Paula Brashear
Avon,Indiana
Summary
Versatile, loyal, and self-directed IT professional with strong presentation, leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills. Seeking opportunity to apply extensive business and technical knowledge to support team deliverables and products from idea to production. Possessing collaboration, agility, and enthusiasm necessary to thrive in fast-paced, multiple project environment. Demonstrating effective collaboration with business partners and project stakeholders to author project plans, establish objectives, and coordinate internal and external resources to achieve deliverables. Skilled at working with high-performance teams to interpret user needs and translate them into innovative solutions.
Overview
17
17
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Business Analyst
Tek Systems
Remote
04.2023 - 03.2024
- Crafted requirement-based User Stories for efficient task prioritization.
- Engaged in required planning sessions for tasks with entire team.
- Collaborated in Agile environment focusing on 2-week Sprints.
- Constructed process maps for current and future states.
- Join and engage in every grooming meeting with the team.
- Monitored progress of projects through Azure DevOps platform.
- Utilized Azure DevOps to streamline access to documentation on user stories.
Sr. Business Analyst
Freedom Mortgage
Remote
05.2022 - 11.2022
- Authored comprehensive user stories reflecting project and requirement needs.
- Collaborated in Agile framework adhering to 2-week sprint cycles.
- Contributed to collaborative meetings focused on addressing pending assignments.
- Collaborate with team during grooming discussions to refine objectives.
- Collaborate with QA & UAT testing teams to assist with any questions during testing
- Documented business processes and system data flows with tools like Visio to portray current and future business scenarios.
- Position ended due to the company eliminating positions due to the economic downturn
Sr. Business Analyst
Pearl Companies
Remote
06.2021 - 05.2022
- Formulated user stories to address project needs and system issues based on requirements.
- Engaged Business Analyst team in evaluating User Stories before Development phase.
- Consistently participated in crucial planning meetings with team members and larger group for unresolved assignments.
- Leveraged Azure DevOps to monitor project progress and user story developments.
- Leveraged Azure DevOps for documentation attachment to user stories.
- Documented business processes and data workflows using tools like Visio to represent current operations.
Business Analyst
Proliance Consulting
Remote
01.2021 - 04.2021
- Collaborated with cross-functional teams and business stakeholders to address unresolved queries for SwiftTerm launch.
- Conducted comprehensive tasks related to UAT Testing.
- Played a key role in ensuring timely completion of unresolved tasks.
- Engaged in crucial discussions during planning sessions for task management with team and larger group.
Business Analyst
USIC
Indianapolis, IN
09.2019 - 12.2020
- Created process diagrams to represent current and future workflows for system enhancements.
- Collect system requirements, documenting in accordance with application software implementation documentation standards.
- Set up system software following specified user requirements and anticipated workflows.
- Generated detailed documentation to guide functionality development in adherence to requirements.
- Designed and implemented intricate components such as reports and interfaces.
- Designed verification processes for testing functionality against defined criteria.
Business Analyst
National FFA Organization
Indianapolis, IN
10.2018 - 09.2019
- Collaborated with business stakeholders to analyze existing workflows.
- Collaborated with IT to enhance application functionality and process efficiency.
- Conducted needs analysis and assessments for solutions development.
- Documented processes through visual diagrams and structured business models.
- Gained insight into existing business models by cataloging all data systems in operation.
- Leveraged Azure DevOps to monitor project timelines and requirements.
- Collaborated with internal and external technical teams to support project planning.
- Contributed to strategic discussions by proposing solutions aligned with stakeholder requirements.
- Facilitated training sessions, aided in deployments, and offered project support whenever required.
Sr Analyst
Stonemill Consulting
Indianapolis, IN
10.2017 - 09.2018
- Responsible for ensuring accuracy and efficiency in technology changes at Pension Fund of the Christian Church.
- Ensured quality by identifying and mitigating potential defect behaviors in testing phases.
- Generated and implemented test cases per project to confirm change integrity before end user UAT release.
- Communicate with internal and external team members to ensure applications perform as designed.
Business Systems Analyst
Liberty Mutual
Remote
10.2006 - 05.2017
- Spearheaded company operations specializing in Property & Casualty, BOP, and Auto Insurance for commercial lines.
- Conducted thorough reviews to implement changes in products and policies ensuring seamless user support.
- Partnered with IT and Business stakeholders to evaluate and implement solutions to support business objectives, increasing pass through percentage on automated renewals by 10% and Conversion Renewals by 5%
- Drafted system requirements to address technical needs in complex integrated environments.
- Partnered with development team for technical problem-solving and delivered precise code updates.
- Conducted application assessment to confirm technical solution aligns with acceptance criteria and prevents new defects.
- Composed requirements for technical integrations from legacy systems to target-state policy platform, permitting 96% policy migration from legacy platforms
- Retired outdated systems by implementing an effective system mapping methodology.
- Attended an online Java development class to further my understanding of the code in order to provide a better understanding of what the system would be able to do for the business partners and end users; as well as to provide more accurate requirements for developers
- Functioned as Jr Developer on legacy systems implementing code for rate review adjustments.
- Served as member of the pilot team during implementation of Liberty Management System (LMS) pilot program for IT Commercial Lines
- New agile framework/ structure led to increase in operational excellence and the eventual companywide adoption of LMS
- Property & Casualty Insurance, BOP Insurance, Auto Insurance, Garage keepers Insurance, Umbrella Insurance – Commercial Lines
Quality Analyst
Tek Systems (Contracted to Liberty Mutual)
Indianapolis, IN
10.2006 - 04.2007
- Designed and implemented test cases for every project to ensure requested changes met requirements before deployment.
- Examined new rates for compliance prior to deployment in the production environment.
- Contributed to maintaining defect-free standards by preparing precise and reliable datasets.
- Escalated testing issues and discrepancies to designated Business Analyst for resolution.
- Ensured uninterrupted communication until defect resolution.
- Liaised with internal and external teams to guarantee optimal application performance.
Education
Associates Degree - Business Administration, Management
Ivy Tech Community College
Indianapolis, IN05.2001
Skills
- Both Agile and Waterfall Methodologies
- Business Analysis & Process Evaluation
- Business Requirements Documents (BRD)
- System Performance & Applying QA Standards
- Stakeholder Relationship Management
- MS Office (Word, Excel, Outlook, Visio, SharePoint)
- JavaScript
- HTML
- JIRA
- Azure DevOps
Certification
- Professional Certificate in Business Analysis, 2002, Inquestra
- Scrum Fundamentals Certified (SFC), 03/19, SCRUM study - Accreditation Body for Scrum and Agile, #689635
- Certified Business Process Mapping Associate, 03/19, Udemy, #UC-9ITQO9ZH
Professional Development
- Agile Self-Paced Learning - Liberty Mutual
- Transitioning from Waterfall to Agile - Liberty Mutual
Timeline
Business Analyst
Tek Systems
04.2023 - 03.2024
Sr. Business Analyst
Freedom Mortgage
05.2022 - 11.2022
Sr. Business Analyst
Pearl Companies
06.2021 - 05.2022
Business Analyst
Proliance Consulting
01.2021 - 04.2021
Business Analyst
USIC
09.2019 - 12.2020
Business Analyst
National FFA Organization
10.2018 - 09.2019
Sr Analyst
Stonemill Consulting
10.2017 - 09.2018
Business Systems Analyst
Liberty Mutual
10.2006 - 05.2017
Quality Analyst
Tek Systems (Contracted to Liberty Mutual)
10.2006 - 04.2007
Associates Degree - Business Administration, Management
Ivy Tech Community College