Senior Business Analyst

Full Job Description

To apply, please go to: https://cu.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobdetail.ftl?job=39119

Join Our Team and Make a Difference in Higher Education!

At the System Administration office at the University of Colorado, we are dedicated to building a workplace where everyone feels valued, supported, and empowered to thrive.

Our office is committed to fostering a culture where employees find community, a sense of belonging, and the opportunity to contribute meaningfully to our mission and purpose.

By joining our team, you’ll have a direct impact on shaping the future of higher education.

In addition to the Office of the Board of Regents, the University of Colorado’s system administration includes 19 units that provide essential services to CU’s campuses in Aurora, Boulder, Colorado Springs, and Denver, as well as the Office of the President.

While not a part of any one campus, we are proud to serve in the centralized office for the University system.

Together, we ensure CU continues to deliver outstanding education, groundbreaking research, and valuable service to our communities.

We believe in creating an environment where the unique experiences and perspectives of everyone are embraced, enriching the work we do and the strategic outcomes we pursue.

If you’re passionate about making a difference, contributing to a dynamic team, and supporting a mission that matters, we encourage you to apply and be part of our journey.

Learn more about CU System Administration.

Position Summary:

The Senior Business Analyst serves as the critical link between Advancement business stakeholders and technical teams, ensuring that business needs are clearly understood, documented, and translated into actionable requirements. Grounded in an understanding of Advancement operations, the Senior Business Analyst brings context that strengthens requirements clarity and improves solution alignment. This role owns the requirements clarification function: facilitating stakeholder conversations, mapping business processes, synthesizing complex input, and producing documentation that enables technical teams to deliver effective solutions across the BI, Salesforce – Ascend managed package, and integration workstreams. The Senior Business Analyst proactively engages with functional areas across Advancement to understand workflows, identify improvement opportunities, and ensure that technical solutions align with operational goals and institutional priorities.

Where You Will Work:

The CU System Office of Advancement follows a “flexibility first” approach to work that defines how we manage and make use of in-person time. As a fully remote position within the state of Colorado, this role will work remotely with the exception of four separate callback weeks per year— when all our colleagues are expected to be together in the office. During callback weeks, this role is expected to work from the CU System office at 1800 Grant St. in Denver, Colorado. Any additional in-office time will be determined by this roles manager.

Requirements

Duties and responsibilities of the position include, but are not limited to:
Requirements Analysis and Delivery of Business Solutions

• Facilitate stakeholder discovery sessions to elicit, clarify, and align on business needs.
• Develop and maintain business process documentation, including process flows and swimlane diagrams.
• Synthesize complex or conflicting stakeholder input into clear, prioritized requirements.
• Translate business needs into actionable acceptance criteria for technical teams.
• Document current state and future state business processes, identifying gaps and improvement opportunities.
• Partner with Service Delivery teams to ensure functional requirements are well defined before technical work begins.
• Negotiate and resolve conflicting requirements across stakeholders.
• Serve as the liaison between business stakeholders and technical solution providers.
• Assess proposed solutions to ensure alignment with documented business needs.
• Support testing activities by developing test scenarios and supporting user acceptance testing
• Apply understanding of Advancement operations - including fundraising, constituent management, engagement, and gift processing - to ensure requirements accurately reflect functional needs.
• Collaborate with teams working in Salesforce (Ascend managed package) and related Advancement applications to ensure business processes and requirements align with platform capabilities and constraints.

Project and Planning Participation

• Coordinate and engage with multiple concurrent projects and service areas.
• Ensure projects remain aligned with business objectives through continuous service improvement practices.
• Participate in stakeholder and system level planning efforts as needed.
• Build strong relationships across Advancement to proactively identify process optimization and system enhancement opportunities.
• Partner with Advancement operational leaders to understand evolving business processes and translate them into system, data, and reporting requirements across Salesforce (Ascend managed package) and BI environments.

Professional Development and Proficiency Maintenance

• Maintain proficiency in business analysis methodologies, business process modeling, and advancement related enterprise systems.
• Participate in relevant conferences, workshops, and knowledge sharing with peer institutions.

Qualifications

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution or equivalent professional experience (experience may substitute year for year).

• Five (5) years minimum experience in business analysis, requirements facilitation, business process analysis, or related roles, including:
  • Documenting business processes
  • Gathering and synthesizing requirements
  • Creating business cases and functional specifications
  • Writing test plans and acceptance criteria
  • Analyzing and troubleshooting system issues
• Experience supporting business processes in an enterprise system environment (e.g., CRM, data/BI, workflow tools).

Preferred Qualifications:

• Seven (7) years of business analysis or related experience.
• Experience operating in environments with matrixed or distributed requirements ownership.
• Demonstrated success clarifying business needs in ambiguous or evolving situations.
• Experience with process modeling tools and methodologies.
• Experience with Salesforce, Ascend, or related CRM/fundraising platforms, including understanding of constituent data and Advancement workflows.
• Experience in Advancement, fundraising, alumni engagement, marketing, or related mission-driven organizational operations.
• Experience implementing enterprise systems.
• Professional certification (CBAP, CCBA, etc.).

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
Core Competencies

• Facilitation skills: Ability to lead productive stakeholder sessions that result in clear, documented outcomes.

• Analytical and synthesis skills: Ability to distill complex, ambiguous information into clear requirements.

• Written communication: Ability to produce clear, concise, actionable documentation for technical and non technical audiences.

• Business process analysis: Ability to map current state and future state workflows and identify gaps.

• Stakeholder management: Ability to build trust, navigate competing priorities, and drive alignment.

• Advancement operations knowledge: Understanding of fundraising, engagement, constituent management, or related Advancement workflows to contextualize requirements effectively.

Secondary Competencies

• Knowledge of project management best practices.

• Experience with Agile methodologies and user story creation.

• Experience with application testing and acceptance criteria development.

• Familiarity with CRM platforms such as Salesforce (Ascend preferred), including how business processes interact with system capabilities.

• Ability to analyze data to identify trends, issues, and decision factors.

• Interpersonal and collaboration skills across diverse teams.

• Ability to manage work within a complex organizational structure and meet competing timelines.

Additional Information

How to Apply:
For full consideration, please attach the following as separate documents to your application at https://cu.taleo.net/careersection/2/jobdetail.ftl?job=39119:

1. A cover letter identifying the job specific minimum qualifications you possess
2. A resume including any and all relevant experience to be accurately assessed against the qualifications listed in the posting.

Benefits:

With our unparalleled range of benefits, including top-notch healthcare, comprehensive wellness programs, enriching professional development, and a dynamic work-life balance, we ensure your holistic growth and happiness.

• No-cost or low-cost medical & dental plan options, some inclusive of IVF assistance.
• Disability, Life, Vision Insurance options.
• Multiple retirement planning options including a mandatory 401(a) plan where CU contributes 10% of your gross pay, a 401k or 403b plan and a 457 deferred compensation plan.
• Pre-tax savings plans, such as Health care and Dependent care flexible spending accounts.
• Embrace a healthy work-life balance with ample sick and vacation leave, along with at least 12 paid holidays. This includes a dedicated week off for winter break.
• 6 weeks of parental leave to adjust to the joys of parenthood.
• A tuition benefit program for you and/or your dependents.
• Free RTD EcoPass and Free Onsite Parking at our 1800 Grant Street Office.
• Many additional perks & programs with the CU Advantage.

Additional taxable fringe benefits may be available.

For more information on benefits programs, please review our Comprehensive Benefits Guide.

Access our Total Compensation Calculator to see what your total rewards could be at CU. (This position is a University Staff position)