Sr. Business Systems Analyst - Retail Lending Job Toronto area,Ontario Canada,IT/Tech

Duration:
End of Dec

Location:
Hybrid (adhoc) - Toronto - University and Queen

37.5 hours/ week

Our client is seeking a highly experienced Senior Business Systems Analyst (BSA) to support the replacement of the Retail Loan Origination System (rLOS). This strategic initiative will transform the end-to-end lending experience for members, advisors, and operational teams through modern digital capabilities, API-driven integration, and Agile delivery practices.

The Senior Business Systems Analyst will serve as the primary liaison between business stakeholders, product owners, technology teams, vendors, and quality assurance teams to translate business needs into detailed functional requirements, user stories, data mappings, and system specifications. The ideal candidate brings deep expertise in retail lending, API integrations, Agile delivery, and end-to-end requirements lifecycle management.

Key Responsibilities

Requirements Elicitation & Functional Analysis

Lead discovery, workshops, and requirements gathering sessions with business and technology stakeholders.

Perform functional decomposition of complex business processes and system capabilities into actionable requirements and user stories.

Analyze current-state and future-state lending workflows and identify opportunities for process optimization.

Document business rules, process flows, functional specifications, and acceptance criteria.

Agile Delivery & Backlog Management

Develop and maintain high-quality user stories with detailed acceptance criteria.

Manage and groom product backlogs in Azure Dev Ops (ADO).

Facilitate story mapping, backlog refinement, sprint planning, and requirements prioritization activities.

Support Product Owners in defining Minimum Viable Product (MVP) and release roadmaps.

API & Integration Analysis

Analyze and document integration requirements between lending platforms, digital channels, and enterprise systems.

Interpret API specifications, Swagger/OpenAPI documentation, and integration contracts.

Conduct data mapping between user interfaces, APIs, middleware, and downstream systems.

Develop and maintain message catalogs, payload mappings, and interface specifications.

Testing & Quality Assurance

Define functional test scenarios, test cases, and business acceptance criteria.

Support System Integration Testing (SIT), User Acceptance Testing (UAT), and functional validation activities.

Participate in defect triage sessions and assist in root cause analysis.

Collaborate with development and QA teams to validate solution quality and business outcomes.

Stakeholder & Vendor Collaboration

Work closely with business SMEs, architects, developers, QA teams, and vendor partners.

Facilitate workshops, requirements reviews, walkthroughs, and decision-making sessions.

Communicate requirements, risks, dependencies, and delivery impacts to project leadership.

Required Qualifications

Experience

10+ years of Business Systems Analysis experience with demonstrated expertise in functional decomposition and requirements analysis.

5+ years of experience writing detailed user stories, acceptance criteria, and Agile requirements.

5+ years of experience in retail lending
, loan origination, underwriting, adjudication, or related financial services domains.

Experience with API/data mapping for vendor based SaaS products

Experience supporting large-scale technology transformation or system replacement initiatives.

Proven experience working within Agile/Scrum delivery teams.

Technical Knowledge

Strong working knowledge of:

Azure Dev Ops (ADO) backlog management

User story development and backlog grooming

Story mapping techniques

API analysis and integration requirements

Swagger/OpenAPI specifications

Data mapping and interface design

Message catalog development

Defect triage and resolution processes

Functional testing and UAT support

Business Domain Expertise

Deep understanding of:

Retail lending processes

Consumer loans and lines of credit

Mortgage origination workflows

Application intake and fulfillment

Credit adjudication processes

Loan documentation and funding activities

Preferred Qualifications

Experience implementing or integrating Loan Origination Systems (LOS).

Knowledge of API-led integration platforms and modern service architectures.

Experience working with third-party lending platform vendors.

Familiarity with digital banking and member-facing lending channels.

BABOK, CBAP, PMI-PBA, or Agile certifications considered an asset.

Experience supporting a POC through to MVP implementation.