Senior Business Systems Analyst

As a Senior Business Systems Analyst, you will own requirements for business-critical initiatives and connect strategy with delivery for the products our customers and advisors rely on. You will lead discovery with senior stakeholders, analyze the processes and systems behind each request, and ensure solutions address the underlying business need. You will lead analysis for medium-sized initiatives from inception through benefits realization, influence scope and prioritization, resolve competing stakeholder needs, and strengthen analysis practices across the team. Success in this role requires analytical depth, confidence to challenge assumptions constructively, sound judgement in ambiguity, and a genuine interest in coaching other analysts.Position Responsibilities: Own the elicitation, analysis, and documentation of business, functional, and non-functional requirements across medium-sized initiatives. Facilitate workshops involving competing stakeholder interests and guide participants toward clear, documented decisions. Analyze complex, cross-system processes to identify root causes and opportunities to simplify work rather than automate inefficiencies. Challenge and reframe stated requirements to clarify the underlying business problem and desired outcome. Perform and guide data analysis to validate assumptions, estimate impact, and support recommendations. Define data mappings, interface requirements, and non-functional requirements for complex integration work. Partner with engineering and architecture teams to assess solution options, feasibility, and business implications. Make prioritization and value trade-offs clear to support informed scope decisions. Own the user acceptance testing and business validation approach, including entry and exit criteria, test scenarios, defect triage, and business sign-off. Maintain and improve requirements traceability, documentation quality, and analysis standards within the team. Mentor less experienced analysts and lead peer reviews of requirements and analysis deliverables. Represent the business perspective in design sessions, governance forums, and prioritization discussions. Lead post-implementation reviews to assess whether changes delivered the intended outcomes and benefits.Required Qualifications: 5–10 years of experience in business analysis and business systems analysis, including demonstrated ownership of requirements for medium-sized initiatives from inception through benefits realization. Strong hands-on experience across the areas below, with depth in several areas and working knowledge of the others: Requirements and Analysis: Advanced elicitation and facilitation; user stories and acceptance criteria; business rules; gap and root-cause analysis; and requirements traceability. Process Analysis: Complex cross-system process mapping; BPMN or equivalent notation; process simplification and redesign; and exception and control analysis. Agile Delivery: Scrum or Kanban; backlog ownership and refinement; story slicing; Definitions of Ready and Done; and release or increment planning. Data and Query: SQL for independent data analysis; data modelling concepts; integration data mapping; and data-based impact assessment. Technical Literacy: REST APIs and integration patterns; the ability to read OpenAPI or Swagger specifications; and sufficient understanding of system and data architecture to assess feasibility. Documentation and Tooling: Jira, Confluence, process modelling tools such as Visio or Lucidchart, and wireframing tools. Testing and Validation: UAT strategy; entry and exit criteria; test scenario design; defect triage; and business sign-off. Stakeholder Engagement and Facilitation: Workshop facilitation involving competing interests; stakeholder management; presentations to senior business audiences; and scope negotiation. Proven experience owning requirements end to end, including initiatives where scope changed during delivery. A track record of constructively challenging requirements and improving the resulting business or delivery outcome. Experience mentoring or coaching less experienced analysts. Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain business needs, options, trade-offs, and outcomes to engineers and senior stakeholders. Sound judgement in ambiguous situations and the ability to support decisions when information is incomplete. Preferred Qualifications:Any of the following would be an asset: Business Case and Value: Business case development, benefits definition and tracking, and cost-value trade-off analysis. Additional Tools: Azure DevOps, ServiceNow, Figma or other wireframing tools, and Bruno or Postman for API exploration. Reporting and Insights: Power BI, Databricks, KQL, Azure Data Explorer, and report or dashboard design. Methods and Techniques: BPMN 2.0, customer journey mapping, service design, and Lean or Six Sigma process improvement. Quality and Test Management: Xray test management, regression strategy, and accessibility requirements, including WCAG. Industry Experience: Individual insurance, annuities, group benefits, wealth, or banking; advisor-facing or customer-facing digital products; and policy administration or claims platforms. Risk and Compliance: Regulatory change delivery, audit and control requirements, and personally identifiable information and data protection considerations. Legacy Modernization and Migration: Mainframe-fronting or legacy modernization programs, data migration requirements, and parallel-run validation. Certifications: IIBA CCBA or CBAP, Certified Scrum Product Owner, SAFe, or an equivalent credential. Experience supporting regulatory or compliance-driven delivery with fixed external deadlines. Experience supporting a modernization or platform migration program. The ability to understand the broader organizational context, evaluate alternatives, and identify overlooked opportunities. Strong presentation, relationship-building, and interpersonal skills. Contributions to a broader analysis community through practice groups, standards development, or knowledge sharing. When you join our team:We’ll empower you to learn and grow the career you want.We’ll recognize and support you in a flexible environment where well-being and inclusion are more than just words.As part of our distributed team, we’ll support you in shaping the future you want to see.The role being advertised is an existing vacancy.About Manulife and John HancockManulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider, helping people make their decisions easier and lives better. To learn more about us, visit .Manulife is an Equal Opportunity EmployerAt Manulife/John Hancock, we embrace our diversity. We strive to attract, develop and retain a workforce that is as diverse as the customers we serve and to foster an inclusive work environment that embraces the strength of cultures and individuals. We are committed to fair recruitment, retention, advancement and compensation, and we administer all of our practices and programs without discrimination on the basis of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, religion or religious beliefs, creed, sex (including pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions), sexual orientation, genetic characteristics, veteran status, gender identity, gender expression, age, marital status, family status, disability, or any other ground protected by applicable law.It is our priority to remove barriers to provide equal access to employment. A Human Resources representative will work with applicants who request a reasonable accommodation during the application process. All information shared during the accommodation request process will be stored and used in a manner that is consistent with applicable laws and Manulife/John Hancock policies. To request a reasonable accommodation in the application process, contact View email address on click.appcast.io Salary LocationWaterloo, OntarioWorking ArrangementHybridSalary range is expected to be between$113,000.00 CAD - $163,000.00 CADEmployees also have the opportunity to participate in incentive programs and earn incentive compensation tied to business and individual performance. The actual salary will vary depending on local market conditions, geography and relevant job-related factors such as knowledge, skills, qualifications, experience, and education/training. If you are applying for this role outside of the primary location, please contact View email address on click.appcast.io for the salary range for your location.Manulife offers eligible employees a wide array of customizable benefits, including health, dental, mental health, vision, short- and long-term disability, life and AD&D insurance coverage, adoption/surrogacy and wellness benefits, and employee/family assistance plans. We also offer eligible employees various retirement savings plans (including pension and a global share ownership plan with employer matching contributions) and financial education and counseling resources. Our generous paid time off program in Canada includes holidays, vacation, personal, and sick days, and we offer the full range of statutory leaves of absence. If you are applying for this role in the U.S., please contact View email address on click.appcast.io for more information about U.S.-specific paid time off provisions.We use data and analytics technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), and automated processing tools, to analyze and process the information you provide to us or third parties in the application process. For more information, please refer to our personal information collection statement.SummaryLocation: Waterloo, Ontario; Toronto, OntarioType: Full time