Business Analysis and Facilitation SME

About the role

The Business Analysis and Facilitation Subject Matter Expert (SME) will support the government by leading business process analysis, requirements elicitation, Agile facilitation, and cross-functional stakeholder alignment for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) business and IT implementation initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Support the government by leading business process analysis, requirements elicitation, Agile facilitation, and cross-functional stakeholder alignment for U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) business and IT implementation initiatives.
• Facilitate cross-functional collaboration across UCSIS and Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and external agency stakeholders to reach beneficial outcomes across program priorities and ongoing efforts.
• Gather, analyze, validate, and document business, functional, operational, and user requirements; develop process flow diagrams, use cases, functional specifications, decision papers, and other artifacts to support IT development and process improvement initiatives.
• Analyze current-state workflows, policies, pain points, metrics, customer and user feedback, and system dependencies to identify improvement opportunities, risks, alternatives, and implementable recommendations.
• Conduct retrospective analyses, process reengineering, implementation planning, organizational design, and organizational impact assessments to support business process improvement and operational transformation.
• Support Agile adoption and governance by facilitating sprint planning, backlog grooming and prioritization, retrospectives, governance forums, RACI development, project charters, gate reviews, risk logs, and version-controlled Agile artifacts.
• Collaborate with product owners, project managers, technical teams, subject matter experts, and end users to translate complex technical, operational, and immigration policy concepts into clear business solutions and implementation artifacts.
• Support operational readiness and deployment activities, including beta/shadowing strategies, alpha and beta testing, user acceptance testing (UAT), feedback loops, training and stakeholder engagement, readiness plans, alternative analyses, and post-deployment lessons learned.
• Facilitate in-person and remote meetings, workshops, working sessions, and special initiatives; produce clear notes, action trackers, roadmaps, implementation schedules, roles and responsibilities, and executive-ready briefings.
• Maintain alignment with DHS and USCIS policies, Section 508 requirements, security requirements, privacy expectations, and Sensitive But Unclassified data-handling requirements in all work products.

Requirements

• 8 years of experience as a business analyst, business process improvement specialist, facilitator, or SME supporting complex programs.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Information Systems, Public Administration, Information Technology, or a related field.
• Certified Business Analysis Professional, Agile certification, PMI-ACP, or equivalent business analysis/Agile credential.
• Experience supporting federal programs in process optimization, requirements analysis, system integration, or technology-enabled transformation, preferably with immigration-related programs.
• Experience with USCIS Agile Program Management Framework, SAFe, Scrum, Kanban, Lean, design thinking, or human-centered process improvement.
• Experience using tools such as Jira, Confluence, Microsoft Project or Planner, SharePoint, Teams, Mural, Tableau, Power BI, Python, or Databricks to support analysis, facilitation, reporting, or decision support.
• Experience gathering and documenting requirements, conducting process mapping and workflow optimization, supporting business process reengineering, facilitating Agile ceremonies, and supporting testing and system deployment.
• Ability to translate complex technical concepts, operational needs, and policy requirements into actionable business solutions, project artifacts, and implementation plans.
• Knowledge of immigration policy, identity management, immigration status verification, or the ability to rapidly learn the USCIS and DHS organizational landscape and systems ecosystem.
• Experience supporting complex projects and transformation efforts within the federal government.
• Strong stakeholder engagement, facilitation, writing, briefing, analytical, and communication skills.
• Able to manage competing deadlines, work independently with minimal oversight, and produce high-quality deliverables in a fast-paced environment.
• Able to obtain and maintain DHS suitability and public trust clearance.

Qualifications

• Legal authorization to work in the U.S.
• Direct experience supporting UCSIS, DHS, immigration status verification, or immigration benefits adjudication programs, preferred.
• Experience facilitating workshops with federal, state, local, or external agency partners and documenting outcomes for executive and technical audiences.
• Proven ability to organize, prioritize, communicate logically in writing and orally, receive client feedback, and implement changes quickly and effectively.
• Strong critical thinking, analytical and time management skills.
• Proven ability to organize, prioritize and work well with others.
• Ability to communicate thoughts, ideas and solutions logically both written and orally.
• Ability to stay calm under pressure and in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to receive feedback from clients and implement changes quickly and effectively.
• Ability to get up to speed quickly on complex issues.
• Desire to work in a fast-paced, rapidly evolving environment.