Business Analyst

Business Analyst 

Full time / Part time  

Salary:  £44,297 - £49,813pa with potential for further progression to £56,082 pa with our pay progression scheme.  

Location: Hybrid  

Contracted to our Wilmslow, London, Edinburgh, Cardiff or Belfast office, we will be relocating to Manchester city centre from 28 September 2026. Once the move takes place your contracted office will be Circle Square, Manchester. Through hybrid working we offer flexible home and office-based working opportunities and there will be times when you will be expected to attend the office to collaborate with colleagues or travel due to business need.    

Why work for the ICO?  

• Pay progression scheme. 

• Hybrid and flexible working options.   

• 25 days paid holiday per year, plus privilege and public holidays.  

• Flexi leave (up to 26 additional days leave per year).  

• Pension (employer contribution around 28.9%).  

• Online discount scheme to save money at major supermarkets, retailers, gyms, restaurants, insurance providers and many more.  

• Health Cash Plan.  

• Fantastic development opportunities to learn and progress.  

Key responsibilities: 

Strategic Transformation Support 

• Apply systems thinking to understand how processes, systems, and behaviours interact across the organisation 

• Identify interdependencies, risks, and wider impacts of change initiatives 

• Support shaping of transformation opportunities through insight and analysis 

Discovery & Analysis 

• Lead current state analysis, including process mapping, customer journeys, and ways of working 

• Gather and document business, operational, technical, and user requirements 

• Conduct root cause analysis to identify underlying issues rather than symptoms 

• Analyse data to identify trends, risks, and opportunities to inform decision-making 

• Undertake impact assessments (operational, technical, people, regulatory) 

• Support benefits modelling, baseline measurement, and KPI definition 

• Identify pain points, inefficiencies, and opportunities for improvement 

Design & Solution Development 

• Support the design of future state processes, operating models, and solutions 

• Work collaboratively with Delivery and Change teams to ensure solutions are practical, adoptable, and aligned to business needs 

• Ensure stakeholder needs are understood and reflected in “as is” and “to be” process designs.  

 Delivery Enablement 

• Working with the Transformation Leads, support delivery teams by refining and clarifying requirements throughout business case and process development. 

• Contribute to prioritisation decisions based on value, impact, and capacity 

• Track and support benefits realisation during delivery 

• Analyse lessons learned and support identification of opportunities for standardisation 

Continuous Improvement 

• Monitor performance trends and conduct root cause trend analysis to identify recurring issues 

• Support process optimisation and continuous improvement initiatives 

• Review benefit realisation and contribute to ongoing enhancements 

• Identify opportunities to improve consistency, efficiency, and customer outcomes 

Governance, Reporting & Assurance 

• Contribute to reporting, assurance, and decision-making processes through high-quality analysis 

• Provide clear, evidence-based insights to inform governance forums 

• Support tracking of performance, risks, and benefits across initiatives 

Integrated Team Working (T&D Model) 

• Work collaboratively across Transformation Leads, Change, Delivery, and PMO as part of a joined-up, integrated service 

• Act as a connector between business needs and delivery teams, ensuring alignment and shared understanding 

• Champion cross-functional working, knowledge sharing, and consistency of approach 

• Represent business areas or strategic domains as required, feeding insights both into and out of the T&D function 

Person specification  

Essential criteria assessed at application stage: 

• Professional accreditation in business analysis or change (e.g., BCS, IIBA, PMI-PBA) and/or Lean/Six Sigma practitioner or equivalent demonstrable experience.  

• Significant experience leading business analysis on complex programmes spanning multiple functions/teams, including discovery, requirements, process/service design and benefits realisation. 

• Demonstrable experience of practice leadership (e.g., setting standards, quality assurance/peer review, mentoring/coaching, building communities of practice, or capability development). 

• Exceptional stakeholder engagement and influencing skills at senior level, with the ability to shape decisions, challenge constructively, and translate complexity into clear options and recommendations 

• Evidence of delivering measurable outcomes (e.g., efficiencies, risk reduction, service performance improvements or customer experience uplift) and of improving how analysis is performed through coaching, standards or governance. 

• Advanced analytical skills, including the ability to identify root causes, gaps, duplication and control weaknesses, and to work with subject matter experts to develop options, assess impacts and recommend implementable solutions. 

• Experience supporting prioritisation, planning and dependency management (e.g., demand shaping, roadmap planning, benefits tracking) and strong working knowledge of Microsoft 365 and analysis tooling. 

• Excellent knowledge and demonstrable ability of Microsoft 365 applications.  

Essential criteria assessed during interview: 

• Significant experience leading business analysis on complex programmes spanning multiple functions/teams, including discovery, requirements, process/service design and benefits realisation. 

• Exceptional stakeholder engagement and influencing skills at senior level, with the ability to shape decisions, challenge constructively, and translate complexity into clear options and recommendations. 

• Strong analytical and critical-thinking capability, including experience with service/process redesign, customer journeys, target operating models, information/data flows, and benefits/OKR definition. 

• Evidence of delivering measurable outcomes (e.g., efficiencies, risk reduction, service performance improvements or customer experience uplift) and of improving how analysis is performed through coaching, standards or governance. 

• Proven expertise in shaping and communicating target states (blueprints/roadmaps) and tailoring analysis approaches to different delivery contexts (project, product, Agile and hybrid), ensuring the right level of detail and alignment to organisational change. 

• Advanced analytical skills, including the ability to identify root causes, gaps, duplication and control weaknesses, and to work with subject matter experts to develop options, assess impacts and recommend implementable solutions 

• Experience supporting prioritisation, planning and dependency management (e.g., demand shaping, roadmap planning, benefits tracking) and strong working knowledge of Microsoft 365 and analysis tooling. 

• Experience of communicating, negotiating and influencing strategic change. 

Equality, diversity, and inclusion  

The ICO is committed to promoting and enhancing equality, diversity, and inclusion. We are focused on developing a workforce that is representative of the communities we serve and together we are building an inclusive workplace where all of our colleagues have the opportunity to make a real difference. We are championing this through our Equality Diversity and Inclusion Board together with a number of staff networks. Read more about our commitment on our website.   

Candidates with a disability who meet the minimum criteria for this vacancy will be invited to interview as part of the ICO’s commitment to the Disability Confident Scheme.  

As part of the ICO’s commitment to our EDI objectives and creating a workplace that represents the communities and societies we serve, we guarantee an interview to candidates who declare they identify as belonging from an ethnic minority background and who meet the minimum criteria for this vacancy 

If you are disabled or have an impairment and require an alternative application method, please email the HR team at [email protected]  

Closing Date  

Please submit your CV and cover letter by 23:59, Thursday 20 August. Your cover letter should be no more than 1,000 words and should clearly demonstrate how you meet the essential criteria for the role. 

We may close this vacancy early if we receive a high volume of applications. To ensure your application is considered, we encourage you to apply as soon as possible. If you require any reasonable adjustments to support your application, please contact us at [email protected].