The profile of banking business analysts is to liaison between the business and IT departments. University of California Irvine, a college in Orange County California, is a leader in the development of a certification course for business analysts in IT. The California University of Irvine describes the certificate program for a business analyst as:

''Business analyst jobs study the overall business and information needs of an organization in order to develop appropriate solution strategies. As the key liaison between business and information technology departments, the business analyst is responsible for gathering and documenting business requirements and translating them into functional system design specifications that can be successfully executed by IT development teams.''¹

A Lead Systems Engineer describes the Business analyst from her experience:
''All business analyst jobs tend to walk in both business and IT worlds. A skilled business analyst does not need to have a deep technical knowledge. One of the most critical skills for success in this role is the ability to translate a department's business functions and requirements into terms that are meaningful to software developers.''²
– Patti Lassen, Lead Systems Engineer, Experian

''The Business Analyst Certificate Program at UC Irvine in California is for professionals who want to become a part of the emerging field. The program focuses on basics required to be an effective business analyst. The course addresses these job requirements from the perspective of systems integrators, project managers, and end-user stakeholders. Professionals are accepted into the program on analysis of the student candidacy form available online.
Business professionals include:

• software system architects
• product marketers
• quality assurance analysts
• programmer analysts
• professionals who are facilitating or leading process improvement efforts
• business analysts
• business systems analysts
• software system architects
• managers

Certificate Requirements are 15 units and once registered the student has up to 5 years to complete the program and become certified.''³

It's important to know that the field of Business Analysis and Banking Business Analysis is new and up and coming. There are a lot of employment opportunities for this occupation in the niche. Currently there is no one degree offered for Banking Business Analyst or just Business Analyst. However, the market sees formal business training companies providing training on site for businesses that want to pursue the need to train business analysts. UC Irvine is a leader in developing a certificate and as indicated other colleges will do the same or even better, create a specific degree for this emerging career.

Let's take a look at a current professional and her career path to becoming a Business Banking Analyst:

''I'm currently a business systems analyst with 20 years of financial industry knowledge. My prior jobs have taken me from system administrator to developer and finally to a business analyst. I still yearn for some of my former developmental duties but love the depth and potential of being an analyst. I truly think analyst positions will grow and evolve significantly over the next several years. My professional background has been:

• Report Design/Creation - 10 Years
• Strategic Design - 12 Years
• Conversions/Mapping - 20 Years''⁴
  

This Banking Senior Business Analyst has a salary in line with the education and experience background. At senior level, with 20 years of experience, a Banking Business Analyst can make between $60,000 to $80,000 per year depending on the company and location.

A person or a business looking to pursue or hire for a banking business analyst position, an idea of how the job description might look could be:

''COMPANY STANDARDIZED JOB DESCRIPTION
Job Summary Analyze and document business requirements. Accurately translate business requirements into specifications for business systems development projects. Work closely with technology partners to drive systems design, development, and implementation or implement short-term solutions themselves. Participate in and lead user acceptance testing and training for new and enhanced systems. Work with other groups as needed, including Portfolio Management, Sales and Trading, Compliance, Finance, and Operations, to ensure CMRM initiatives support their needs. May manage or supervise a small department.

Here's the list of Required Skills and Desired Skills for the Candidates.

Required Skills
Strong written and oral communications, interpersonal, and organizational skills.
Strong analytical, logical reasoning and problem solving skills required.
Prior experience with data including data feeds, data mapping, business requirement development, and data validation.
Strong testing skills including preparing test plans, and creating and executing test scripts.
Exposure to Six Sigma and/or Process Excellence efforts with knowledge and practical application of the DMAIC phases.
Advanced skills in Microsoft suite of products.
SQL knowledge
3 to 5 years Risk Management or financial background.

Desired Skills
Risk Management or financial background preferred.
A combination of both business and technology skills.''⁵

In this Banking Business Analyst position there is no listed degree requirement. There is an extensive requirement for knowledge and experience that could have some education behind it. However, if the skills are learned on the job and they are in line with the objectives of the employer, it is apparent that the candidate needs a 4 year degree.

In Conclusion, the Banking Business Analyst is a new position for jobs in business analysis. The Hours listed for the job are 40 hours a week. The job is done in a financial office environment, which means a temperature controlled office with long hours in front of a computer. The salary range is from $52,000 to $75,000. The career is at a high starting salary because the Analysts at this time are expected to have a degree and experience or years of equivalent experience. There are currently certifications that can be obtained for the position and perhaps more colleges will offer more certificate courses in the future. These positions are currently available and need interested qualified applicants.

1) 'UCI Extension's Business Analyst Certificate Program', University of California Irvine Distance Learning Center 2009.
2) Patti Lassen, Lead Systems Engineer, Experian
3) 'UCI Extension's Business Analyst Certificate Program', University of California Irvine Distance Learning Center 2009.
4)'Trials & Tribulations of a Business Systems Analyst', H.M. Winning, February 5, 2009.
5)'Business Analyst', Bank of America, February 4, 2009.

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