Business Analyst

Technical Business Analyst Data Acquisition

Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland (Hybrid 3 days per week in the office)
Contract: Initial 9 months, with a view to extend
Day Rate: £450 £475 per day

The Opportunity

We are seeking an experienced Technical Business Analyst to join a leading global financial services organisation, supporting its Markets Transformation function.

Working within the Data Acquisition team, you will play a key role in delivering data solutions and driving change across a range of regulatory, business and technology initiatives. You will work closely with front-office stakeholders, technology teams and senior management to understand complex data requirements, develop effective solutions and improve existing reporting processes.

The role offers a blend of hands-on SQL development, technical business analysis, stakeholder engagement and project delivery, making it an excellent opportunity for someone who enjoys working at the intersection of data, technology and financial markets.

Key Responsibilities

• Write, develop and optimise complex SQL scripts, including data reconciliation, performance tuning and large-scale data extraction.
• Work closely with business stakeholders to understand data requirements and identify opportunities to improve reporting processes, data quality and operational efficiency.
• Translate business and technical requirements into clear, actionable solutions, producing Business Requirements Documents (BRDs), Functional Requirements Documents (FRDs) and supporting project documentation.
• Support the planning and execution of User Acceptance Testing (UAT), including test strategies, scenarios and documentation.
• Collaborate with IT and architecture teams to translate technical designs and low-level requirements into effective data solutions.
• Manage project deliverables, milestones, actions and dependencies, ensuring work is completed within agreed timelines and quality expectations.
• Act as a subject matter expert, providing guidance on data solutions, reporting best practices and process improvements.
• Maintain accurate project tracking and documentation using Jira.
• Drive continuous improvement across code quality, testing, reliability and delivery processes.
• Communicate complex technical concepts clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders, including senior management.

Essential Skills & Experience

• 5+ years' experience in Technical Business Analysis, ideally within a data-focused environment.
• Strong SQL skills, with the ability to independently write, troubleshoot and optimise complex queries.
• Demonstrable experience in SQL performance tuning, data reconciliation and large-scale data extraction.
• Knowledge of Data Warehouse and ETL design and development methodologies.
• Proven experience gathering requirements, producing technical documentation and translating business needs into technical solutions.
• Strong stakeholder management skills, with the confidence to engage directly with front-office and senior business stakeholders.
• Experience managing multiple workstreams, competing priorities and tight deadlines.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences.
• A proactive, self-starting approach, with the ability to work independently and take ownership of deliverables.
• Experience using Jira for task management, project tracking and workflow coordination.

Desirable Experience

• Previous experience within investment banking, financial services or capital markets.
• Exposure to Python for more complex data extraction and analysis.
• Familiarity with the Hadoop and big data ecosystem, including Hive, Impala, HDFS, Apache Spark, Spark-SQL, UDF and Sqoop.
• Experience with Tableau and reporting best practices.
• Previous project management or project delivery experience.
• Exposure to regulatory change or business transformation initiatives.

The Ideal Candidate

You will be a technically strong Business Analyst who is comfortable getting hands-on with SQL while confidently managing relationships across the business.

You will combine analytical thinking with strong communication and organisational skills, be comfortable navigating complex data environments and have the ability to turn ad hoc business requests into structured, longer-term solutions.

Candidates from outside financial services will also be considered, provided they can demonstrate strong technical, analytical and stakeholder management capabilities.

If you're an experienced Technical Business Analyst looking for your next contract opportunity in Belfast, we'd be keen to hear from you.