Business Analyst- Data Science

Job Summary: 
We are seeking a highly organized and process-minded Business Analyst to support the Data Science department, spanning both data science and data analytics. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in business analysis or program coordination within a technical environment, with a proven ability to bring structure and consistency to fast-moving, cross-functional work. This role will involve reducing administrative burden across the department's workflows and owning the process by which data science model priorities are set, communicated, and acted on. 

• Bring structure and consistency to both the data science and analytics teams' Jira boards, reducing administrative burden on team leads, with the specific approach for each team defined in collaboration with department leadership. 

• Capture, document, and refine business requirements in Jira for both the data science and data analytics teams as needed. 

• Identify opportunities to streamline intake and documentation processes across both teams. 

Data Science Model Portfolio Ownership 

• Build and maintain dashboards, prioritization lists, and documentation that track the department's data science models — their status, health, and upcoming work. 

• Co-design, with department leadership, the process for how the department prioritizes data science model work — including who is involved, what criteria are used, and how it's documented and communicated. Own and run that prioritization process day-to-day. 

• Partner with data scientists and analysts to understand model status and surface risks or blockers that affect priorities. 

• May support or lead similar prioritization conversations for other department workstreams as they take shape. 

Cross-Functional Collaboration 

• Serve as a key point of contact between department leadership, data science/analytics teams, and internal stakeholders. 

• Communicate clearly and concisely to both technical and non-technical audiences, in written and verbal formats. 

Qualifications: 

Education 

• Bachelor's degree in business, information systems, or a related field; or equivalent experience in lieu of a degree. 

Experience 

• 5+ years of experience as a Business Analyst or Project Manager, ideally supporting a technical department or team, including experience managing requirements intake, backlog management, and prioritization for a technical team. 

• Experience presenting to leadership or senior stakeholders, including translating technical or operational status into clear business updates. 

• Experience making or facilitating prioritization decisions, ideally within a defined framework or process. 

• Experience or familiarity with healthcare claims data, payer, or PBM operations is a plus. 

Technical Skills 

• Proficiency with Jira (or similar tools) for requirements gathering, backlog management, and workflow design. 

• Experience with dashboard/reporting tools (e.g., Tableau, Power BI) sufficient to build and maintain prioritization and status dashboards; hands-on dashboard-building experience is a plus. 

• General understanding of data science/model concepts (e.g., model outputs, performance monitoring) sufficient to translate technical status into business updates — hands-on technical skill not required. 

• Strong documentation skills and comfort building repeatable processes. 

Key Competencies: 

• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple workstreams and stakeholders simultaneously. 

• Comfortable operating as the connective tissue between technical teams and business stakeholders — supporting, not supplanting, team leads' ownership of their own work. 

• Confident decision-maker within a defined process; knows when a call is theirs to make and when it needs to go to leadership. 

• Confident communicator, able to lead recurring meetings with leadership and speak to project status and priorities with clarity. 

• Proactive — designs and improves processes rather than waiting to be told what's broken. 

• Comfort operating in a compliance-sensitive environment where documentation and process rigor matter. 

This job description serves as a general overview of the role and is not exhaustive. This role may be required to perform additional responsibilities as needed to support the organization’s goals and objectives. 

 
Who is SmartLight Analytics: 
SmartLight Analytics was formed by a group of industry insiders who wanted to make a meaningful impact on the rising cost of healthcare. With this end in mind, SmartLight works for self-funded employers to reduce the wasteful spend in their healthcare plan through our proprietary data analysis. Our process works behind the scenes to save money without interrupting employee benefits or requiring employee behavior changes.