AMAZON

BUSINESS ANALYST
ROLE GUIDELINE

Older guidelines are still useful. They contain general expectations and some contain promotion criteria that is still
valid. However, older guidelines may be missing expectations that reflect how the job is done now. For current
expectation examples, look for a similar role with a more recently updated guideline (less than two years old).

This guideline contains the general expectations of the Business Analyst role. It describes the most common
responsibilities, however given the wide variety of businesses and technologies at Amazon, it cannot capture all
expectations. It’s also conceivable that some responsibilities do not pertain to some employees. No two Amazon
teams are alike and each is encouraged to develop their own approach to delighting their customers. These realities
alter the way Business Analyst is expected to operate and what constitutes success.

Guideline Last Updated: December 2014

Guideline Notes:
Amazon Confidential BUSINESS ANALYST JOB LEVELING GUIDE Updated Dec 2014

Business Analyst
Business Analysts are responsible for converting data into actionable business insights. They are analysis experts who leverage a variety of data platforms and analytical tools to provide timely, meaningful, and
consumable information. They build deep contextual and domain knowledge. They ensure data quality and build scalable tools. They communicate findings with the most effective and influential methods.
Level 4 Level 5 Level 6 Level 7
Job Family Title Business Analyst I Business Analyst II Business Analyst III Principal Business Analyst
Manager II, Plan/Dev Manager III, Plan/Dev Sr. Manager, Plan/Dev
Business Title Business Analyst Business Analyst Sr. Business Analyst Principal Business Analyst
Business Analyst Manager Business Analyst Manager Sr. Business Analyst Manager
General Scope Progression Works and executes with direction Identifies/manages projects independently Operates with significant autonomy and discretion Develops new strategy
Works in one to two teams Works across multiple internal & external teams Influences other internal & external teams Sets direction for team
May lead virtual team or direct report May manage multiple direct reports Influences across entire organization or
company
May be manager of managers
Key Responsibilities [The content below describes how the core responsibilities differentiate across the levels. It assumes responsibility builds, so only expectations that are different at the next level are described]

DEFINE PROBLEM &  Develop & apply domain/process  Apply multi-domain/process expertise  Share deep domain/process expertise across own  Provide thought leadership to influence
SOLUTION FRAMEWORK expertise  Translate complex or ambiguous business organization cross-organization initiatives
 Provide Context/Domain/  Translate basic business problem problem statements into analysis requirements  Proactively identify problems with significant  Facilitate complex, cross-team business
Process Knowledge statements into analysis  Define analytical approach; review and vet business impact; facilitate analysis to identify process analysis
 Define Problem & requirements analytical approach with stakeholders problems and opportunities  Apply analytics to identify opportunities
Requirements  Influence and implement specified  Proactively and independently work with  Independently define analytical approach and that achieve sustained competitive
 Define Analytical analytical approach stakeholders to construct use cases and metrics strategy advantage
Approach/Solution  Work with clients to define best associated standardized outputs  Standardize comprehensive list of required needs  Define best practices and standards for
Framework output based on expressed  Scale data processes and reports; write queries for 80% of use cases analyses
 Define & Design Analytic stakeholder needs that clients can update themselves; lead work  Scale strategies and expand past immediate  Drive data analysis and reporting
Output  Write queries and output efficiently with data engineering for full-scale automation department strategy
 Design for Automation
and Scalability
DATA ACQUISITION  Have in-depth knowledge of the data  Have a working knowledge of the data available  Act as a company-wide asset for expertise on  Work with Data Warehouse and data
 Identify/Build Data available in area of expertise or needed by the wider business for more accessing data across a wide variety of subject areas engineers to improve quality and
Sources  Work with structured data in a complex or comparative analysis  Have a broad understanding of the data available in coverage of data sources
 Extract Data (e.g., ETL) traditional data storage environment  Work with a variety of data sources both traditional and non-traditional sources,  Demonstrate thought leadership across
 Assess Data Quality  Pull the data needed with standard  Pull data using efficient query development that allowing access to new levels of analysis a comprehensive range of data sources
query syntax; periodically identify requires less post processing (e.g., Window  Act as a company-wide resource on how to access
more advanced methods of query functions, virt usage) or retrieve some of the most complex data through
optimization  When needed, pull data from multiple similar efficient query design
 Cross-check pulled data against sources to triangulate on data fidelity  Work with data owners, production systems, or
other published sources to other authoritative sources to guarantee data
determine fidelity fidelity

