Senior Business Analyst

ABOUT US

THE COMPANY

Springer Nature opens the doors to discovery for researchers, educators, clinicians, and other professionals. Every day, around the globe, our imprints, books, journals, platforms, and technology solutions reach millions of people. For over 175 years our brands and imprints have been a trusted source of knowledge to these communities and today, more than ever, we see it as our responsibility to ensure that fundamental knowledge can be found, verified, understood, and used by our communities – enabling them to improve outcomes, make progress, and benefit the generations that follow.

ABOUT SN DIGITAL

Over the past few years, Springer Nature has grown rapidly and as a result, the Discipline and Domain structure was introduced in SN Digital, in a matrix fashion. The aim of the Domain structure is to address scalability issues by uniting teams with a similar goal or focus to work together, whilst Disciplines work as Communities of Practise that allow our colleagues to collaborate on developing their craft.

Domains operate as a “network of teams” with a high degree of empowerment, strong communication, and rapid information flow. Teams within the Domain still have the same autonomy and responsibilities but are part of a wider ‘network of teams with a shared responsibility to collaborate and pull in the same direction. The team is not only working towards the betterment of the team’s products or services, but in doing so they are also working towards achieving the goals of the Domain.

PURPOSE OF THE ROLE

We are seeking a Senior Business Analyst to lead our business analysis across Delivery Operations and Strategy. This role will focus on initiatives that are aligned with our technology strategy, drive operational excellence, and provide frameworks for teams to deliver effectively and consistently. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record in working on complex programmes of work.

You will be responsible for understanding complex projects and working with a cross-functional team to understand business needs aligned to technology solutions. Often this will be working across different domains within SN Digital and must be able to collaborate and align teams towards targeted outcomes.

This role also acts as a bridge between delivery teams and senior leadership. They will ensure that the priorities, resources and expertise of the teams are in line with the organisational goals to deliver successfully across our portfolio.

While reporting into Delivery Operations & Strategy, the role maintains a dotted-line relationship to the Director of Business Architecture & Integration as the Business Analysis discipline lead. This relationship supports professional development, capability assessment, community participation, and alignment with Business Analysis standards, methods and best practices across Springer Nature Technology

The job can be based in any of our main Digital locations (London, Lisbon, Berlin, Dordrecht, Pune), and you will work remotely at times with colleagues in many of our global offices including Lisbon, London (UK), Pune (India), Dordrecht (The Netherlands) and Berlin (Germany).

Some travel will be required as appropriate.

ABOUT YOU

You’re an experienced business analyst who has supported complex, multi-portfolio programmes from start to finish. With over seven years working at programme or portfolio level you know how to work with high-performing, psychologically safe teams that consistently deliver.

You will work collaboratively with solutions architecture, delivery managers and senior leadership to ensure roadmaps, budgets and resources are aligned with strategic priorities. You combine strategic vision with operational discipline and are comfortable working at whatever level programmes require, whether it’s with senior executives or delivery teams.

You can communicate effectively, and your approach is collaborative, focuses on unblocking teams and aligning people towards shared goals. You have in-depth knowledge and experience of agile, Lean and hybrid delivery methodologies and can select and adapt business analysis techniques, facilitation approaches, methods and delivery tooling based on context, complexity and stakeholder needs. Above all, you have a drive to create a culture of continuous improvement to foster teams that learn fast, adapt quickly and deliver outcomes that make a measurable impact.

Strategic Business Analysis & Problem Solving

• Lead complex business analysis activities that deliver actionable recommendations and technology solutions aligned to strategic business objectives and customer needs.
• Frame complex business challenges by identifying underlying causes, defining desired business outcomes and establishing a clear change vision before evaluating solution options.
• Identify, analyse, and communicate risks, dependencies, costs, benefits, and trade-offs to support effective stakeholder decision-making.
• Demonstrate the ability to rapidly understand new business domains, operating models, and strategic priorities, reducing time-to-value for new initiatives.

Portfolio, Demand & Investment Management

• Facilitate discovery, ideation, and assessment activities that result in well-defined solution options, investment cases, and prioritised business outcomes.
• Drive technology rationalisation and modernisation opportunities, including legacy system retirement and application portfolio optimisation.
• Ensure initiatives progress through the full lifecycle with appropriate governance, risk management, and alignment to strategic objectives.

