Data Business Analyst

Futures are looking to appoint a highly analytical and commercially minded Data Business Analyst to join our growing manufacturing business. This is an exciting opportunity for a data professional who enjoys turning complex data into actionable business insights that improve operational performance, reduce costs, and support strategic decision-making.

Working closely with stakeholders across Operations, Production, Supply Chain, Finance, Sales, and IT, you will identify opportunities for improvement, develop insightful reporting, and help drive a data-led culture throughout the organisation.

As our Data Business Analyst, you will

Partner with business stakeholders to understand operational challenges and translate them into data-driven solutions.

Gather, document, and analyse business requirements for reporting, analytics, and process improvement initiatives.

Develop and maintain dashboards, reports, and KPIs that provide meaningful insight into manufacturing performance.

Analyse production, inventory, quality, procurement, logistics, and financial data to identify trends, risks, and improvement opportunities.

Work with ERP, MES, CRM, and other business systems to ensure data integrity and consistency.

Identify process inefficiencies and recommend improvements supported by data analysis.

Produce forecasting and predictive analysis to support operational planning and business growth.

Collaborate with IT and engineering teams to improve data architecture and reporting capabilities.

Present findings and recommendations to senior leadership in a clear and commercially focused manner.

Support continuous improvement projects using data to measure performance and outcomes.

Ensure data governance, quality standards, and reporting accuracy are maintained.

The Ideal Candidate

Bachelor's degree in Business Analytics, Data Analytics, Computer Science, Mathematics, Engineering, Finance, or a related discipline.

Proven experience as a Data Business Analyst, Business Intelligence Analyst, or similar analytical role.

Experience working within a manufacturing, engineering, logistics, or supply chain environment.

Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to interpret complex datasets.

Advanced Microsoft Excel skills.

Experience using SQL to extract and manipulate data.

Experience creating dashboards using Power BI, Tableau, or similar visualisation tools.

Strong understanding of KPIs, business reporting, and performance measurement.

Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.

Ability to translate technical findings into practical business recommendations.

Desirable Skills

Experience working with ERP systems such as SAP, Microsoft Dynamics, Oracle, Infor, or Epicor.

Knowledge of manufacturing KPIs including OEE, scrap rates, downtime, production efficiency, inventory turnover, and yield.

Experience with Python or R for data analysis.

Understanding of Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, or Continuous Improvement methodologies.

Experience with data warehousing and ETL processes.

Knowledge of cloud data platforms such as Microsoft Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud.

Familiarity with predictive analytics or machine learning would be advantageous.