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What does a Senior Business Analyst do?

Updated January 8, 2025
7 min read
Quoted Expert
Eduardo Zambrano
What does a Senior Business Analyst do

A Senior Business Analyst's responsibilities may vary upon the organization or company. However, most of the time, the duties will focus on overseeing a company's business operation to analyze risks and come up with strategies that would boost financial gains and company efficiency. A Senior Business Analyst will work closely with various teams while monitoring and evaluating their performance and progress, coordinate with departments, lead fellow skilled professionals, gather and analyze data, and identify opportunities. All while prioritizing customer satisfaction and adhering to the company policies and standards.

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Senior business analyst responsibilities

Here are examples of responsibilities from real senior business analyst resumes:

  • Create UNIX shell scripts to accomplish the full testing process and results.
  • Manage loyalty customer information using ETL to gain further knowledge for demographics and marketing initiatives.
  • Lead enterprise level customer data mapping initiatives as well as ETL process development and data conversion/integration.
  • Manage multiple aspects of product design and end user analysis objectives medical practice management & HIPAA compliance applications.
  • Assist QA team in test planning and UAT planning, review test cases to make sure all requirements are addressed.
  • Lead teams of BSA and QA resources locate in multiple offices including offshore contract resources.
  • Utilize JIRA for requirements and SharePoint for additional documentation.
  • Implement the entire agile methodology of application development using scrum.
  • Create unstructured form templates for mortgage file data extraction into database.
  • Design and written VBA scripts for business reporting of pre-audit data.
  • Test PL/SQL scripts and store procedures, used to call web services.
  • Used Appworx, Informatica, PL/SQL and UNIX to develop new company (Org) in the application.
  • Create complex and reusable SAS macros to create tables, listings and graphs for submissions to higher management.
  • Gather results and user feedback, collaborate with other BSA's on the team to categorize and score results.
  • Develop T-SQL queries and SAS programs on the data that are collected, depending on the needs of the client.

Senior business analyst skills and personality traits

We calculated that 6% of Senior Business Analysts are proficient in Project Management, Business Analysis, and Data Analysis. They’re also known for soft skills such as Interpersonal skills, Problem-solving skills, and Time-management skills.

We break down the percentage of Senior Business Analysts that have these skills listed on their resume here:

  • Project Management, 6%

    Assessed organizational project management maturity.

  • Business Analysis, 6%

    Support successful completion of project objectives related to business analysis, system analysis and implementation in accordance with best practice processes.

  • Data Analysis, 6%

    Analyzed enterprise business processes and requirements utilizing various meetings, direct observation, data analysis, document review, and questionnaires.

  • Business Process, 5%

    Developed a structured, standardized, and consolidated set of repeatable infrastructure services that optimally supported the business processes and applications.

  • User Stories, 4%

    Identified and analyzed upstream and downstream dependency among user stories and presented the dependency to product owner for prioritizing purposes.

  • Business Stakeholders, 4%

    Manage requirements by extracting requirements from Executive Business Stakeholders and/or Sr. Management for enterprise software solutions for computers and mobile devices.

Common skills that a senior business analyst uses to do their job include "project management," "business analysis," and "data analysis." You can find details on the most important senior business analyst responsibilities below.

Analytical skills. senior business analyst responsibilities often require "analytical skills." The duties that rely on this skill are shown by the fact that "analysts must interpret complex information from various sources and decide the best way to move forward on a project." This resume example shows what senior business analysts do with analytical skills on a typical day: "assisted in verifying and validating current data through analyzing existing data warehouse data and presenting the data through various visualization techniques. "

Communication skills. Another common skill required for senior business analyst responsibilities is "communication skills." This skill comes up in the duties of senior business analysts all the time, as "analysts work as a go-between with management and the it department and must explain complex issues in a way that both will understand." An excerpt from a real senior business analyst resume shows how this skill is central to what a senior business analyst does: "supported java/j2ee and xml-driven applications integral to dealer communications. "

Creativity. Another skill commonly found on senior business analyst job descriptions is "creativity." It can come up quite often in senior business analyst duties, since "because analysts are tasked with finding innovative solutions to computer problems, an ability to “think outside the box” is important." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day senior business analyst responsibilities: "developed process allowing business analysts to easily and proactively identify and react to post season unproductive inventory. "

Most common senior business analyst skills

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Senior Business Analyst Resume
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Senior Business Analyst Resume
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Compare different senior business analysts

Senior business analyst vs. Analyst lead

The duties of an analyst lead depend on one's line of work or industry of employment. Typically, their responsibilities revolve around performing research and analysis, coordinating with different departments to gather leads and data, reviewing findings, and producing reports and presentations for the stakeholders and other higher-ranking officials. Through the results, an analyst lead can provide advice, devise strategies for business optimization, spearhead the development of processes, identify strengths and weaknesses, and offer recommendations on areas in need of improvement. All of this is done while in adherence to the company's vision and mission.

The annual salary of analyst leads is $1,580 lower than the average salary of senior business analysts.While the two careers have a salary gap, they share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both senior business analyst and analyst lead positions are skilled in project management, data analysis, and business process.

