Business Analyst Supervisor (IT Business Analyst IV)

MISSION: The Texas Education Agency (TEA) will improve outcomes for all public-school students in the state by providing leadership, guidance, and support to school systems.
 
Core Values: 
•  We are Determined: We are committed and intentional in the pursuit of our main purpose, to improve outcomes for students. 
•  We are People-Centered: We strive to attract, develop, and retain the most committed talent, representing the diversity of Texas, each contributing to our common vision for students.
•  We are Learners: We seek evidence, reflect on success and failure, and try new approaches in the pursuit of excellence for our students.
•  We are Servant Leaders: Above all else, we are public servants working to improve opportunities for students and provide support to those who serve them.

New hires, re-hires, and internal hires will typically receive a starting salary between the posted minimum and the average pay of employees in their same classification. Offers will be commensurate with the candidate’s experience and qualifications and will thoughtfully consider internal pay equity for agency staff who perform similar duties and have similar qualifications. The top half of the posted salary range is generally reserved for candidates who exceed the requirements and qualifications for the role. The maximum salary range is reserved for candidates that far exceed the required and preferred qualifications for the role.  

About Office of IT
The Office of Information Technology works closely with all agency divisions to implement innovative technology solutions in a cost-efficient manner that supports the goals and priorities of the Texas Education Agency. The Office of IT provides efficient technology solutions and stellar customer services to internal staff, 20 Educational Service Centers, and 1,200-plus public-school districts and charter schools. The following services are provided by IT: leadership on IT initiatives; guidance on security/policy issues; new application development/enhancements; software acquisition; technical support; assistance with technical sections of purchasing documents such as Request for Information (RFI), Request for Offers (RFO), Request for Proposals (RFP); and oversight on the data collection process which helps to support and improve outcomes for all of Texas’ 5 million-plus students. 

Position Overview

The Business Analyst (BA) Supervisor position at the Texas Education Agency (internally referred to as the PMO Business Analyst Supervisor) works on multiple projects that support the mission of the agency of improving outcomes for Texas students. 

The business analyst serves as the conduit between the program/customer community and the software development team through which requirements flow.  Work involves managing and overseeing the gathering, development, and documentation of user requirements; mentoring team members; the review, assessment, and development of business processes; the performance of post-implementation support of systems; and support of the systems development life cycle.  

This position supervises the work of others, including two full time employees and three contractors, and will report to the Business Analysis Manager under the Assistant Director of Data Standards, Data Quality & Business Analysis within the Office of Information Technology.  

Flexible work location within the state of Texas may be considered for qualified candidates.  

Please note that a resume and tailored cover letter are required attachments for applying to this position. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Applicants who are strongly being considered for employment must submit to a national criminal history background check. 

Essential Functions
Job duties are not limited to the essential functions mentioned below. You may perform other functions as assigned. 

1. Oversight: Supervises, oversees, assesses, and reviews user requirements and deliverables to automate or improve software systems; oversees and analyzes policies and procedures to determine their effect on automated systems, functional areas, and team effectiveness 
2. Mentoring: Supervises and mentors staff on policies, processes, and procedures; proactively identifies and mitigates potential project or staff risks; assists developers, systems analysts, or customers on software system; and provides production support as needed
3. Elicitation & Analysis: Elicits requirements using joint application development (JAD), interviews, document analysis, requirements workshops, storyboards, surveys, site visits, business process descriptions, use cases, scenarios, event lists, business analysis, competitive product analysis, task and workflow analysis, and/or viewpoints; analyzes user needs, business processes, pain points, and computer system capabilities to automate or improve existing systems   
4. Requirements Writing: Transforms information from elicitation sessions into business and functional requirements, use cases, user stories, and software requirements specifications documents, per standard templates, using natural language simply, clearly, unambiguously, and concisely
5. Managing Work: Uses initiative and independent judgment to actively participate in the software development lifecycle, including managing deadlines, following change control procedures, tracking requirement status, coordinating UAT, and maintaining requirement traceability

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications
• Education: Graduation from an accredited four-year college or university
• Experience: At least five (5) years of experience in deriving requirements from interviews with customers and creating system requirements documents for a large and complex project.  Work experience in conducting a complete and detailed analysis of business processes is required.  And at least one (1) year of experience working as a Lead BA, or in a lead or supervisory role.  
• Substitutions: Education and experience may substitute for one another on a year-for-year basis

Other Qualifications
• Experience with software development life cycle and systems development life cycle concepts
• Experience with contemporary requirements elicitation, analysis, specification, verification, and management practices and the ability to apply them in practice
• Understanding of requirements engineering according to software lifecycle methodologies in a team environment, including Agile
• Experience and skill in analyzing and evaluating complex information technology programs, policies, and issues
• Experience and skill in developing creative solutions to complex problems and issues
• Interviewing and listening skills to talk with individuals and understand their needs and elicit the essential requirements information
• Analytical and supervisory skills to critically evaluate the information gathered from multiple sources, reconcile conflicts, decompose high-level information into details, abstract up from low-level information to a more general understanding
• Facilitation and observational skills to lead requirements elicitation workshops
• Writing ability to communicate information effectively to program area customers, managers, and technical staff 
• Organizational skills to work with the vast array of information gathered during elicitation and analysis and to cope with a rapidly changing environment 
• Interpersonal skills to help negotiate priorities and to resolve conflicts among project stakeholders. May lead and/or participate in developing corrective actions plans for projects or programs
• Ability to research and provide special project support to users
• Understanding, experience, and development of use cases
• Ability to work on and supervise multiple projects at the same time and work constructively as part of a team or teams to coordinate with developers and business users to analyze system characteristics
• Ability to communicate technical concepts to professional, non-technical clients or program areas
• Belief that all Texas students can achieve at high levels and are able to succeed in college, career or the military.

As an equal opportunity employer, we hire without consideration to race, religion, color, national origin, sex, disability, age or veteran status, unless an applicant is entitled to the military employment preference. 

To review the Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) codes from each branch of the U.S. Armed Forces to each job classification series in the State’s Position Classification Plan (provided by the State Auditor's Office), please access the Military Crosswalk (occupational specialty code) Guide and click on the military “occupational category” that corresponds with the state classification in this job posting title.

This position requires the applicant to meet Agency standards and criteria which may include passing a pre-employment criminal background check, prior to being offered employment by the Agency. 

No phone calls or emails, please. Due to the high volume of applications, we do not accept telephone calls and cannot reply to all email inquiries. Only candidates selected for interview will be contacted. Please add "capps.recruiting@cpa.texas.gov" and "@tea.texas.gov" to your safe senders list to ensure you receive email notifications from our talent acquisition team and/or hiring division regarding your candidacy.