Business Data Analyst

Location: Columbus, OH (3 days onsite/2 days remote) Duration: 6 Month Contract to Hire Business Data Analyst – Analytics Platform Modernization Overview Our client is launching a companywide initiative to decommission their SAS platform and transition to modern, scalable analytics and reporting solutions. They are seeking a business-focused data analyst who can partner closely with business teams to understand how SAS is being used today, document analytical and reporting needs, and help design practical, fit-for-purpose replacement solutions. This role is highly consultative and sits at the intersection of business analysis, data analytics, and reporting. You will not receive fully defined requirements — success depends on your ability to ask thoughtful questions, understand business workflows, analyze existing analytics processes, and translate business needs into clear analytical and reporting solutions. What You’ll Be Doing (Day to Day) • Partner with multiple business units to understand how SAS is currently being used for analysis, reporting, and decision support • Elicit, document, and clarify business requirements, use cases, and reporting needs tied to existing SAS workflows • Analyze current-state analytics processes and identify opportunities to simplify, improve, or modernize them • Help define future-state analytics and reporting solutions using modern data and BI platforms (e.g., SQL-based analytics, cloud data warehouses, or reporting tools) • Collaborate with technical teams to ensure business requirements are translated accurately into data models, metrics, and reports • Validate data outputs, dashboards, and reports to ensure accuracy and alignment with business expectations • Support user acceptance testing, business validation, and knowledge transfer as teams migrate off SAS • Act as a trusted analytics partner who can bridge communication between business stakeholders and technical delivery teams • Clearly explain data, metrics, and insights in business-friendly language to non-technical audiences Required Qualifications • Strong experience as a Business Data Analyst, Data Analyst, or Analytics-focused Business Analyst • Proven experience working directly with business stakeholders to gather requirements and define analytical or reporting solutions • Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret data and translate it into business insights • Solid SQL skills or equivalent experience querying and validating data • Experience supporting analytics or reporting solutions in production environments • Comfort working in ambiguous or evolving environments with limited upfront documentation • Excellent communication skills — able to explain data concepts, metrics, and findings to non-technical audiences Preferred / Nice to Have • Experience supporting the modernization or replacement of legacy analytics platforms (not limited to SAS) • Exposure to cloud-based data platforms or data warehouses (e.g., Snowflake or similar) • Experience with BI and reporting tools (e.g., SAP BusinessObjects, Power BI, Tableau, or comparable tools) • Background in analytics consulting or enterprise business analysis • Familiarity with enterprise data migration, analytics transformation, or platform decommissioning initiatives Note: Prior SAS experience is not required, provided you have supported comparable analytics or reporting platforms and can work effectively with both business and technical teams.