Principal Business Analyst – Operations Transformation

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in Florida.

📋 Description

• Create and execute a forward-looking operating model for a shared-services organization catering to multiple credit unions.

• Connect business operations, technology, data, AI/automation teams, and project leadership.

• Direct the current-state discovery, process evaluation, requirements identification, KPI baselining, future-state process design, and benefits verification, initially concentrating on Deposit Operations.

• Facilitate discovery sessions with credit union and shared-services subject matter experts.

• Document comprehensive processes, workflows, business rules, requirements, data flows, handoffs, exception paths, and manual tasks.

• Examine processes across participating credit unions to uncover shared workflows and unique institutional policies, configurations, and exceptions.

• Identify obstacles, redundant activities, manual workarounds, control deficiencies, rework, and opportunities for standardization or automation.

• Assess ACH and share-draft exceptions, returned deposits, ACH research and reclamations, manual payroll processing, card and member-account support, remote/mobile deposit review, along with exception and research workflows.

• Evaluate and rank automation opportunities utilizing workflow orchestration, AI, document intelligence, and RPA.

• Convert business needs into business, functional, data, workflow, integration, reporting, and control requirements.

• Create user stories, acceptance criteria, business rules, process models, and requirements traceability documentation.

• Collaborate with architects, developers, AI specialists, security teams, and business SMEs on solution design.

• Support configurable workflows across several credit unions, operating models, systems, policies, and approval processes.

• Establish baseline metrics, including volumes, manual effort, FTE utilization, cycle time, throughput, error and rework rates, exception rates, cost to serve, and service-level performance.

• Develop success criteria, benefits-tracking frameworks, and data-driven implementation and expansion recommendations.

• Act as a liaison with operations personnel, credit union leadership, technology, compliance, and implementation teams.

• Assist with change-readiness assessments, communications, training, knowledge transfer, and transition planning.

• Integrate operational risk, compliance, privacy, security, internal controls, human-in-the-loop review, explainability, and audit trails into requirements and workflows.

• Aid in prototypes, demonstrations, requirements reviews, testing, user acceptance testing, and pre-production validation.

• Monitor requirements, assumptions, dependencies, decisions, issues, and scope changes.

• Prepare governance and executive/Board decision-gate deliverables while providing status updates, findings, risks, and recommendations.

⛳️ Requirements

• Over 7 years of progressively responsible experience in business analysis, business process transformation, or operational improvement.

• Proven experience within credit unions, retail banking, banking operations, financial services shared services, or another heavily regulated financial services environment.

• Previous experience in a Credit Union is a MUST HAVE.

• Familiarity with regulatory and legal issues regarding US financial services and data security requirements affecting credit unions.

• Ability to adhere to Gramm-Leach-Bliley data security and privacy standards.

• Understanding of SSAE 18, SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001, and NCUA Regulation 748 A & B.

• Experience in analyzing intricate operational processes involving multiple systems, business units, handoffs, controls, and exceptions.

• Capability to lead requirements-gathering and process-discovery workshops with both business and technical stakeholders.

• Experience in developing current and future-state process maps, business and functional requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria, business rules, KPI and benefits frameworks, requirements traceability matrices, and process and data-flow documentation.

• Background in supporting workflow automation, intelligent automation, RPA, AI-enabled transformation, or digital process redesign initiatives.

• Ability to quantify operational improvement opportunities and assess realized business benefits.

• Strong analytical skills and proficiency in working with operational, financial, and performance data.

• Excellent facilitation, interviewing, written communication, and executive presentation skills.

• Ability to bridge communication between business stakeholders and technical delivery teams.

• Experience with Agile, iterative, hybrid, or structured implementation methodologies.

• Preferred: Direct experience with credit union Deposit Operations or similar retail banking operations.

• Preferred: Familiarity with ACH, deposit exceptions, remote deposit capture, payments, card servicing, disputes, reconciliations, or account servicing.

• Preferred: Experience with CUSOs, shared-service organizations, or multi-entity operating environments.

• Preferred: Knowledge of core banking, workflow, document-management, payment, and financial services platforms.

• Preferred: Experience in supporting AI, generative AI, machine learning, document intelligence, workflow orchestration, or automation implementations.

• Preferred: Understanding of multi-tenant operating models and data and workflow segregation across financial institutions.

• Preferred: CBAP, CCBA, PMI-PBA, Lean Six Sigma, or similar certification.

🏝️ Benefits

• Flexible remote work arrangement with travel opportunities.

• Chances to engage in professional transformation initiatives and collaborate with AI, automation, and workflow technologies.