Lead Business Analyst

Description Hybrid 4 onsite in Maryland Heights, MO Our client seeks a Lead Business Analyst to serve as a working leader for a team of seven Business Analysts within Field Operations. The role combines hands-on analysis with people leadership to drive delivery quality, team development, and operational excellence. The Lead BA will champion adoption of AI-powered tools and modern SDLC practices to improve efficiency and consistency across BA deliverables. Due to client requirements, applicants must be willing and able to work on a w2 basis. For our w2 consultants, we offer a great benefits package that includes Medical, Dental, and Vision benefits, 401k with company matching, and life insurance. Rate: $60.00 to $68.00/hr. w2 Responsibilities • Provide day-to-day guidance, coaching, and mentoring to a team of 7 Business Analysts. • Conduct quality reviews of BA deliverables including BRDs, user stories, process flows, UI mockups, and gap analyses. • Support career development, skills growth, and performance feedback for team members. • Serve as a first point of escalation for analysts on methodology, approach, and stakeholder challenges. • Reduce key-person dependency and improve team resiliency through knowledge sharing and cross-training. • Collaborate with management on workload balancing, capacity planning, and team priorities. • Perform senior-level business analysis on complex initiatives within Field Operations. • Elicit, analyze, and document business requirements through stakeholder interviews, workshops, and research. • Develop and review BRDs, functional specifications, and user stories. • Create and validate process flows, UI mockups, and gap analyses. • Ensure BA artifacts meet quality standards and align with project objectives and business needs. • Partner with product owners, developers, QA, and project managers throughout the SDLC. • Lead the team's adoption and effective use of AI tools for business analysis activities. • Identify opportunities to leverage AI in requirements analysis, documentation, mockup creation, and gap analysis. • Help define and refine AI-augmented workflows within the team's SDLC process. • Stay current on emerging AI capabilities relevant to business analysis and share knowledge with the team. Experience Requirements • 7+ years of Business Analysis experience including requirements elicitation, BRDs, user stories, process modeling, and gap analysis. • 2+ years of people leadership or team lead experience with mentoring, coaching, and performance oversight. • Strong experience with SDLC methodologies including Agile, Waterfall, or hybrid. • Proven ability to review and provide constructive feedback on BA deliverables. • Strong stakeholder management and communication skills across technical and business audiences. • Experience with process flow tools, wireframing or mockup tools, and requirements management platforms. • Preferred: Experience using AI tools such as Amazon Kiro, Gemini, ChatGPT, or Copilot for BA work. • Preferred: Experience in telecommunications, cable, or field operations domains. • Preferred: Bachelor's degree in Business, Information Systems, Computer Science, or related field, or equivalent experience. • Preferred: CBAP, CCBA, or similar BA certification. • Preferred: Experience leading teams through process or tooling transitions. • Preferred: Familiarity with Jira and Confluence or similar platforms. Education Requirements