Lead Business Analyst

Lead Business Analyst Cum Data Analyst – Risk and Governance

Location: (Hybrid, 3 days in a week), NY, NJ.

Mode: Contract

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership

• Own the end-to-end delivery of key phases: Data Lineage, Risk and Control Assessment, Data Quality, Testing, and Attestation.
• Shape and refine implementation strategies for high-risk data packages, setting execution priorities.
• Serve as the SME and escalation point for data risk, governance processes, and remediation planning.

Program Oversight

1. Data Lineage

• Oversee the execution of data lineage mapping exercises across business units.
• Ensure completeness of lineage documentation, incorporating data transformations and manual interventions.
• Govern lineage quality metrics, gap identification, and remediation prioritization.

2. Risk and Control Assessment

• Lead walkthroughs with business and control owners to assess ingestion-to-consumption risk.
• Review and validate control effectiveness across manual, automated, preventive, and detective controls.
• Guide the use of internal risk templates and align findings with enterprise risk taxonomy.

3. Data Quality & Profiling

• Direct the design and execution of data profiling and anomaly detection, working with vendor tools (e.g., Anomalo).
• Guide business rule validation and help define or enhance enterprise DQ rules.
• Lead quality assurance documentation and remediation recommendations.

4. Issue Management and Remediation

• Monitor the issue lifecycle, including severity tagging, impact assessment, and ownership tracking.
• Oversee governance reporting for remediation plans; ensure timely execution across teams.
• Maintain transparency with leadership on backlog status, risk exposure, and closure KPIs.

5. Testing & Validation

• Supervise UAT cycles validating data quality rules, lineage completeness, and control coverage.
• Collaborate with data engineers and business testers to design and approve test plans.
• Validate control effectiveness across automated and manual pipelines.

6. Use Case Onboarding

• Create and maintain templates for use case documentation (risk, control, lineage).
• Ensure each use case includes proper controls, lineage, risk documentation, and compliance guardrails.
• Standardize onboarding checklists and compliance approval workflows.

7. Operational Attestation Transition

• Define and institutionalize the transition framework from project delivery to operational teams.
• Drive adoption of attestation templates, training materials, and feedback mechanisms.
• Ensure control ownership and documentation continuity post-transition.

Required Skills and Qualifications

Experience

• 10+ years of experience in Business Analysis, Risk Governance, or Enterprise Data Management.
• At least 3 years in a lead or senior BA role overseeing cross-functional risk/data initiatives in BFSI.
• Proven experience managing stakeholders across business, technology, audit, and compliance.

Technical & Domain Knowledge

• Solid knowledge of risk frameworks (e.g., COSO, COBIT, BCBS 239).
• Deep understanding of data lineage, data quality measurement, metadata management.
• Familiarity with profiling/anomaly tools (Anomalo, Great Expectations), data cataloging (Collibra, Alation).
• Ability to read and interpret data flows, lineage diagrams, profiling logs.

Soft Skills

• Strong stakeholder engagement, facilitation, and negotiation skills.
• Detail-oriented with ability to synthesize complex topics for senior leadership.
• Capable of mentoring junior analysts and driving team collaboration.
• Partner with Heads of Risk, Business Data Stewards, Data Engineering, Compliance, and Internal Audit.
• Represent risk/data programs in governance forums and regulatory working groups.