Working on an empowered agile team, the Business Systems Analyst serves as a liaison between business stakeholders and the agile team to determine and document user stories including creating IT solutions that improve efficiencies and add value, identifying opportunities and problem solving to arrive at outcomes focused on minimum viable product.

This position qualifies for our flexible workplace options. Work at our Grinnell, Iowa, headquarters, or work from home in any of the following states:

Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Please note that candidates must be eligible to work in the U.S. without Grinnell Mutual sponsorship.

• Develops and defines user stories, acceptance criteria and assumptions in collaboration with the agile team and various stakeholders to identify business objectives, elicit requirements and arrive at a solution with high-risk mitigation.

• Maintains a healthy product backlog for scrum team (typically defined as two to three sprints of refined stories) and communicates with other agile teams when dependencies are identified.

• Works with agile teams and build business relationships while acting with diplomacy and consideration towards business value. Consults Product Owner when business priorities conflict or need change.

• Collaborates and contributes to the development, maintenance, improvement, and training of business analysis best practices. Takes ownership of team delivery to ensure the highest probability of success for the team.

• Remains current with changes in career field and evaluates the feasibility of incorporating different techniques into new and supported applications.

• Contributes to product planning using Agile methodologies and participates in ensuring stories are complete, accurate and ready to be developed before the team commits to them.

• Communicates and updates teams and stakeholders to ensure transparency and alignment with project priorities. Occasionally works with outside vendors or contractors to create solutions and timelines for assigned projects and software issues.

• Adheres to work intake, prioritization, change management, architecture governance and other required best practices of Grinnell Mutual.

• Performs team-centric functions as needed in support of delivery timelines and quality of work with the customer’s / end user’s experience in mind.

• Responsible for end-to-end work with varying complexity and that may impact multiple applications.

• Performs all other duties as assigned.

• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college/university in business related or technology related field with 2-5 years of experience or equivalent combination of education, training, and experience will be considered based on business need.

• Attain and keep current necessary certifications for position.

• Working knowledge of Property and Casualty Insurance preferred. Willingness to develop a working knowledge of industry and Grinnell Mutual specific business practices. Must be able to appropriately apply learned knowledge as it relates to the responsibilities of the position.

• Exhibits strong problem solving and critical thinking skills to make decisions when presented with ambiguity.

• Exhibits a continuous improvement mindset towards all duties.

• Shares expertise and is willing to educate others; adding to the total technical capabilities of Grinnell Mutual.

• Demonstrated ability to effectively plan, schedule and meet deadlines while concurrently managing multiple tasks. Must be able to work with multiple interruptions.

• Ability to create and maintain a variety of business analysis documents including visual modeling.

• Experience with planning to assist in shaping project timelines, balancing business needs and adapting to changing priorities for multiple projects varying in size and complexity.

• Demonstrated ability to document and share knowledge with others. Must be able to work with audiences of various levels of ability about the subject matter and confirm knowledge transfer.

• Demonstrated oral, written and presentation skills to both technical and non-technical personnel. Exhibits self-assurance and a creative aptitude.

• Occasional overnight travel for training or conferences.

• Requires regular and predictable attendance to meet the customer needs of the position.  

• Must be able to maintain confidentiality and propriety information.

• Demonstrated ability to adhere to all Grinnell Mutual policies.

• Demonstrated ability to incorporate Grinnell Mutual core values in all areas of work.

Working conditions and physical efforts

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each job duty and responsibility satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable people with disabilities to perform job duties and responsibilities.

• Physically located in a remote office or at one of Grinnell Mutual’s campuses with a work environment of a typical office setting; work environment of a typical office setting; noise level is relatively quiet. 

• The position requires an individual to sit for long periods of time, use repetitive motion, and possess visual acuity demanded by work with computer and other LCD screen devices.

• The work may be fast paced, especially when managing multiple projects or when faced with tight deadlines. Meeting schedule could be heavy. May be required to work outside of normal business hours at times to accomplish work. 

This job description is not intended to describe, in detail, the multitude of tasks that may be assigned, but rather to give the employee a general sense of the responsibilities and expectations of his/her position. As the nature of the business changes, so may the job duties and responsibilities.