What Does a BI Analyst Do?
Increasingly, the business world is becoming driven by data. Companies are using the data they collect to help anticipate trends, strategize, and become more efficient. They need professionals to help them interpret that data so they can make informed decisions. That’s where a business intelligence analyst comes in.
Business intelligence analysts take collected business data and turn it into usable information, so business leaders and stakeholders can use that data to make informed strategic decisions. A business intelligence analyst uses data to identify sources of lost revenue and inefficiencies, then shares that information with colleagues so they can create solutions.
In today’s data-driven world, business intelligence analysts must be skilled at programming, data modeling, and interpreting statistics, as well as communication and analytical thinking. It’s important for business intelligence analysts to toe the line between IT and a company’s core departments so they can properly communicate their findings to the rest of the organization.
Are you a job seeker?
Browse zengig’s
comprehensive list
of job openings
and apply online
National Average Salary
BI analyst salaries vary by experience, industry, organization size, and geography. To explore salary ranges by local market, please visit our sister site zengig.com.
The average U.S. salary for a BI Analyst is:
$99,600
BI Analyst Job Descriptions
It’s important to include the right content in your job description when hiring a BI analyst. The following examples can serve as templates for attracting the best available talent for your team.
Example 1
Business intelligence (BI) analysts collect and use data to improve the business and increase profits by identifying areas of revenue loss and finding areas that need improvement. To be successful, BI analysts need excellent interpersonal skills, the ability to work as part of a team and independently, and strong problem solving and analytical skills. [Your Company Name] is hiring for an experienced BI analyst. If you have experience analyzing data to help improve business processes, you might be right for a role as a BI analyst.
Typical duties and responsibilities
- Perform day-to-day management of and periodic reporting on the assigned areas of reporting
- Assist in the development of enterprise-level data solutions
- Develop business intelligence (BI) reporting from executive-level dashboards to supervisor-level targeted areas
- Validate information contained in the reports developed and provide user introduction
- Perform data audits of the enterprise data solution
- Participate in and provide support for internal and external audits
Education and experience
A bachelor’s degree in finance, information technology, statistics or data analysis, as well as 2 to 3+ years of experience in the BI field are required for this position.
1+ years experience in SQL technologies like SSRS, SSIS, and SQL Server; 3+ years experience with Microsoft Office with emphasis on Excel and Access; as well as familiarity with one or more business intelligence tools such as Birst, Tableau or similar are strongly preferred.
Required skills and qualifications
- Ability to create computer formulas, databases, models, and queries
- Must be able to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions
- Experience with ETL tools
- Ability to write reports, business correspondence, and procedure manuals
- Ability to effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public
- A creative mindset to create functional but well-designed data visualizations within SSRS or Tableau
Preferred qualifications
- Strong background in SQL, T-SQL programming to be considered for this job
- Any experience with Tableau or PowerBI
- Bachelor’s degree
- 3-7+ years of demonstrated advanced proficiency in SQL, T-SQL development methodologies
- Must possess effective verbal and written communication skills
Example 2
What you’ll do
The Business Intelligence Analyst is responsible for the development, maintenance, and communication of data-driven insights and analytical solutions to their audiences. The position will directly strive for continuous improvement to processes and visualization tools and generate key implications to support business decisions for executives. This position is also responsible for supporting the analysis of historical market and sales trends by various viewpoints based on real-time industry and customer information to facilitate strategically sound decisions to drive market share, identify competitive advantages and opportunities, optimize sales, and recommend product directions. The Business Intelligence Analyst drives the prioritization and creation of dashboards and reports across the business, improving monitoring of performance, cost, and other key metrics to help ABC Company meet its revenue and share goals. As a data steward, you will help maintain data integrity and accuracy for each project’s stakeholders.
Other responsibilities include
- Report wholesale and retail sales to identify business opportunities and gauge monthly progress
- Report sales and inventory figures
- Support monitoring and evaluation of performance of dealerships, sales personnel, and market forecast
- Support development, maintenance, and improvement of critical sales-related dashboards for executives and other departments
- Periodically extracts data from various data sources and maintains the quality of back-end data for reports and visualizations
- Performs eclectic functions related to data analysis and BI tool utilization, including management of datasets
- Create new dashboards and reports to provide meaningful insight to related teams (Sales, Marketing, Dealer Development, etc.)