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Amazon Confidential BUSINESS ANALYST JOB LEVELING GUIDE Updated Dec 2014
Level 4 Level 5 Level 6 Level 7
ANALYSIS/INSIGHT Solve well-defined tasks with clear  Solve ambiguous analyses with less well-defined  Solve the most complex and ambiguous analytic  Lead to solutions on the most complex
 Convert Data to Facilitate requirements and limited ambiguity inputs and outputs; drive to the heart of the projects of the broader organization and ambiguous analytic projects in the
Analysis Utilize basic data-manipulation tools problem and identify root causes  Comfortably and skillfully flex among various tools broader organization
 Conduct Analysis Derive actionable recommendations  Have the capability to handle large data sets in according to the problem and data  Advocate and influence company-wide
 Extract Insights / from analysis that impact a process analysis through the use of additional tools  Derive recommendations from analysis that have adoption of state-of-the-art tools
Formulate or team  Derive recommendations from analysis that impact on multiple teams and provide significant  Derive recommendations from analysis
Recommendations Convert data to make it analysis- significantly impact a department, create new business value that change the strategic direction of
ready through basic descriptives, processes, or change existing processes  Run basic regression methods (e.g., linear, logistic, the organization
aggregations, and pivots  Understand the basics of test and control basic time series) and identify opportunities to  See quantifiable relationships between
comparison; may provide insights through basic leverage more advanced modeling methods business levers across organizations
statistical measures such as hypothesis testing
COMMUNICATION/  Implement/deploy data visualization  Identify and implement optimal communication  Own the effective communication of metrics and  Demonstrate thought leadership on
INFLUENCE or communication tools (e.g., metrics mechanisms based on the data set and the analysis long-arc business plans derived from
 Create Effective dashboards, decks, flashes) stakeholders involved  Partner with data engineering teams to influence large-scale analyses
Communications Tailored  Communicate clearly to stakeholders  Communicate complex analytical insights and the direction of data visualization platforms  Change strategic direction of the
to Audience on project requirements and status business implications effectively  Consistently own and deliver deep dives in the form organization
 Influence Stakeholders  Communicate analysis and work with of narratives that influence business direction
business stakeholders to understand
its value
PROJECT MANAGEMENT  Manage expectations; prioritize own  Actively manage the timeline and deliverables of  Influence other teams to ensure deadlines are met;  Drive the business agenda; write and
 Manage Expectations, workload and communicate status projects, focusing on interactions in the team hold stakeholders accountable get buy-in on business cases requiring
Prioritization  Provide visibility and updates to  Provide program communications to  Effectively manage project resources; create resourcing for large-scale projects (e.g.,
 Resource/Task manager regarding project timeline stakeholders solutions to unexpected obstacles and reallocate own an OP1 section)
Identification and deliverables  Communicate roadblocks to stakeholders and resources as necessary  Actively manage the end-to-end scope
 Define Next Steps for  Escalate problems and roadblocks as propose solutions  Set long-term vision and direction for team projects of projects, including continuous
Recommendations needed  Represent team on medium-size analytical  Work and represent the team on multi-team resource allocation
projects in own organization and effectively projects  Act as the advocate for the value and
communicate across teams  Interact with other teams to ensure coordination of business impact of the project to the
efforts throughout the project and obtain buy-in as organization
needed  Own and oversee development
 Influence development roadmaps to build scalability roadmaps to build scalability and
and automation into reporting and analysis automation into reporting and analysis

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Amazon Confidential BUSINESS ANALYST JOB LEVELING GUIDE Updated Dec 2014
FOR MANAGERS ONLY Level 5 Level 6 Level 7
PEOPLE MANAGEMENT  Begin building internal and external networks  Continuously build network of talent inside and  Demonstrate the ability to attract senior-level talent in
 Attract talent and make great hiring decisions  Demonstrate understanding of performance and outside of company multiple functions from inside and outside company
 On-board, continuously develop, and retain team leadership bar and effectively apply to hiring  Demonstrate and differentiate performance and  Coach others on determining the performance and
members decisions leadership across multiple levels and apply to leadership bar
 Set goals and hold team members accountable for  Set clear expectations and build robust launch hiring decisions  Facilitate understanding of broader organizational tenets
performance plans for new team members  Create mechanisms to quickly on-board new talent and strategic goals for department
 Resource planning  Provide regular coaching and feedback to direct to the organization; mentor others  Recognize trends for larger-scale development needs
reports to help grow functional skills and  Coach effectively and provide feedback to direct in and across teams; build plans to develop skills
leadership capability, with support from senior reports to help develop talent and support career  Share best practices around talent development across
managers development the organization
 Understand team members’ engagement and  Set and balance goals across team, optimizing  Build bench strength into the organization
motivation, work to retain employees performance against department goals and  Audit department goals to align with broader
 Set objectives with team members that enable employee development organizational goals; answer to department
achievement of department and functional goals  Apply performance standards to team performance
 Hold team members accountable for performance  Assess and differentiate performance of team  Set high performance standards for department
(with support from senior managers) members across levels; articulate requirements for  Coach other managers on how to effectively participate
 Differentiate performance for level 5 and below promotion ability to team members in OLR meetings
 Provide input into resource planning discussions  Identify resource needs for team  Plan and advocate for department resources

PEOPLE STRATEGY  Understand and communicates the department’s  Describe the strategic importance of the  Develop and communicate a department vision that
 Create and communicate vision to engage team(s) vision to team members department’s vision inside and outside of team supports the broader organizational vision
 Establish team culture that aligns with Leadership  Assess behaviors and coach direct reports on  Set and articulate expectations around leadership  Ensure team culture consistently aligns with Amazon
Principles demonstrating Amazon’s Leadership Principles behavior for team; model behavior that Leadership Principles; visibly tie department decisions to
in their role exemplifies Amazon Leadership Principles Leadership Principles and tenets

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