How To Become A Strategic Business Analyst: What It Is and Career Path

What is a strategic business analyst and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Alicia Plemmons

Most of the time, businesses are all about expanding. The most common principle is that the bigger the business is, the better. As such, companies ensure that they know when to move. This means that they assess the best time to work on their expansion initiatives or to stay in place. They use market trends and current events as references for these moves. In addition to that, they also employ strategic business analysts.

Strategic Business Analysts are important assets to the company. They provide in-depth analysis of market trends and current events to provide sound recommendations on the company's strategies. These recommendations should be supported by evidence and supporting figures. Strategic business analysts should have strong business acumen and a strategic mindset to succeed.

If you wish to be in this career, you need to have strong negotiation skills. You need to be able to convince the management team that your recommendations are strategically sound. You should also have enough credibility and a stellar track record.

What general advice would you give to a strategic business analyst?

Alicia Plemmons

Assistant Professor of Economics, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

Develop mentor relationships. Graduating and moving on to bright and beautiful careers is just the beginning of a lifetime of learning. For the past four years, we have helped you build a strong foundation, but now you must make the metaphorical house. Meet people in positions that you aspire to be in. Invite them to coffee and ask them questions. Have multiple mentors teach you about career ladders, while another may inform you about networking or stress management. Know when it is time to talk and when it is time to listen. You will never know when these mentor relationships may lead to a new job, a unique skill set, or a new friendship. Then, when you eventually make it, when you reach your goals, give back and mentor others.

ScoreStrategic Business AnalystUS Average

Salary

6.5

Avg. Salary $83,070

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.8

Growth rate 11%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.9

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.16%

Asian 14.33%

Black or African American 7.44%

Hispanic or Latino 8.45%

Unknown 4.44%

White 65.17%

Gender

female 41.72%

male 58.28%

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

6.8

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

2.2

Work life balance is very poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a strategic business analyst

Explore strategic business analyst education requirements

Most common strategic business analyst degrees

Bachelor's

74.5 %

Master's

19.4 %

Associate

4.7 %

Start to develop specific strategic business analyst skills

Skills	Percentages
Data Analysis	10.99%
Tableau	10.45%
SQL	8.73%
Project Management	7.82%
Business Analysis	4.90%

Complete relevant strategic business analyst training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New strategic business 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 strategic business analyst based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real strategic business analyst resumes.

Research strategic business analyst duties and responsibilities

Lead analysis for global data privacy implementation interacting with SME's across multiple company divisions and systems.
Participate in clinical admin and operational support including review, analysis and resolution of service/admin relate issues log on JIRA including.
Lead consulting projects focus on optimizing specific business KPIs through strategy and product recommendations.

Apply for strategic business analyst jobs

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

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

How do strategic business analysts rate their job?

-/5

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Strategic business analyst reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on Dec 2019

Pros

Relationships with good people who are fully invested in solving problems.

A zippia user wrote a review on Apr 2019

Cons

Too much detail oriented