Data Business Analyst Lead

Address:

We are seeking an experienced Lead Data Business Analyst to support the BMO Global Asset Management (BMO GAM) business as part of the Investment Solutions and Delivery team.

In this role, you will drive the end-to-end delivery of data-centric investment solutions, from requirements gathering and documentation through data analysis, testing, and final implementation, ensuring solutions enable accurate, timely, and fact-based investment and business decisions.

You will partner closely with Investment teams, Investment Operations, Risk, Compliance, Institutional Sales, Technology, Data Platform teams, external service providers and other business areas to translate business objectives into clear, testable data and solution requirements.

You will help ensure that delivered solutions satisfy approved business outcomes, data requirements, control expectations, and acceptance criteria.

You will also contribute to the strategy and roadmap for investment data quality, data modeling, reporting, and analytics, including clear documentation of data definitions, data lineage, and business processes across the investment data lifecycle.

Key Responsibilities:

Requirements Gathering & Documentation

• Leads requirements gathering sessions with Portfolio and/or Product Managers, Investment Operations, Risk, Compliance, Institutional Sales, Technology, and other stakeholders to understand business objectives, pain points, and data needs.

• Translates business objectives into clear business requirements documents (BRDs), functional specifications, user stories, and acceptance criteria for investment solutions.

• Documents current- and future-state business processes, data flows, control points, dependencies, and operational procedures, and keeps them up to date.

• Maintain end-to-end traceability from approved business outcomes and requirements through data rules, solution design, test cases, defects, implementation evidence, and final business acceptance.

• Assess proposed solutions against the underlying business objective and challenge approaches that do not adequately satisfy approved requirements.

Data Knowledge & Management

• Serves as a subject-matter expert on investment data, including securities, holdings, transactions, performance, benchmarks, reference data, and related investment datasets.

• Develops and maintains source-to-target data mappings, data dictionaries, business rules, transformation requirements, and supporting data documentation.

• Documents end-to-end data lineage from external and internal sources through to downstream reporting and analytics, supporting data governance, controls, and auditability.

• Perform root-cause analysis of data discrepancies, process breaks, and control issues, working across business, operational, technical and vendor interests to determine underlying causes and appropriate remediation.

• Analyzes, profiles, and reconciles data from multiple sources using SQL and Python to identify gaps, data quality issues, and root causes, enabling more efficient processes and streamlined reporting.

• Structures data into multiple dimensions and granularities (e.g. products, positions, transactions) to support reporting and analytics.

• Rationalizes legacy data sources, ensuring clear stewardship, proper documentation, reduction of technical debt, and alignment with modern data architecture principles.

Testing & Quality Assurance

• Plans and coordinates user acceptance testing (UAT), including test strategy, test scenarios, test cases, and test data, and obtains business sign-off prior to production release.

• Validates data outputs against requirements and source systems and automates validation tests where possible to improve quality and efficiency.

• Logs, tracks, and manages defects through to resolution in partnership with technology teams and vendors.

• Assess proposed defect resolutions and workarounds for their impact on business requirements, data quality, operational processes, control, and downstream consumers.

• Maintain clear traceability between requirements, testing evidence, identified defect, remediation, and business acceptance.

Solution Delivery

• Supports the design, development, and implementation of data, analytics, and reporting solutions aligned with business strategy and stakeholder needs.

• Coordinates release readiness, production deployment, and post-implementation validation to ensure solutions are delivered as intended, on time and within scope.

• Conducts pre- and post-implementation analyses to measure business impact, and monitors solution performance from an end-to-end perspective.

• Designs reports, dashboards, and visualizations in Power BI and other visualization tools, and develops training materials and user guides to enable self-serve analytics for business users.

Stakeholder Liaison

• Serves as the trusted data partner and liaison between Investment teams, Investment Operations, Risk, Compliance, Institutional Sales, Technology, Data Platform teams and other business areas ensuring alignment on scope, priorities, timelines, and deliverables.

• Work with external stakeholders, including custodians, fund administrators, market data vendors, and technology providers, on data requirements, issues, and changes.

• Challenge external provider requirements, mappings, solution assumptions, proposed workarounds, test evidence, and delivery outcomes where these do not adequately satisfy business requirements.

• Communicates progress, risks, issues, and recommendations clearly to stakeholders at all levels, including senior leadership.

• Works independently, exercising judgment to identify, diagnose, and solve problems and to handle non-routine situations.

• Broader work or accountabilities may be assigned as needed.

Qualifications:

• Typically 7–10 years of relevant experience in business or data analysis, preferably within asset management, investment management, or financial services, and a post-secondary degree in a related field of study or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

• Strong knowledge of investment data and asset management operations, including securities, holdings, transactions, performance, and benchmark data across asset classes.

• Proven experience gathering requirements and producing BRDs, functional specifications, user stories, source-to-target data mappings, and lineage documentation.

• Hands-on experience planning and executing UAT and data validation and supporting solutions through to production delivery.

• Advanced SQL skills with demonstrated ability to independently query, profile, reconcile, and validating large and complex datasets.

• Working knowledge of Python (e.g. pandas) for data analysis, automation, and test validation.

• Hands-on experience with Power BI and other data visualization tools (e.g. Tableau, Spotfire) to build reports and dashboards.

• Experience with Snowflake and other cloud data lake and data warehouse platforms (e.g. Azure Data Lake, Databricks); familiarity with SAS or WebFOCUS is an asset.

• Familiarity with data governance, data quality, and data lineage practices; experience with Agile delivery methods is an asset.

• In-depth verbal and written communication skills, with the ability to translate between business and technical audiences.

• In-depth collaboration, influence, and stakeholder management skills.

• In-depth analytical, problem-solving, and data-driven decision-making skills.

The above represents BMO Financial Group’s pay range and type.

Salaries will vary based on factors such as location, skills, experience, education, and qualifications for the role, and may include a commission structure. Salaries for part-time roles will be pro-rated based on number of hours regularly worked. For commission roles, the salary listed above represents BMO Financial Group’s expected target for the first year in this position.

BMO Financial Group’s total compensation package will vary based on the pay type of the position and may include performance-based incentives, discretionary bonuses, as well as other perks and rewards. BMO also offers health insurance, tuition reimbursement, accident and life insurance, and retirement savings plans. To view more details of our benefits, please visit: https://jobs.bmo.com/global/en/Total-Rewards

About Us

At BMO we are driven by a shared Purpose: Boldly Grow the Good in business and life. It calls on us to create lasting, positive change for our customers, our communities and our people. By working together, innovating and pushing boundaries, we transform lives and businesses, and power economic growth around the world.

As a member of the BMO team you are valued, respected and heard, and you have more ways to grow and make an impact. We strive to help you make an impact from day one – for yourself and our customers. We’ll support you with the tools and resources you need to reach new milestones, as you help our customers reach theirs. From in-depth training and coaching, to manager support and network-building opportunities, we’ll help you gain valuable experience, and broaden your skillset.

To find out more visit us at https://jobs.bmo.com/ca/en.

BMO is committed to an inclusive, equitable and accessible workplace. By learning from each other’s differences, we gain strength through our people and our perspectives. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process. To request accommodation, please contact your recruiter.

Note to Recruiters: BMO does not accept unsolicited resumes from any source other than directly from a candidate. Any unsolicited resumes sent to BMO, directly or indirectly, will be considered BMO property. BMO will not pay a fee for any placement resulting from the receipt of an unsolicited resume. A recruiting agency must first have a valid, written and fully executed agency agreement contract for service to submit resumes.