Lead Business Analyst

L'Oréal is at the forefront of the digital transformation within the beauty industry. Data is not just a component; it's fundamental to our success, enabling us to craft truly personalized and impactful experiences for our consumers. We are seeking a highly experienced and strategic Lead Business Analyst to play a pivotal role within our Data Driven Experience (DDX), Data Driven Experience Loyalty (DDXL), and SalesForce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) initiatives.
These critical programs are focused on building and continuously enhancing our central hub of customer information and leveraging it effectively across various marketing platforms. This leadership role will also encompass advanced Scrum Master responsibilities, guiding project execution and fostering agile best practices across the team.
**Key Responsibilities**:

- Lead the elicitation, analysis, and comprehensive documentation of complex business requirements for large-scale DDX, DDXL, and SFMC Products, ensuring alignment with strategic objectives.
- Drive comprehensive stakeholder analysis and develop robust communication strategies to effectively manage expectations and facilitate collaboration across diverse groups, including senior leadership.
- Architect the creation of detailed user stories, acceptance criteria, process flows, and other artifacts, ensuring clarity and precision for development teams.
- Act as a primary liaison and strategic partner with technical teams, guiding the design and implementation of innovative solutions that meet evolving business needs.
- Oversee and provide guidance for User Acceptance Testing (UAT) processes, ensuring thorough validation of deliverables and successful adoption by business users.
- Perform advanced data analysis, deriving actionable insights and providing strategic recommendations to support critical business decision-making and continuous improvement.
- Facilitate all agile ceremonies, including sprint planning, daily stand-ups, sprint reviews, and retrospectives, ensuring effective team collaboration and continuous process enhancement.
- Proactively identify and strategically address impediments, safeguarding the team from distractions and enabling optimal performance.
- Mentor and coach development teams on advanced Agile principles, best practices, and effective execution strategies.
- Collaborate closely with Product Owners to strategically manage, prioritize, and refine the product and sprint backlogs, ensuring alignment with business value.
- Monitor and report on key project metrics and overall sprint progress, providing transparent updates to stakeholders and identifying areas for optimization.
- Champion effective communication and collaboration within cross-functional teams and across all stakeholder levels, fostering a highly productive environment.

**Qualifications**:

- Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration, Information Technology, or a related field. Master's degree preferred.
- 8-10+ years of progressive experience as a Business Analyst or Data Analyst, with a significant portion dedicated to leading initiatives within data-driven programs.
- 3-5+ years of experience in a Lead Business Analyst role or with advanced Scrum Master responsibilities, demonstrating strong leadership and team guidance.
- Extensive experience working with marketing automation platforms, specifically Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC), is highly desirable.
- Deep and expert understanding of data management principles, data warehousing, business intelligence, and large-scale data ecosystems.
- Expert proficiency in Agile tools (e.g., Confluence, Jira, ServiceNow) is a strong asset.
- Mastery of Agile methodologies (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe) and a proven track record of implementing and coaching agile practices.
- Exceptional communication, negotiation, interpersonal, and facilitation skills, with the ability to influence and lead at all organizational levels.
- Proven experience leading and thriving in fast-paced, large-scale, and complex team environments.
- Highly analytical and strategic problem-solver, capable of tackling complex business challenges and formulating innovative solutions.
- Comprehensive understanding of the full software development lifecycle.
- Significant experience working with Big Data platforms.