Design Thinking analyst / strategist - Innovation - Hybrid - MA

The innovation / design thinking analyst is critical organizational resource that bridges gaps between desirable and viable innovative solutions and existing business capabilities.

You lead conversations and Design Thinking efforts around how our current and future needs can be met by reimagining that most valuable agent, policyholder, and employee experiences to drive sustainable profitable growth.

You will work directly with business partners to transition innovative new experiences from ideas into reality.

The successful candidate will have the appropriate business analyst experience and be a creative, resilient problem-solver who champions the Innovation Process across the organization, values everyone’s unique experiences and perspectives, rises to the occasion when operating in highly ambiguous contexts, and is willing to become an expert in Design Thinking and business process design.

· Builds and manages a network of relationships with the business units to understand their goals and needs

· Translates the information collected from the business units into innovation opportunities

· Connects the Innovation Team’s efforts with the business capabilities needed to deliver them and articulates profitability through business cases to drive ideas forward

· Supports the implementation of solutions from conception through implementation by providing information, managing stakeholders, and engaging in all the key business analysis tasks required to implement the solution

· Works with the Director and User Experience Designer to define and execute research, ideation, prototyping, piloting, and launching of new solutions

· Synthesizes insights from complex information into actionable recommendations using both qualitative and quantitative methods

· Supports facilitation in innovation workshops to help stakeholders identify opportunities and uncover unmet needs

· Proactively analyzes the insurance industry, stays current on emerging trends, and identifies new solutions that may best combine with Andover’s capabilities to execute organizational strategy

· Confidently and effectively conveys the requirements and insights to stakeholders, including senior leadership, that will forge the next stage of a project

· Manages the execution of the approved projects, gathers related data, information, and feedback from the business units and facilitates the path to the handover phase

· Defines the capabilities needed to deliver solutions and develops plans to acquire/leverage them

· Uncovers gaps in internal capabilities and identifies how people, processes, and technology can be best aligned to address them

· Takes a leadership role with business team participant(s) to foster a culture of Design Thinking

Soft qualifications:
· Passionate about collaborating directly with end-users to identify and solve business problems

· Comfortable operating in ambiguity

· Highly collaborative, team-oriented, and enthusiastic about developing impactful concepts

· Willing to pursue the strongest ideas and utilize the best research and development methodologies to drive each unique initiative towards success

· Confident in understanding multiple business drivers and talented at defining the true problems to solve and opportunities to capitalize on

· Possesses strong interpersonal skills, able to develop trusted relationships, and can garner support for new concepts from a wide range of stakeholders

· Able to partner with designers, developers, business analysts, and other subject matter experts to deliver best-in-class user experiences

· Strong analytical mindset with the ability to use data and logic to build compelling business cases for new concepts

 Strong attention to detail, learns quickly, and works well under pressure

· Adaptable and able to manage multiple priorities simultaneously

· Can simplify complex processes

· Knows how to organize people and activities

· Strong Microsoft Office skills and a willingness to learn new tools

Experience:

· Bachelor’s Degree required

· 4+ years of business analysis or research experience preferred

· Experience utilizing Design Thinking, Human-Centered Design, and/or Jobs-to-be-Done Methodologies

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