What does it take to be a Business Analyst at Vivid?

At Vivid, we like to grow faster than fast — we grow exponentially. In order to keep this rapid pace of new products going, we are constantly hiring talented Vividians. One of the most in-demand positions at the company right now is the Business Analyst (BA). But what is a BA? What do they do in a typical workday? Let’s demystify this role a bit.

The role of a Business Analyst is a critical one for product development at tech companies. These are the people who connect different dots - business, data, technology. In order to effectively bridge all those gaps, they have to be jacks of all trades. From the business side, they are involved in concept creation, understanding current market situations and trends, and understanding how a product can influence Vivid as a company. BAs need to make data-driven decisions: how to work with tools to build up hypotheses and test ideas. On the technology side, we are a digital banking app and our tech teams need to put the ideas into the platform. The Business Analyst’s task here is to translate the business idea into tech language and support tech teams who turn the idea into reality. 

Let’s now figure out what kind of skills are needed to be a BA in Vivid. Speaking to product teams and to BA themselves, we found 3 top crucial skills: 

1. Top communication skills

As described above, BAs need to connect different dots. It means talking to different people and teams, listening to them, aligning on priorities, managing expectations, making the processes transparent - explaining the whole thing from big picture to action points. Being a BA at Vivid means making sure everybody involved in the projects is on the same page, feels valued and is comfortable contributing with ideas. A successful BA is curious and a critical-thinker - they can challenge stakeholders and aren’t afraid to ask questions. 

2. Organizational talent

While managing different stakeholders, a BA needs to be organized and structured. They need to stay on top of everything that is going on with their projects: keeping documentation up-to-date and communicating with the business about priorities. 

3. Tech-savvy mindset 

Tech savviness comes with the fact that Vivid is a fintech company. Our ideas and solutions are translated into tech requirements. Thus, BAs at Vivid need to have an understanding of how the work of tech teams is done. It doesn't mean that the BA needs to have deep coding knowledge, but an understanding of basics, as well as an ability to read code and speak with tech teams in the same languages is a huge benefit. 

We asked our BAs to tell us what they enjoy the most about their work: 

• “What's really cool is that you can do things with your own hands, contributing to different parts: development, design or strategy.”
• “I like being part of the team working towards one goal, and on a meaningful product.”

Everything comes with challenges. In addition to asking our BAs what they like about their jobs, we also asked them to share the less pleasant aspect.  One of the common answers was that connecting the dots sometimes is not easy, and it takes time to figure out what the bigger picture is. Sometimes it means asking a lot of stakeholders before getting a good answer. It can also be hard managing ambitious business expectations - sometimes things just can't be done yesterday! 

Being a Business Analyst is a very diverse role - covering different areas in business and tech, and influencing the growth of the company. It is a very hands-on position within a startup and overall a great position to make an impact on the company.

Are you a Business Analyst yourself? Did this article awake your interest? Well, good news, we are hiring! https://jobs.vivid.money/jobs/Careers Make sure to apply. We will make sure you fall in love with the position and Vivid as much as we did!