What you’ll bring
- Bachelor’s degree in data analysis or related degree/project experience
- Fundamental proficiency of demonstrated basic data analytics and proactiveness to learn new tools and improve processes for reporting and data visualization
- Ability to utilize and further develop skills in applicable software for data analysis
- Advanced analytic and statistical programs/software preferred such as:
- Power BI (or tableau) – relational data management & visualization
- Python (or R) – statistical analysis & machine learning
- MS Suite, especially Excel and PowerPoint
- Demonstrated ability to interpret and validate data
- Strong written, verbal, and presentation skills
- High competency Strategic Thinking, and Execution
- Demonstrated ability to manage multiple tasks with very short timelines/deadlines
- Strong business acumen
- Related experience 0-3 years
- Travel < 5%
Example 3
Position responsibilities
- Create, develop and manage various metrics and dashboards
- Support and lead team on data initiatives and ensure optimal data delivery architecture is consistent throughout ongoing projects
- Perform analysis of cross-functional data to find opportunity and risks
- Work with subject matter experts to provide useful analysis on business performance
- Manage projects with many cross functional teams
- Present data analysis to Senior Leaders
- Provide digital proposals for future state requirements based on current state analytic needs
Basic qualifications
- Experience in data science or data analytics
- Experience taking data and deriving meaningful information through analysis and data visualization
- Experience with Tableau or similar data analytics tools
- Experience with extracting data from SQL servers
Preferred qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree or higher
- Experience in Workforce management
- Familiarity with existing data sources including TERADATA, BEDW, CDW, NWP/Cognos
- Effective communication & collaboration skills
- Experience leading large multi-functional teams/projects involving standardization
- The desire to learn new technologies and strive to constantly improve personal skills
- Excellent project management, time management, organizational, and planning skills
- The ability to express complex technical concepts, both verbally and in writing, in an effective and understandable manner regardless of audience expertise level
- Consistent in attention to detail and organizational skills
- Proactive in understanding and anticipating stakeholder requirements
- Ability to create/improve processes and procedures to increase efficiencies
- Ability to operate with a strategic mentality and tactical execution
- The ability to work as part of a team and interact effectively with team members from non-technical disciplines.
Example 4
Responsibilities
- Work closely with the product owner and business stakeholders as a member of agile team
- Have an in-depth understanding of business problem in hand
- Access, gather, and analyze data from source systems
- Help frame the business problem by providing quantitative and qualitative data analysis (data quality, availability, etc.)
- Drive insights to business problems by visualizing the data and telling a story through data (report patterns, trends, anomalies, etc.)
- Contribute to data analysis, data wrangling, data visualization, and user acceptance testing
- Present findings and new development to help refine backlog items
Required qualifications
- Minimum 5 years of experience in data visualization
- Experience working with various data sources and connections
- Experience in data modeling and understanding of data architecture
- Familiar with data visualization tool (Microsoft Power BI, TIBCO Spotfire)
- Data modeling (such as Azure Analysis Services)
- Data wrangling tools and language (Python, Databricks, for example)
Preferred education
- B.S. or M.S. in Business Analytics, Computer Science, Management Information Systems, Mathematics or Engineering
Candidate Certifications to Look For
- Certified Business Intelligence Professional (CBIP). Transforming Data With Intelligence (TDWI) offers the CBIP certification for senior-level IT professionals in data management and business analytics. The certification demonstrates a candidate’s knowledge and skill in BI technologies, best practices, solutions, and emerging trends. To be eligible, they must have 2+ years of experience in computer information systems, systems analysis, or a related field. The certification is valid for 4 years and must be renewed every three years by completing 120 credit hours of continuing education.
- Qlik Sense Business Analyst Certification. The Qlik Sense Business Analyst Certification is designed for those candidates who want to demonstrate their practical experience in developing applications in Qlik Sense. The exam assesses their ability to identify requirements, design applications, prepare and load data, and develop applications.
Sample Interview Questions
- How would you define the role of a business intelligence analyst?
- Why is business intelligence important?
- What is the most significant BI project you have worked on?
- Which BI tools do you have experience using?
- What are the three components of a business intelligence system?
- What is included on a business intelligence dashboard display?
- What are your strengths? Your weaknesses?
- What was the biggest technical challenge you faced in your career? How did you resolve it? What did you learn?
- What data collection software do you use?
- What are the differences between OLAP and OLTP?
- Can you explain what SDLC and UAT are and how are they used?
- Which data modeling software have you used? Which do you prefer?
- Which technical skills are most important for a BI analyst?
- What is Kano Model Analysis and why is it important?
- What are the different parts of a SQL statement?
- Which reporting tools are you familiar with?
- What do you find the most challenging about being a business intelligence analyst?
- How do you identify and keep up with market trends?
- How do you handle project failures?