There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, senior business analyst responsibilities require skills like "business analysis," "user stories," "business stakeholders," and "scrum." Meanwhile a typical analyst lead has skills in areas such as "analytics," "customer service," "powerpoint," and "cloud security." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.

Analyst leads earn the highest salaries when working in the finance industry, with an average yearly salary of $110,488. On the other hand, senior business analysts are paid more in the finance industry with an average salary of $106,639.On average, analyst leads reach similar levels of education than senior business analysts. Analyst leads are 4.7% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and 0.7% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.

Senior business analyst vs. Business analyst/quality analyst

A business analyst/quality analyst is responsible for evaluating business outputs and operational processes to ensure that everything adheres to the quality standards and business regulations. Business analysts/quality analysts support senior management in determining solutions to improve the company's services and provide the highest satisfaction for the customers and clients. They also conduct data and statistical analysis by assessing the market trends to identify opportunities that would generate more revenue resources and increase profitability for the business.

On average, business analysts/quality analysts earn a $21,913 lower salary than senior business analysts a year.A few skills overlap for senior business analysts and business analysts/quality analysts. Resumes from both professions show that the duties of each career rely on skills like "data analysis," "business process," and "user stories. "

While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that senior business analyst responsibilities requires skills like "project management," "business analysis," "business stakeholders," and "strong analytical." But a business analyst/quality analyst might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "regression," "powerpoint," "ui," and "test results."

Business analysts/quality analysts earn a lower average salary than senior business analysts. But business analysts/quality analysts earn the highest pay in the finance industry, with an average salary of $94,836. Additionally, senior business analysts earn the highest salaries in the finance with average pay of $106,639 annually.In general, business analysts/quality analysts achieve similar levels of education than senior business analysts. They're 1.3% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.7% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for Senior Business Analysts in the next 3-5 years?

Eduardo ZambranoEduardo Zambrano LinkedIn Profile

Professor of Economics, Orfalea College of Business

Machine learning, without a doubt. Machine learning is a compelling set of tools for classification and prediction. That does not describe the future - it represents the present. What the future will bring is integration between statistical learning and econometrics. This integration will vastly improve the ability of organizations to use their data to make the right decisions. Technology companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Uber have already started profiting from this integration. In the next 3-5 years, we will see the inclusion of these methods become more known throughout the rest of the economy.

Senior business analyst vs. Business analyst/project manager

A business analyst/project manager is responsible for developing project management procedures, analyzing processes, and ensuring the accuracy and efficiency of project deliverables, following clients' specifications and requirements to meet their highest satisfaction. Business analysts/project managers manage project resources, delegate tasks to project staff, setting deadlines, and coordinating with the clients for regular updates and suggest strategic adjustments as needed. They also mitigate potential risks and manage changes during the project execution, maintaining the quality of the outputs, and balancing costs to meet the clients' budget goals.

On average scale, business analyst/project managers bring in higher salaries than senior business analysts. In fact, they earn a $3,038 higher salary per year.By looking over several senior business analysts and business analyst/project managers resumes, we found that both roles require similar skills in their day-to-day duties, such as "project management," "business analysis," and "data analysis." But beyond that, the careers look very different.

The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, senior business analysts are more likely to have skills like "strong analytical," "power bi," "crm," and "visualization." But a business analyst/project manager is more likely to have skills like "visio," "status reports," "windows," and "project documentation."

Business analyst/project managers earn the best pay in the finance industry, where they command an average salary of $120,172. Senior business analysts earn the highest pay from the finance industry, with an average salary of $106,639.business analyst/project managers typically earn similar educational levels compared to senior business analysts. Specifically, they're 1.5% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Senior business analyst vs. Business systems senior analyst

Business systems senior analysts are responsible for resolving problems and requirements related to organizational information. They perform various duties that include determining operational objectives, designing computer programs, and improving business systems by designing modifications and studying current practices. Additionally, they are responsible for defining project requirements, maintaining user confidence and information confidentiality, and preparing technical reports. These professionals are also expected to maintain their knowledge by participating in professional associations or attending educational workshops. The skills and qualifications required for this position include previous work experience, software design and development, and problem-solving skills.

Business systems senior analysts average a higher salary than the annual salary of senior business analysts. The difference is about $6,254 per year.According to resumes from senior business analysts and business systems senior analysts, some of the skills necessary to complete the responsibilities of each role are similar. These skills include "project management," "business analysis," and "data analysis. "While some skills are required in each professionacirc;euro;trade;s responsibilities, there are some differences to note. "subject matter experts," "acceptance criteria," "process improvement," and "digital transformation" are skills that commonly show up on senior business analyst resumes. On the other hand, business systems senior analysts use skills like patients, strong project management, lean six sigma, and taking care on their resumes.business systems senior analysts enjoy the best pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $108,902. For comparison, senior business analysts earn the highest salary in the finance industry.The average resume of business systems senior analysts showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to senior business analysts. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 1.1% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.2%.

Types of senior business analyst

Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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