Business analysts recruiting
Business analysts turn what an agency, a program office or a business needs into requirements, processes, user stories and acceptance criteria that engineers can build and testers can verify.
On federal programs they sit between the government product owner and the development team; on health IT programs they carry clinical and claims workflows; on commercial programs they own the backlog. Recruiters Workforce recruits business, requirements, functional and product analysts for all three.
What business analysts do
The analyst elicits requirements through interviews, workshops and document analysis, models current and future processes, writes and manages requirements or user stories, supports design and testing, and manages change with stakeholders. On federal programs the analyst also maps requirements to compliance obligations, from accessibility to privacy and security controls, and supports the artifacts a program's governance requires. Analysts who can read data and write acceptance criteria that testers can automate are increasingly requested.
Requisitions name the domain, the delivery method, the tools, and, on federal programs, the clearance or suitability level.
Certifications commonly requested
Business analysis requisitions name a small set of credentials, and the issuing bodies describe them below.
- IIBA Certified Business Analysis Professional
- The International Institute of Business Analysis's senior credential requires five or more years of business analysis work experience in the last ten years, amounting to 7,500 hours, 35 hours of professional development in the last four years, and two professional references.
- ITIL 4 Foundation
- A 40-question, 60-minute exam with a 65 percent pass mark and no prerequisites. Requested on service management programs.
- ISC2 CGRC
- ISC2's governance, risk and compliance credential, requiring two years of cumulative experience in one or more of its seven domains. Requested for analysts who work on authorization and compliance documentation.
- CompTIA Security+
- Requested on Department of Defense programs where the analyst holds accounts on program systems. Current version V7.
Clearance levels commonly required
Civilian and health IT analyst positions are Public Trust, defense program positions require Secret, and intelligence program positions require TS/SCI. Because analysts sit in every program meeting, employers rarely accept a temporary eligibility for a cleared analyst position. Commercial positions require no clearance, and analysts with domain knowledge in health care, finance or logistics move into federal programs through Public Trust positions more often than through cleared ones.
Engagement models that fit
Analyst seats on task orders suit contract staffing and contract-to-hire, and product organizations with approved headcount hire directly. Retained search is used for lead analysts and product managers on large modernization programs. The engagement models page compares them.
Industries that hire business analysts
Markets where business analysts are in demand
Questions about recruiting business analysts
Do federal analyst requisitions require a certification?
Less often than technical requisitions do. Key personnel positions sometimes name the CBAP or a project management credential, and service management programs name ITIL 4 Foundation. Domain knowledge and writing ability decide most matches, and the screening call tests both.
Which markets have the most business analyst hiring?
The National Capital Region for agency modernization programs, Tampa and Orlando for health IT and simulation programs, Austin and Denver and Aurora for commercial and federal center work, and Omaha for enterprise programs at its large employers.