Senior Business Analyst - Manufacturing Automation

Contract Length: 9 months Summary: Valore Partners is seeking a Senior Business Analyst to support a manufacturing automation initiative for a leading manufacturer in the Phoenix area on a contract basis. This role sits at the intersection of business analysis, QA/validation support, and delivery ownership: you'll gather and document requirements directly from plant-floor stakeholders and subject matter experts, help drive multiple automation software releases forward on a defined timeline, and scope additional automation opportunities in the same production area. This is not a heads‑down documentation seat, the client needs someone senior enough to work through ambiguity independently, build credibility with engineers and operations personnel, and keep releases moving in a regulated manufacturing environment. You’ll thrive with us if you value: Diligence: Results oriented with a focus on successful delivery, all while navigating moving obstacles and challenges. Pacesetting: Working alongside some of the brightest minds in the industry. Leadership: Creating a lasting positive impact from day one, working on large‑scale and highly visible projects. Valiance: Digitally transforming some of the largest and most high‑profile companies in the Phoenix area. Partnership: Achievers that thrive in a collaborative culture and who believe in the importance of realizing a shared goal. What you can expect from us: Top Compensation: Demonstrating our respect for your unique and specialized skills. Continuous Training: We support a culture of continuous learning, keeping you up to date on the latest tech. Flexibility: We believe in a truly human approach to work and life, allowing our team members to focus on what matters most to them. Collaboration: Join a group of thought leaders and trusted advisors who have a passion for solving business problems with the use of technology. Key Responsibilities Elicit, define, and document requirements of all types for automation software releases supporting new manufacturing equipment, working directly with plant stakeholders, process engineers, and subject matter experts on the production floor. Work through ambiguity: structure loosely defined needs into documented processes, user stories, functional specifications, process flows, and diagrams that developers can build against. Drive release delivery forward. Track decisions, chase open items, build consensus among stakeholders, and recap direction so momentum isn’t lost between meetings. Conduct requirements discovery for additional automation processes in the same production area, including current‑state (manual) process documentation as a baseline. Assess existing solutions and prior work to inform reuse‑versus‑build decisions, partnering with client‑side technical experts. Support QA and validation activities appropriate to a regulated manufacturing environment, including testable acceptance criteria, requirements traceability, test plans, and validation‑ready documentation. Tie strategic business objectives to project work, quickly demonstrating detailed understanding of the client’s operations and helping determine solutions to problems. Conduct and facilitate project meetings, from large group sessions to one‑on‑one SME interviews, including whiteboarding and developing visuals for the audience. Ramp up quickly on client‑specific automation platforms with support from internal client experts. Required Skills 5+ years of business analysis experience, including direct work with technical project teams and key client stakeholders to develop and manage requirements. Hands‑on experience with MES (Manufacturing Execution Systems) — gathering requirements for, implementing, integrating, or supporting MES in a production environment. Working knowledge of SECS/GEM equipment communication standards and how automated equipment integrates with factory systems. Demonstrated ability to quickly learn unfamiliar business processes, elicit requirements independently, and communicate takeaways clearly to both technical and non‑technical audiences. Experience in manufacturing, industrial automation, or similarly operations‑heavy environments. Comfortable working on or near a production floor. Sufficient software/technical fluency to translate operational requirements into build‑ready specifications and hold credible conversations with developers about implementation approach. Experience with QA practices: developing testing requirements, end‑user test plans, and quality assessments. Experience across SDLC methodologies (Agile/Scrum, iterative, waterfall) and an understanding of change management and the BA’s role. Senior‑level presence: self‑directed, comfortable with compressed timelines, and able to produce value quickly with minimal oversight. Bonus Skills Experience in regulated environments — medical device, FDA/GxP, or semiconductor manufacturing — including validation documentation and change control. Prior exposure to manufacturing automation platforms or equipment automation frameworks. Experience with Azure DevOps (TFS) and JIRA. Certified ScrumMaster or equivalent Agile certification. Prior consulting or client‑facing services delivery experience. $75 - $85 an hour #J-18808-Ljbffr Valore Partners