The Business Analyst serves as the primary requirements liaison between Distribution Operations stakeholders and technology/implementation teams during new distribution center startups and automation integration programs. This role owns the full requirements lifecycle—from elicitation and analysis through traceability and validation—ensuring that WMS configurations, IT infrastructure buildouts, and operational processes are grounded in documented, testable, and stakeholder-approved requirements.
The BA also owns the testing management discipline, structuring test phases, maintaining traceability from requirements to test cases, and governing phase entry/exit criteria to ensure go-live readiness. This individual acts as the single point of accountability for requirement quality and business readiness, partnering closely with IT while representing the business in all requirements and testing activities.
BUSINESS REQUIREMENTS OWNERSHIP
Facilitate requirements elicitation sessions (workshops, interviews, observation, document analysis) with operations, IT, and vendor stakeholders for new DC startups and automation projects.
Document functional and non-functional requirements for WMS configuration, warehouse automation systems, and supporting IT infrastructure (network, hardware, integrations).
Develop and maintain a Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM) linking business requirements to functional specifications, test cases, and acceptance criteria.
Translate business needs into clear, structured, and testable requirements (user stories, process flows, functional specs) and define acceptance criteria for all requirements.
Drive alignment and sign-off with business stakeholders to lock scope and reduce churn, ensuring full traceability from business requirements through solution design, testing, and business sign-off.
Perform gap analysis between standard WMS functionality and site-specific operational requirements, surfacing configuration or customization needs early.
Support change control by assessing requirement change requests for downstream impact on scope, testing, and timeline.
PROCESS DOCUMENTATION
Author operational process documentation (current-state and future-state) for core DC workflows: receiving, putaway, replenishment, picking, packing, shipping, returns, and inventory control.
Collaborate with process engineers and operations leaders to validate that documented requirements accurately reflect operational intent and volume/throughput assumptions.
Maintain and