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What is a senior business intelligence analyst and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read
Quoted expert
Rebecca Sarver

A senior business intelligence analyst is directly accountable to the CFO but maintains a cordial working relationship with the CEO and other top management associates and the executive leadership unit.

Their main job is to analyze the company's financial and operative accomplishments. They develop strategies for minimizing cost, as well as for handling expansion. They provide a vertical bridge through the business to communicate information of high value to support decision making demands.

Key duties and responsibilities for this position include generating summary and specified dashboard accounts that represent operational data in a brief and intelligible format. Furthermore, they establish, support, and apportion data tools to the unit managers, carry out quality assessments of data, reports, and the accompanying decisions, analyze findings and trailing industry trends and benchmarks.

Educational requirements include a bachelor's degree in business administration or a similar field. As this is a senior position, employers may require a master's degree and work experience of seven or more years in a relevant and practical position.

This senior position comes with a lot of responsibilities, and it compensates well for them. The average hourly salary for a traditional workweek is $47.39, which amounts to $98,578 annually.

What general advice would you give to a senior business intelligence analyst?

Rebecca SarverRebecca Sarver LinkedIn profile

Lecturer in Human Services Studies, Elmira College

Listen more than you talk. There is so much to be learned from clients, seasoned human service workers, and the community that you work within. By listening and observing versus always feeling compelled to speak, you will learn job skills, people skills, and your clients' needs.
ScoreSenior Business Intelligence AnalystUS Average
Salary
7.6

Avg. Salary $100,814

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level
5.0

Growth rate 21%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity
4.1
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.51%

Asian 11.99%

Black or African American 6.24%

Hispanic or Latino 8.82%

Unknown 4.70%

White 67.73%

Gender

female 34.27%

male 65.73%

Age - 43
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43
Stress level
5.0

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level
8.2

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance
4.3

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Senior business intelligence analyst career paths

Key steps to become a senior business intelligence analyst

  1. Explore senior business intelligence analyst education requirements

    Most common senior business intelligence analyst degrees

    Bachelor's

    69.2 %

    Master's

    22.8 %

    Associate

    6.1 %
  2. Start to develop specific senior business intelligence analyst skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Power Bi11.26%
    Tableau11.19%
    Analytics10.34%
    Business Intelligence9.24%
    Dashboards7.90%
  3. Complete relevant senior business intelligence analyst training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New senior business intelligence analysts learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a senior business intelligence analyst based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real senior business intelligence analyst resumes.
  4. Research senior business intelligence analyst duties and responsibilities

    • Work with users to streamline and/or automate processes for Cognos tools/report creation/customization.
    • Analyze data with millions of rows and working with complex data models using SAS and Netezza.
    • Develop and establish an OLAP solution to support the client facing reports as offered by the client.
    • Catalyze informed executive decisions by developing innovative portfolio performance reporting, dashboards and KPI analytics.
  5. Get senior business intelligence analyst experience

    Generally, it takes 2-4 years to become a senior business intelligence analyst. The most common roles before becoming a senior business intelligence analyst include business analyst, business intelligence analyst team lead and senior business analyst.
  6. Prepare your senior business intelligence analyst resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your senior business intelligence analyst resume.

    You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a senior business intelligence analyst resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

    Choose from 10+ customizable senior business intelligence analyst resume templates

    Build a professional senior business intelligence analyst resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your senior business intelligence analyst resume.
    Senior Business Intelligence Analyst Resume
    Senior Business Intelligence Analyst Resume
    Senior Business Intelligence Analyst Resume
    Senior Business Intelligence Analyst Resume
    Senior Business Intelligence Analyst Resume
    Senior Business Intelligence Analyst Resume
    Senior Business Intelligence Analyst Resume
    Senior Business Intelligence Analyst Resume
    Senior Business Intelligence Analyst Resume
  7. Apply for senior business intelligence analyst jobs

    Now it's time to start searching for a senior business intelligence analyst job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

    1. Browse job boards for relevant postings
    2. Consult your professional network
    3. Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
    4. Watch out for job scams

How did you land your first senior business intelligence analyst job

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Average senior business intelligence analyst salary

The average senior business intelligence analyst salary in the United States is $100,814 per year or $48 per hour. Senior business intelligence analyst salaries range between $77,000 and $131,000 per year.

Average senior business intelligence analyst salary
$100,814 Yearly
$48.47 hourly

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How do senior business intelligence analysts rate their job?

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Senior business intelligence analyst reviews

profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Feb 2022
Cons

Managing projects or leading large projects as this makes the BA role difficult to do well

Pros

-interacting with end users or customers - delivering successful products or services


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Aug 2020
Pros

Challenges, problem-solving,communicating with differnet individuals

Cons

some daily monotonous aspects of job.


profile
A zippia user wrote a review on Jul 2020
Pros

The challenges and opportunities offered by the role where I get to learn & apply new skills.

Cons

Mostly a sitting job with no opportunity to travel and interact with the business.


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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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