Lead IT Business Analyst

Lead IT Business Analyst Full Time Perm   Way of Work : Hybrid - 3 days on location Tu/Wed/Thurs  Salary: $113,500 - $170,300, plus 10% annual bonus  Location : Columbus, OH  NiSource is one of the largest fully regulated utility companies in the U.S., serving millions of customers across six states. We’re more than an energy provider—we’re a team committed to innovation, inclusion, and growth. At NiSource, you’ll find a workplace that encourages collaboration, supports professional development, and empowers employees to make an impact.  Customer Transformation team supports NiSource’s multi-year effort to modernize customer experience through changes to process, technology, and ways of working. This role partners with business leaders, SMEs, IT, and vendors to define future-state processes, validate requirements, and streamline workflows.  The Lead IT Analyst is responsible for identifying, defining and documenting business requirements and functional specifications for Customer Information Systems Transformation project and initiatives by collaborating with service providers, business partners, and stakeholders to ensure alignment of expectations, deliverables, and timelines.  As a Lead IT Analyst, you will act as a liaison between the business, IT, and other project stakeholders. This role will be primarily assigned to the customer transformation team where they will help maintain a subset of applications, execution of application projects, assist with requirements gathering and coordination within an agile or waterfall team.  Your responsibilities may include, but are not limited to:  Review and approve business requirements, functional specifications, and process documentation.  Ensure consistency and quality across all BA deliverables.  Manage requirements throughout the project lifecycle.  Maintain Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) and ensure traceability from requirements through testing and deployment.  Review solution designs for alignment with business objectives.  Oversee RICEFW and workstream deliverables including Functional Designs (FD), Technical Designs (TD), Functional Unit Testing (FUT), and related project artifacts.  Track status, dependencies, risks, and issues across assigned workstreams.  Coordinate business validation and User Acceptance Testing (UAT).  Ensure requirements are adequately tested, and defects are resolved.  Participate in defect triage and production readiness reviews.  Work with PM to maintain RAID logs and drive issue resolution activities.  Identify project risks and develop mitigation strategies.  Escalate critical issues when necessary and facilitate resolution.  You must possess the below minimum qualifications to be initially considered for this position. Preferred qualifications are in addition to the minimum requirements and are considered a plus factor in identifying top candidates.

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent work experience. 8+ years of progressive IT Business Analysis experience 3+ years of experience leading Business Analysts and/or complex, cross-functional transformation initiatives Demonstrated experience supporting large-scale business and technology transformation programs Advanced skills in requirements elicitation, analysis, documentation, stakeholder facilitation, and translating business needs into actionable requirements Experience working across Agile and Waterfall delivery methodologies Proficiency with JIRA, Qtest, Tricentis Tosca, or comparable project and work management tools Preferred Qualifications   Utility industry experience.  Customer Information System (CIS) implementation experience.  SAP IS-U, SAP S/4HANA, or similar enterprise platform experience.  CBAP, PMI-PBA, Agile BA, or equivalent certification.  Experience managing third-party vendors and system integrators.    Disclaimer   The preceding description is not designed to be a complete list of all duties