Stakeholder Engagement & Influence

• Build strong relationships across business, technology, architecture, security, procurement, and operational teams to achieve consensus on complex decisions.
• Facilitate stakeholder workshops and decision-making forums that achieve alignment on requirements, priorities, and solution approaches.
• Effectively communicate complex technical and business concepts to audiences at all levels, including senior leadership.

Technology & Solution Design

• Partner with technical subject matter experts to define solution options that balance customer needs, business outcomes, technical constraints, security considerations, and operational sustainability.
• Apply systems thinking to understand relationships and dependencies across teams, processes, products, platforms and services when evaluating solution options and organisational change.
• Ensure functional and non-functional requirements are identified and incorporated throughout discovery, solution design, vendor evaluation, and implementation planning.
• Support due diligence, vendor evaluations, and strategic assessments by providing structured analysis of risks, costs, capabilities, and alignment to organisational standards.

Collaboration & Leadership

• Demonstrate leadership through proactive ownership, independent decision-making, and effective coordination across cross-functional teams.
• Foster collaboration across geographically distributed teams, ensuring effective engagement across locations, cultures, and time zones.
• Mentor colleagues and actively contribute to the Business Analysis community through knowledge sharing, capability development, continuous improvement and the evolution of Business Analysis standards, methods and ways of working.

What’s expected

In first 3 months — Learn, Assess & Establish

Business Understanding

• Develop a comprehensive understanding of Springer Nature Digital's strategy, operating model, technology landscape, portfolio governance, and key stakeholder groups.
• Build effective working relationships with business owners, delivery teams, architects, operational teams, and senior stakeholders.
• Gain a clear understanding of current initiatives, portfolio priorities, dependencies, risks, and investment objectives.

Business Analysis Excellence

• Review and document current-state processes, systems, data flows, and decision-making frameworks across assigned areas.
• Identify initial opportunities for process improvement, efficiency gains, risk reduction, and technology optimisation.
• Demonstrate the ability to produce high-quality business requirements, analysis artefacts, process maps, and stakeholder documentation.

Discovery & Demand Management

• Support discovery activities for new initiatives, ensuring business problems, opportunities, and expected outcomes are clearly understood and documented.
• Establish effective mechanisms for tracking demand, risks, dependencies, and portfolio metrics.

What’s expected

In first 6 Months — Influence, Deliver & Optimise

Strategic Business Analysis

• Lead discovery workshops, requirements gathering, and solution design activities for strategic initiatives.
• Act as a trusted advisor by clearly articulating trade-offs between cost, risk, complexity, and business value.

Portfolio & Demand Management

• Support prioritisation decisions by providing transparent analysis of investment opportunities, dependencies, resource constraints, and expected benefits.
• Establish visibility of key risks, issues, and delivery dependencies across assigned initiatives.
• Identify opportunities to rationalise legacy technologies, remove inefficiencies, and improve operational effectiveness.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Facilitate decision-making sessions that align business and technology stakeholders on priorities and solutions.
• Collaborate effectively with Architecture, Security, Procurement, and Delivery teams to ensure solutions meet organisational standards.

What’s expected

In 12 months — Deliver Measurable Business Value

Portfolio & Strategic Impact

• Influence and shape the portfolio roadmap through data-driven recommendations and strategic analysis.
• Deliver business analysis and discovery activities that contribute to successful project outcomes, measurable benefits realisation, and organisational goals.
• Support the optimisation of portfolio investments by improving prioritisation, governance, and resource allocation practices.

Business Transformation & Innovation

• Lead complex cross-functional analyses that drive business transformation, operational improvements, or technology modernisation.
• Champion innovative solutions and emerging technologies that support Springer Nature Digital's strategic direction.
• Drive continuous improvement initiatives that improve efficiency, customer experience, service quality, or business outcomes.

Leadership & Capability Building

• Act as a senior practitioner and mentor, promoting best practices in business analysis, discovery, and portfolio management.
• Strengthen collaboration between business and technology teams to improve alignment and delivery effectiveness.
• Provide leadership in managing ambiguity, resolving competing priorities, and escalating strategic risks when required.

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