among senior business analysts is Spanish at 36.4%.

Online Courses For Senior Business Analyst That You May Like

Advertising Disclosure  

1. Business Analyst: Project Management Techniques and Tools

udemy
4.5
(3,819)

Learn project management techniques to increase your project success rate as a Business Analyst!...

2. Business Analysis Masterclass

udemy
4.5
(1,615)

We don't teach. We job Train!...

3. Business Process Modelling with UML Activity Diagrams & BPMN

udemy
4.3
(265)

Become an expert in Modelling Business Processes with Business Analysis Techniques and UML Activity Diagrams & BPMN...

Show More Online Courses For Senior Business Analyst
Job type you want
Full Time
Part Time
Internship
Temporary

Best States For a Senior Business Analyst

Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a senior business analyst. The best states for people in this position are California, Washington, New Jersey, and New York. Senior business analysts make the most in California with an average salary of $114,680. Whereas in Washington and New Jersey, they would average $104,659 and $101,927, respectively. While senior business analysts would only make an average of $100,416 in New York, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.

1. Nevada

Total Senior Business Analyst Jobs: 453
Highest 10% Earn:
$126,000
Location Quotient:
1.52

$92,379

Avg. Salary

View 453 Senior Business Analyst Jobs In NV

2. California

Total Senior Business Analyst Jobs: 3,846
Highest 10% Earn:
$159,000
Location Quotient:
0.92

$114,680

Avg. Salary

View 3,846 Senior Business Analyst Jobs In CA

3. Washington

Total Senior Business Analyst Jobs: 930
Highest 10% Earn:
$142,000
Location Quotient:
0.89

$104,659

Avg. Salary

View 930 Senior Business Analyst Jobs In WA
Full List Of Best States For Senior Business Analysts

How Do Senior Business Analysts Rate Their Jobs?

4/5

5 Stars

4 Stars

3 Stars

2 Stars

1 Star

Senior Business Analyst Reviews

4.0
Aug 2020
Pros

Challenges, problem-solving,communicating with differnet individuals

Cons

some daily monotonous aspects of job.

4.0
Jun 2020
Pros

Sitting in between business and data. Helped leadership to build strategy.

Cons

Distance from technology

4.0
Apr 2019
Pros

Have chances to work in strategic planning in different business domain

Cons

Overload sometimes

Working as a Senior Business Analyst? Share your experience anonymously.
Overall Rating*
Career Growth
Work/Life balance
Pay/Salary

Top Senior Business Analyst Employers

We've made finding a great employer to work for easy by doing the hard work for you. We looked into employers that employ senior business analysts and discovered their number of senior business analyst opportunities and average salary. Through our research, we concluded that Capital One was the best, especially with an average salary of $88,986. Cognizant follows up with an average salary of $77,754, and then comes Accenture with an average of $89,208. In addition, we know most people would rather work from home. So instead of having to change careers, we identified the best employers for remote work as a senior business analyst. The employers include BNY Mellon, CBRE Group, and Cigna

Most Common Employers For Senior Business Analyst

RankCompanyAverage SalaryHourly RateJob Openings
1Citi$136,773$65.76467
2JPMorgan Chase & Co.$123,010$59.14359
3AIG$114,572$55.08186
4AT&T$110,581$53.16164
5CBRE Group$106,862$51.38223
6Fannie Mae Northeastern Region$102,438$49.25170
7Target$100,888$48.50250
8Mu Sigma$99,645$47.91155
9Bank of America$94,152$45.27392
10Wells Fargo$92,880$44.65294
Show More

Senior Business Analyst Videos

A day and a life of a senior Business Analyst

Becoming a Senior Business Analyst FAQs

How Long Does It Take To Become A Senior Analyst?

It takes five to seven years to become a senior analyst. Depending on the company and your educational level, the time it takes to become a senior analyst can be ten to 12 years.

The minimum educational requirement for a senior analyst is typically a bachelor's degree. Around 68% of senior analysts have a bachelor's degree, and 23% have a master's degree. Interestingly, approximately 6% of senior analysts have just an associate's degree.

How Much Money Does A Senior Business Analyst Make?

A senior business analyst makes $104,319 a year. However, this can range from as low as $74,000 a year to as high as $150,000 a year. Factors such as the location of the job, company size, and some years of experience can all impact earning potential.

What Comes After A Senior Business Analyst?

A business architect comes after a senior business analyst. However, that's not the only path forward. There are other advances that senior business analysts can make.

A senior business analyst may become a technology architect or an enterprise architect, then advance to senior leadership positions in those roles. In other cases, senior business analysts go on to become chief technology officers (CTO). Different paths of advancement could be management consultant, product owner, or systems analyst.

What Qualifications Do You Need To Become A Business Analyst?

The qualifications needed to become a business analyst include a college degree and some work experience. It's not impossible to be a business analyst without a college degree, but it requires many years of work experience.

Have more questions? See all answers to common computer and mathematical questions.

Search For Senior Business Analyst Jobs

Senior Business Analyst Related Careers

Senior Business Analyst Related Jobs

Senior Business Analyst Jobs By Location

Senior Business Analyst Jobs By Company

Updated April 6, 2023