Technical Business Analyst at Virgin Active South Africa

Your Purpose...

• Is to “change people’s lives for the better through wellness”;
• We deliver social wellness experiences that enable people to meet their personal wellness goals, through holistic physical, mental nutritional and social wellbeing.
• To bridge Product intent and technical delivery: supporting Product with the evidence and analysis needed to shape clear outcomes and high-level requirements, then translating those into detailed functional, process, system and data requirements so Engineering can build with clarity, and Product and Tech Leads can focus on leadership, decision-making and stakeholder management.

Your Duties and Responsibilities...

Discovery Support

• Supporting Product discovery with evidence, journey insight, data, and technical or process investigation where needed. Product remains accountable for defining the customer/business problem, opportunity and desired outcome

Requirements Definition

• The heart of the role: translating high-level Product requirements into detailed functional requirements, flows, stories, acceptance criteria, business rules, edge cases and NFRs in collaboration with Engineering.

Backlog ownership and refinement

• Owning backlog detail: refining and sequencing stories with Product and Engineering Leads, and running refinement sessions with engineers, so each release enters development ready to build.

Business Process Mapping

• Mapping current and future-state process logic where it affects delivery: operational steps, hand-offs, decisions, exceptions and change impacts. Primary working relationships are Product, Engineering, Architecture and Data, with clubs/contact centre/operations brought in for detailed process validation, and acting as the bridge between local/regional teams and the central product and engineering team so local needs are surfaced without fragmenting a shared platform.

Systems Mapping

• Tracing how changes move through systems, APIs and integrations — which system does what, where hand-offs happen, and what each event triggers downstream — including specifying request/response contracts, sequence flows and non-functional requirements, so implications are surfaced before build starts.

Data Mapping and Definition

• Defining and tracing data requirements — fields, sources, ownership, where data is created and mastered, how it is transformed, consumed and passed into downstream processes, and the quality expectations that apply.

Impact and Gap Analysis

• Identifying downstream impacts across systems, APIs/integrations, data, teams and processes. Flagging gaps, conflicts, dependencies and unowned areas to Product, Engineering and Delivery early.

Analysis for Prioritisation

• Analysis to support Product decision-making: quantifying volumes, failure points, options, trade-offs and likely implications so Product can make informed prioritisation decisions. Product remains accountable for prioritisation.

Documentation as an Asset

• Maintaining the definitive, current record of journeys, mappings, requirements, decisions and acceptance criteria so it is reusable by other squads rather than rebuilt each time

Validation

• Ensuring test scenarios cover agreed requirements, business rules, exceptions and downstream impacts, and confirming that what was built matches what was defined.

Defect and Production Investigation

• Investigating defects and production issues, reproducing behaviour and tracing root cause across app, API and downstream systems, so Engineering starts from an accurate diagnosis, not a guess.

Our Minimum Requirements...

We can’t live without…

• Experience as a Business/Systems Analyst, technical BA or Product Owner in a squad-embedded, agile product team — at least 5 years overall, including 3+ years in a technical or systems analysis role.
• Comfortable translating high-level product requirements into detailed functional requirements, user stories, acceptance criteria, business rules and edge cases, and running refinement sessions with engineers.
• Able to trace how a change moves through systems, APIs/integrations and data and to spot downstream impacts before build starts — including specifying request/response contracts, data mappings and error handling.
• Comfortable reading and reasoning about JSON, REST APIs and API documentation (testing endpoints with tools such as Postman), with working SQL knowledge for data investigation and validation.
• Confident mapping process and data — sources, ownership, transformation, consumption and the quality rules that apply.
• Strong collaboration with Engineering, Architecture and Data; comfortable being the day-to-day link between Product and the Tech Lead.
• Track record of producing documentation and specifications that squads and engineers actually reuse, using tools such as Jira and Confluence.
• Experience defining test scenarios and validating a build against agreed requirements.
• Bachelor's degree in a relevant field, or equivalent professional experience in business or systems analysis.
• Experience in membership, subscription, health and fitness, or retail platforms.
• Experience in a multi-country, multi-brand or multi-tenant product environment.
• Exposure to Azure services, particularly API Management, Service Bus or Functions.
• Exposure to mobile app delivery constraints — release cycles, app versioning, offline or degraded-connectivity behaviour.
• Prior experience working with external vendors and distributed or outsourced engineering teams.
• Exposure to data and AI product definition.
• Experience across member management journeys (join, amend, upgrade, freeze, cancel).

Core Interpersonal Skills:

• Emotional Intelligence- proven ability to anticipate the needs of others before they are voiced
• Active Listening- Able to genuinely hear concerns with the ability to defuse tense situations and ensuring members and staff feel heard and valued
• Cultural Awareness and Fluency- understand international norms, etiquette and diverse backgrounds to provide a welcoming environment for our international and VIP members
• Empathy – be able to understand, or and be aware of, someone else’s feelings especially during stressful situations, such as travel delays or billing disputes

Operational & leadership Skills Required:

• Attention to Detail, noticing the small things
• Resilience and Composure, be able to remain calm and optimistic under extreme pressure, during peak or periods or system failures
• Problem solving and conflict resolution – be able to turn challenges into opportunities by thinking and acting quickly to resolve issues before they impact a member’s experience
• Adaptability: be flexible to handle unpredictable shifts in processers, resource changes, last minute VIP guest arrivals, or sudden changes in event plans.
• Relatability – the capacity to connect with diverse stakeholders across all backgrounds
• Situational Awareness – constantly monitoring the environment to identify members who need support or help
• Curiosity- the ability to seek out and transform standard transactions into personalised stories and memorable experiences
• Time Management – the ability to efficiently meet stringent deadlines while maintaining a relaxed and unhurried demeanor for guests.
• Digital Fluency – must be proficient in new age technology and systems