About the job

Job summary

At UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) our mission is to prepare for, prevent and respond to infectious diseases and environmental hazards to keep all our communities safe, to save lives and protect livelihoods. We are a trusted source of advice to government and to the public, focusing on reducing inequalities in the way different communities experience and are impacted by threats to health. 

This is an exciting opportunity to join the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) as Business Analyst within our User-Centred Design (UCD) Team. 

The UCD Team are experts in design and delivery with a shared mission to support improvements to UKHSA services and products by better understanding users’ needs and experiences.

Our delivery squads take on a varied portfolio of work, with much of our input being focused on the discovery and alpha stages. As a Business Analyst, you’ll work as part of a multi-disciplinary squad collaborating with teams across UKHSA. You’ll help to shape product and service design, to support UKHSA to solve problems, improve public health outcomes and address health inequalities. Alongside this, you’ll help to embed UCD practice and principles, supporting UKHSA to become a high performing organisation.

Job description

Main duties of the job

The Business Analyst is part of a high performing, multi-disciplinary squad using agile methodologies to deliver user-centric services.

As a Business Analyst, you will be responsible for understanding and analysing user and business needs for projects which will typically be moderate to high in complexity. You will ensure that outcomes are aligned with the service vision and business strategy, contributing to the link between current and future business models and delivering to business architecture.

Acting as a critical friend you will challenge constructively to achieve solutions that are fit for purpose, facilitate collaboration, and communicate with all stakeholders to support the design, build and delivery to meet the user needs. As a part of all that they do, it will be essential to maintain a strong user focus and the Business Analyst will need to influence the project to ensure user needs are central to delivery.

Please refer to the list of essential and desirable criteria to understand the key business analysis skills we are looking to fill with this role. We are looking for someone with a technical focus who is able to comfortably work alongside those in technical roles within the Government Digital and Data professions, as well as user-centred design roles. Examples of this may include helping those from technical backgrounds understand the value of and methodology for user-centred design practices, or working closely with data professionals to obtain information valuable to research and service design processes.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

•  Lead the gathering of business and user requirements by collaborating with stakeholders and user researchers, assessing requirements against the project objectives. 
• Use a range of process modelling tools and techniques, mapping the ‘As-Is’ and ‘To Be’ where required.
•  Lead the evaluation of requirements, produce a gap analysis against present state and target state and identify opportunities.
• Identify the potential consequences of a change by producing an impact analysis and estimate what needs to be modified.
• Evaluate strengths and weaknesses of identified benefits and dis-benefits in line with the project mandate.
• Manage stakeholder relationships through effective communications, including facilitation of workshops to ensure delivery of common purpose and understanding of user needs. 
• Coordinate the work of systems analysis to ensure business needs are translated into solutions within agreed timelines and work with technical leads to ensure technical solutions are aligned.
• Manage the delivery of change by applying an audit test and quality gates using the appropriate methodology, ensuring a fully auditable process. 
• Coordinate the work to align with and support BAU enhancements and solutions to ensure that defined project benefits are delivered. 
• Lead engagement with policy and strategy to ensure business systems, workflows and processes align to the target operating model.
• Produce frameworks, products, tools, and documentation including operating models, user stories, templates. 

For a full list of the main duties and responsibilities of the role, please refer to the attached Job Description. 

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

You will be assessed on the below essential criteria, which have been selected from the Job Description

•  Project, testing, or QA experience.
• Significant experience of capturing stakeholders needs, assessing these requirements and identifying solutions for delivery. 
• Extensive knowledge and experience of business change and implementation.
• Working knowledge of business case development and benefits management.
• Strong interpersonal skills, building effective stakeholder relationships with the ability to influence and challenge.   Ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment with multiple tasks.
•  Good analytical skills and the ability to interpret and use large, complex, and often incomplete data.  

Desirable Criteria:

•  Knowledge and experience of Project Management methodology supported by professional qualifications such as:
•  APMG Agile Business Analysis Foundation and Practitioner
•  BCS International Diploma in Business Analysis

This is not an exhaustive list please see Job description document for full list of duties

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £38,724, UK Health Security Agency contributes £10,455 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

Selection Process:  

This vacancy is using Success Profiles and will assess your skills, Experience and knowledge.

Stage 1: Application & Sift   

You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on essential criteria, and this will be in the form of   

• CV/ Application form (‘Employer/ Activity history’ section on the application) 
• 750 words Statement of Suitability.  

This should outline how you consider your skills, experience, and knowledge, provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria.   

The CV and Statement of Suitability will be marked together, and you must pass both to move forward to interview.

If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to interview & assessment   

Depending on how many applications we get, we might include a pre-sift on the CV or include an extra stage before the video interview, for example a phone interview or a technical exercise.

Please do not exceed 750 words.  We will not consider any words over and above this number.  

Unfortunately, late applications will not be considered. 

Feedback will not be provided at this stage. 

 

Stage 2: Interview  

You will be invited to a 60 minute (single) remote video interview. 

This may include a presentation on your understanding of UCD and business analysis, to help us understand more about you and your skills and experience. We will assess your experience of the priority Government Digital and Data skills and the behaviours set out below.

If we do include a presentation within the interview format, the scenario/question for the presentation, and instructions on how to prepare, will normally be sent approximately three days in advance. No presentation slides will be necessary, although candidates may choose to create one. Candidates can also refer to notes. 

In the Civil Service, we use Success Profiles to evaluate your skills and ability. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, increases performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. We’ll be assessing your technical abilities, skills, experience and behaviours that are relevant to this role.

 The Behaviours tested during the interview stage will be: 

•  changing and improving
•  communicating and influencing
•  working together

We’ll also be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework and candidates should expect questions on the following skills during the interview:

•  Agile working
• Business analysis
• User experience analysis

 Interviews will be held week commencing 1st July 2024. Please note, these dates are subject to change.  

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records. 

Candidates who do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade. A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made.

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, colour, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status or disability status.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Location information  

UKHSA operates a hybrid working model where business needs allow.  This provides us with greater flexibility about how and where we work, to get the best from our workforce. As a hybrid worker, you will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of your contractual working hours (approximately 3 days a week pro rata, (averaged over a month) working at your core location - Hybrid / Any core UKHSA location (Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, London).  Specialist or regional roles will be based at the appropriate UKHSA site.  

Eligibility Criteria

Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants).   

Security Clearance Level Requirement 

Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Basic Personnel Security Standard.

Disability Confident scheme 

The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.  
 
Reserve List 

Candidates who pass the interview criteria but are not offered a post will be kept on a reserve list for 12 months and may be contacted if similar roles become available.  
If you are interviewed for the post and do not meet the required threshold for the specified grade, your application may be assessed against a similar, lower grade role and you may be offered the post should one be available.  
 
Starting salary 

New entrants to the Civil Service are expected to start on the minimum of the pay band.   
The internal roles rules apply to existing Civil Servants, i.e. level transfers move on current salary or the pay range minimum, transfers on promotion move to new pay range minimum or receive 10% increase.   
Either case is determined by whichever is the highest.  
For further details please refer to the Information Sheet- Starting Salaries & Benefits attachment 

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.