What are the responsibilities and job description for the Business Analyst position at SmartIPlace?
Scope of Work & Deliverables
The Statement of Work (SOW) for this project defines the essential tasks, responsibilities, and deliverables required from the selected vendor to support the Mississippi Department of Human Services (MDHS) in its legacy systems support and transition initiative. This section specifies the objectives of the project, including the maintenance and enhancement of current systems, the development and implementation of CI / CD strategies, and the preparation for a smooth transition to modernized solutions. The vendor is expected to provide comprehensive solutions, deliver high- quality outcomes, and adhere to project timelines and milestones to ensure the successful execution of the modernization roadmap and the continued effectiveness of MDHS' programs.
Description of Duties
Coach and mentor the development and business teams, including the product owner(s), in understanding and adopting Scrum and Agile practices and principles. Mentor team members and stakeholders to foster growth and improve their scrum knowledge. The vendor must provide experienced Agile Business Analysts with a proven track record in coaching and mentoring state development and business teams in Agile practices, ensuring effective adoption and implementation. Duties include the following :
Facilitation of Scrum Meetings - Facilitate weekly and daily scrum meetings related to upcoming development releases, coordinating between multiple legacy systems support teams. The vendor resource must have one or more experienced Scrum Masters capable of efficiently facilitating meetings and ensuring seamless coordination among the different legacy teams.
Requirements Elicitation and Analysis - Perform requirements elicitation and analysis from stakeholders to understand and help translate programmatic business needs into user stories or product backlog items that are clear, concise, and actionable for legacy COBOL, Natural, .NET, and ESB development teams. The vendor must have skilled Business Analysts who can effectively gather and translate complex business needs into detailed and actionable requirements for diverse development teams.
Backlog Management and Prioritization - Support backlog management and prioritization with the team and product owner(s), refining and adjusting the backlog as new information emerges and priorities shift. The vendor must provide resources experienced in backlog management and capable of adapting to shifting priorities to ensure the most critical tasks are addressed promptly.
Support for PowerBI Development - Remove impediments and assist the development team in analyzing legacy reports and translating findings into requirements for SQL development in PowerBI. The vendor must have expertise in PowerBI and SQL development, with the ability to analyze legacy reports and translate them into actionable requirements for the development team.
Maintenance and Operations Support - Support ongoing Maintenance and Operations for MDHS legacy systems and their related subsystems. The vendor must have resources with experience in maintaining and operating complex systems, including, but not limited to, modules focused on fraud, abuse, and MPI integration.
Promotion of Productivity and Process Improvement - Work with the development and business teams to promote
and support changes that increases productivity of the team and agency. Serve the team by empowering them to
self-organize, make decisions, and continuously improve processes supporting MDHS legacy systems, subsystems, and their related ESB services. The vendor must provide experts in process improvement to drive increased productivity and support the self-organization of teams.
Provide Subject Matter Expert Support on SNAP / TANF Programs Proposed resources will be responsible for support and guidance to MDHS program and technical staff related to defining the vision, managing the backlog, setting priority of needs, overseeing development stages related to planning, designing, testing, approval and implementation of new systems or programmatic initiatives. The vendor should have extensive experience with SNAP / TANF Eligibility standard operating policies and procedures along with advanced experience with the federal and state requirements necessary for compliance with USDA FNS standards and regulations.
Issue Resolution and Guidance - Work with program areas to provide advanced support experience, training, and complex systems issue resolution expertise. The vendor must provide experts in issue resolution and provide guidance and support to program leads and help desk staff.
Project Management Office Support Proposed resources must adapt to changing project or agency needs and may be required to perform additional duties as assigned by the MDHS Project Management Office to support agency initiatives, goals, or objectives.
Required Skills and Experience
The proposed staff must have a minimum of seven (7) years' experience with state level SNAP / TANF Policies, Practices, and Standard Operating Procedures.
The proposed staff must have a minimum of three (3) years' experience in working with SNAP or TANF programmatic initiatives.
10 years' experience working with stakeholders to build and formulate business requirements. Ability to define and implement new system functionality, participate in issue resolution, and drive process refinement.
Proposed Staff must possess advanced knowledge of USDA FNS Requirements regarding administration of the SNAP and TANF Programs.
Working knowledge of Information Systems supporting SNAP, TANF, Child Support and Childcare
Working knowledge of Application Lifecycle Management Processes (SDLC).
Experience working within an Agile Team Environment.
Experience with effectively communicating with departmental program managers and executives.
