Functional Analyst – Higher Education Sector
About this role
JOB DESCRIPTION
Abacus Consulting | Functional Analyst – Higher Education Sector
WHO WE ARE
At Abacus, we specialize in technology, outsourcing, and people solutions, bringing nearly 40 years of experience shaped alongside the organizations we support. As a global professional services leader, our focus remains on providing bespoke solutions that enable organizations to create the future of business and embrace change for sustainable growth, powered by a global team of over 5,000 people.
WHAT WE DO
Across digital transformation, emerging technologies, SAP enterprise solutions, outsourcing, and human capital, we support organizations in building environments that operate effectively and scale with the business. Today, this extends to more than 1,500 enterprise clients, where the focus remains on creating systems that are not only functional, but ready to adapt and evolve over time.
POSITION OVERVIEW
Abacus Consulting is delivering a digital transformation programme for a leading higher education institution focused on enhancing the student experience through a unified digital platform connecting academic, student support, career, health, and campus services.
We are seeking an experienced Functional Analyst with strong higher education domain expertise to serve as the functional bridge between the project delivery team, university stakeholders, business departments, and IT teams. The successful candidate will be responsible for analysing business processes, gathering and documenting functional requirements, facilitating stakeholder collaboration, and ensuring business needs are translated into clear functional specifications that enable successful solution delivery.
Engagement Type: Hourly-Based Contract (3 Months, Extendable)
Reporting To: Project Manager
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Functional Analysis & Business Process Mapping
- Lead discovery workshops and requirement-gathering sessions with university stakeholders across academic affairs, student services, registrar, career services, student support, and administrative departments.
- Analyse and document current-state (As-Is) business processes throughout the student lifecycle, from admissions through graduation.
- Design future-state (To-Be) business workflows aligned with the institution's digital transformation objectives.
- Capture and document detailed functional requirements, business rules, process flows, data requirements, and acceptance criteria.
- Identify business process gaps, operational challenges, dependencies, and opportunities for improvement.
- Ensure functional requirements align with university policies, regulations, and operational procedures.
Stakeholder Management & Collaboration
- Act as the primary functional liaison between university business stakeholders and the project delivery team.
- Facilitate collaboration between business users, IT teams, solution architects, and development teams.
- Conduct requirement clarification sessions and ensure stakeholder feedback is accurately documented.
- Coordinate with system owners to understand existing applications, integrations, and business processes.
- Translate complex business requirements into clear functional specifications for implementation teams.
Solution Validation & User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
- Develop business-focused functional test scenarios based on real university workflows.
- Support planning, coordination, and execution of User Acceptance Testing (UAT).
- Validate delivered solutions against approved business requirements and expected user journeys.
- Analyse functional defects, assess business impact, and support issue resolution.
- Ensure implemented solutions accurately reflect institutional policies and operational processes.
Documentation & Knowledge Transfer
- Produce comprehensive functional specification documents, process maps, workflow diagrams, and business requirement documentation.
- Maintain traceability between business requirements, solution design, testing, and delivered functionality.
- Prepare operational documentation and support materials.
- Conduct knowledge transfer sessions for university operational and support teams.
MANDATORY SKILLS & QUALIFICATIONS
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Information Systems, Computer Science, or a related discipline.
- 5+ years of experience as a Functional Analyst, Business Analyst, Product Analyst, or Solutions Consultant.
- Strong experience working within higher education institutions, universities, or education technology environments.
- Hands-on knowledge of university business processes, including:
- Student Admissions
- Enrolment & Registration
- Academic Records & Grading
- Timetabling
- Student Services
- Student Finance & Payments
- Graduation Processes
- Demonstrated experience gathering and documenting business requirements, functional specifications, workflows, and acceptance criteria.
- Strong stakeholder management, analytical thinking, and communication skills.
- Experience facilitating workshops with senior business stakeholders and technical teams.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
PREFERRED SKILLS
- Experience supporting implementation of student portals, mobile applications, or digital self-service platforms.
- Experience working within GCC or Middle Eastern higher education institutions.
- Familiarity with university enterprise platforms, including:
- Student Information Systems (SIS)
- Learning Management Systems (LMS)
- Student Self-Service Portals
- Finance & Payment Systems
- Understanding of IT Service Management (ITSM) practices within higher education.
- Experience delivering large-scale digital transformation programmes.
- Arabic language proficiency is an advantage.
SYSTEMS & BUSINESS LANDSCAPE
The successful candidate will work across multiple university platforms and services, including:
- Student Information Systems (SIS)
- Learning Management Systems (LMS)
- Student Self-Service Portals
- Student Support & Advising Platforms
- Payment & Finance Systems
- Career & Alumni Services Platforms
- Campus Services & Facility Management Systems
WHAT WE OFFER
- Competitive hourly compensation aligned with experience and expertise.
- Opportunity to contribute to a large-scale digital transformation programme within the higher education sector.
- Exposure to enterprise-grade university systems and digital platforms.
- A collaborative, innovation-driven, and growth-oriented work environment.
- Continuous learning opportunities and access to professional development resources.
- Opportunity to work with a globally recognised professional services leader.
Abacus Consulting | Enabling Organisations to Create the Future of Business
Company at a glance
For nearly 40 years, Abacus has been offering cutting-edge business solutions helping organisations to transform their visions into realities through a combination of latest business methodologies and technological tools. The business value offered by Abacus has a deep scale, is industry focused and technology driven with a world class delivery capability. We help to transform the businesses of clients who want to be leaders in their industry.
Abacus is founded on one simple belief, that change is the only constant in our world and that as enterprises and individuals, we must all respond to change with vision, courage and integrity. We are passionate about being partners to our clients, as advisers, consultants, technology specialists, systems integrators and outsourcers. For the people at Abacus, fulfillment is seeing our clients transform into truly great organisations.
Top Benefits
- Competitive Hourly Compensation
- Professional Development Resources
- Continuous Learning Opportunities
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