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Health Research Authority
About
Contact
- Address
- Health Research Authority
- 2 Redman Place
- Stratford
- London
- E20 1JQ
- Contact Number
- Telephone: 0300 330 9416
Senior Business Analyst
Closed for applications on: 27-Feb-2026 00:00
Vacancy status: Closed
Closed for applications on: 27-Feb-2026 00:00
Key details
Location
- Site
- 3 Piccadilly Place, London Road, Manchester
- Town
- Manchester
- Postcode
- M1 3BN
- Major / Minor Region
- London
Contract type & working pattern
- Contract
- 15 months (Fixed term contract until 30 June 2027)
- Hours
- Full time
- Flexible working
- Home or remote working
- Compressed hours
Salary
- Salary
- £47,810 - £54,710 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Grade
- (NHS AfC: Band 7)
Specialty
- Main area
- Senior Business Analyst
The HRA is a Non Departmental Public Body with the remit to protect and promote the interests of patients and the public in health and social care research. We do this by supporting and promoting a robust and efficient regulatory and governance framework in the UK. We provide the Research Ethics Service (RES), Confidentiality Advice function, assessments and assurances on behalf of the NHS, and learning, guidance and advice for the research community. Our ambition is to make the UK a great place to do research, where more money invested in research goes into carrying out relevant, good quality research.
Our purpose is to ensure that research involving NHS patients and members of the public is approved through a proportionate and robust system, that they are provided with the information they need to help them decide whether they wish to take part, and that their opportunity to do so is maximised by simplifying the processes by which high quality research is assessed. We have already delivered significant improvements by centralising and simplifying the approval of research in the NHS in England, and are undertaking a range of significant programmes to deliver further improvements.
Job overview
Business analysis is central to the delivery of digital systems within the Health Research Authority (HRA). We are looking for a qualified senior business analyst who has experience of working in the full business analysis lifecycle, ideally in Scrum or SAFe on large digital developments.
As a senior business analyst you will have expertise in business analysis, including requirement gathering and analysis, process mapping, gap analyses and the creation of detailed documentation, user stories and acceptance criteria.
Advert
Some of the key duties for this position are:
- Apply structured approaches to identify, investigate, analyse and communicate complex business problems and opportunities, within a defined project
- Analyse business goals, objectives, functions and processes, using relevant information and data to support the definition of requirement
- Identify, analyse, challenge and validate business and user requirements
- Use appropriate requirements management life cycle methods to complete tasks and outputs related to the project
- Ensure proposed solutions meet business and user needs
- Work with limited direction to complete tasks and defined outputs linked to the project
- Understand the impact of potential changes and how business processes, systems, data, roles and responsibilities interact
- Develop models and system requirements for bespoke IT systems or software packages
- Identify business scenarios and develop acceptance criteria to ensure requirements can be traced to develop functionality
- Work collaboratively with Subject Matter Experts in the business, User Centred Design, Product and Development/Test teams to capture and articulate user requirements.
This is not an exhaustive list, see the job description for details.
Working for our organisation
Working at the HRA, we are reminded daily of how important life is. As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for you, not just us and the work we do.
We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. We know from experience that different ideas, perspectives and backgrounds create a stronger, more creative workplace that helps us to deliver the best services. We welcome applications which represent the rich diversity of our community: age, disability, gender identity and expression, ethnicity, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation and other diverse characteristics, and we have policies in place to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and consistently at every stage of the recruitment process.
When applying to work here, speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement – if it works for us, we will do our best to make it work for you.
Please note, if applying to our Manchester, Nottingham or Bristol locations, we are only able to offer the role as home based.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
This role sits within HRA Digital. The digital directorate is responsible for developing, delivering and supporting complex solutions within the HRA’s portfolio of UK-wide information systems for health and care research. This includes a major programme to build new systems, and to achieve the successful migration and eventual closure of current systems.
The HRA Digital team is a collaborative, supportive team consisting of HRA employees, secondees, contractors and vendors.
