A business analyst bridges the gap between business problems and technical solutions — gathering requirements from stakeholders, mapping processes, writing functional specifications, and working with development teams to make sure what gets built actually solves the right problem. They report to a Project Manager, Product Owner, or BA Lead. A typical week involves stakeholder interviews, process mapping sessions in tools like Lucidchart or Visio, sprint planning support, and reviewing UAT results. Financial services, insurance, government, health tech, and retail banking are among the biggest hirers.
Natasha Reid
Business Analyst
📍 London, UK✉️ natasha.reid@email.com
Summary
Experienced Business Analyst with 6 years in financial services. Expert at requirements gathering, stakeholder facilitation, and bridging the gap between business needs and technology solutions.
Work Experience
Senior Business Analyst at BarclaysApr 2021 — Present
Gathered and documented requirements for £15M digital banking transformation programme
Created 200+ user stories and acceptance criteria across 6 Agile delivery teams
Business Analyst at HSBCSep 2018 — Mar 2021
Supported regulatory compliance programme documenting requirements for 3 FCA initiatives
Performed gap analysis between existing and target state systems identifying 80+ change items
Business Analyst CVs need to show analytical thinking and communication skills in equal measure. Recruiters want to see your experience with requirements gathering methods and the scale of programmes you supported.
Key Skills to Include
Requirements gathering, user story writing, SQL, Jira and Confluence, process mapping, stakeholder management, data analysis, UAT coordination, and wireframing.
Common Mistakes
Writing a CV that sounds like a technical spec. "Documented 200 user stories" is a task. Show how your analysis reduced rework, sped up delivery, or improved outcomes.
Formatting Tips
One to two pages. Include a Tools & Methods section. Group experience by programme if applicable. Highlight industry expertise.
Average Salary — Business Analyst
United States
$75,000 – $120,000
United Kingdom
$50,000 – $82,000
Germany
$52,000 – $82,000
UAE / Dubai
$58,000 – $92,000
Canada
$65,000 – $100,000
Australia
$75,000 – $110,000
Figures in USD. Ranges reflect mid-level experience (3–7 years). Senior roles and major metro areas typically sit at the top of these bands.
Top 5 Interview Questions — Business Analyst
1Walk me through how you would gather requirements for a new system from multiple stakeholders who don't agree.
Describe your elicitation process — individual interviews, workshops, use case mapping, and how you surface and resolve conflicting requirements before they become a project problem. Show facilitation skills, not just documentation skills.
2Tell me about a project where the scope changed significantly mid-delivery. How did you manage it?
Walk through how you assessed the impact of the change, communicated it to stakeholders and the delivery team, updated documentation, and maintained a clear change log. Change management is core to this role.
3How do you write a user story that a development team can actually build from?
Give a real example using the As a / I want / So that format and describe the acceptance criteria you add. Show you understand what level of detail developers need without over-prescribing the solution.
4Describe your experience with process mapping. What notation do you use and why?
Name specific notation — BPMN 2.0, UML, swimlane diagrams. Explain a situation where a process map revealed an inefficiency that was invisible before you drew it out. Practical application beats theoretical knowledge.
5How do you handle a stakeholder who keeps adding requirements after the project baseline is agreed?
This tests your change control discipline. Show you have a structured process — logging the request, assessing the impact, getting it prioritised through governance — rather than either saying yes automatically or shutting the conversation down.
How to Tailor Your CV
Lloyds Banking Group, Accenture, Thoughtworks, HMRC, and health tech companies like EMIS Group all employ business analysts at scale. Banks like Lloyds and Barclays want deep financial services domain knowledge alongside Agile and Waterfall delivery experience — hybrid project exposure is valued. Accenture and Thoughtworks expect strong facilitation skills and the ability to work across multiple clients and industries. HMRC and government digital service roles often require knowledge of GDS standards and public sector procurement processes. BCS ISEB or IIBA CCBA certification is a strong differentiator in competitive BA markets and should sit prominently on your CV.