To find out more and to understand the full duties of the role, please refer to the job description attached.
In submitting your application with us, please note the following:
We currently do not accept applications via recruitment agencies.
We do not hold a sponsorship licence and are unable to offer employment under any sponsorship arrangement.
Where applicants fail to demonstrate how they meet any one of the essential criteria of the person specification, the application will not be shortlisted. You will be considered based only on the information in your application form. CVs will not be considered.
The HRA reserves the right to close this vacancy early should it receive a sufficient number of applications.
In return for your commitment, we offer excellent opportunities for personal development and a healthy work-life balance. The HRA is committed to promoting and enhancing inclusion, diversity and equality. We welcome and encourage applications, who meet the criteria for the role, regardless of age, gender identity and gender expression, disability, race, religion or belief, marital status, pregnancy, sex or sexual orientation or any other personal circumstances. Reasonable adjustments to the interview process can be made upon request, for candidates with a disability. The HRA welcomes applicants who are interested in flexible working including job share, part time work, secondments or home-based working. Please discuss any preferred flexibility at your interview.
The HRA reserves the right to close this vacancy early should we receive a sufficient number of applications.
The HRA does not hold a sponsor licence in respect of skilled worker visas and so is unable to employ candidates requiring sponsorship.
In order to be considered for this position you must address the criteria outlined in the person specification in your supporting statement. You will be considered based on the information in your application form. CVs will not be considered. All contact is made via our Trac recruitment system. Please check your account regularly.
After applying via NHS Jobs, your submitted application will be imported into our Third-party recruitment system. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. If you are appointed to a post, information will also be transferred into the NHS Electronic Staff Records system.
If you have a query relating to your application, please contact the recruitment team on [email protected] or 0300 330 9416.
The NHSBSA is responsible for the processing of your application; a privacy notice is available at the following link to advise you on how we will process your personal data.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Recognised business analyst certification (either BCS Foundation / Practitioner or IIBA CCBA/CBAP certifications)
- Evidence of commitment to ongoing personal and professional development and training
Desirable criteria
- Educated to master's degree or equivalent experience showing capability to work at this level
- Recognised certification in Agile (for example Scrum Alliance)
Knowledge, skills and expertise
Essential criteria
- Working effectively with a diverse group of internal and external senior business and IT stakeholders along with management of relationships across different levels of seniority
- Deep understanding of elicitation, documentation and management of high-level and detailed business requirements, working collaboratively with design and technical teams to ensure feasible, user-centred and deliverable solutions
- Proven ability to translate business requirements and designs into clear, testable user stories and acceptance criteria
- Capture and lead end-to-end process mapping using BPMN 2.0 and visio; identifying impacts, dependencies and opportunities for improvement across people, process and technology
Experience
Essential criteria
- Large portfolio of experience demonstrating successful working at a senior business analyst level supporting the entire projects, programmes and development lifecycle
- Working at both a strategic and low level, assuring the feasibility of proposed solutions along with the ability to take a holistic view
- Experience of working in complex multi-stakeholder environments (for example complex regulatory settings or where managing divergent stakeholder views)
- Advising senior stakeholders on business change priorities within the context of the organisational strategy and objectives
Desirable criteria
- Experience of working in NHS and/or health research
Interpersonal skills
Essential criteria
- Excellent presentation, oral, written and communication skills with the ability to gather, understand, interpret and disseminate information across all levels
Documents
- HRA Senior Business Analyst Job Description (Feb2026) (PDF, 200.4KB)
- Reference Guidelines for Applicants (PDF, 19.3KB)
- HRA Verification of ID & RTW (PDF, 307.0KB)
- Working at the HRA (PDF, 286.3KB)
- Benefits Statement (PDF, 222.6KB)
- About the HRA (PDF, 118.1KB)
- HRA Recruitment Privacy Notice (PDF, 70.7KB)
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Bruna Catena
- Job title
- Lead Business Analyst
- Email address
- [email protected]
No longer accepting applications
Sorry, this vacancy is no longer accepting applications.
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