A Comprehensive Guide to the Top 6 Jobs in Business Analytics

Businesses are beginning to recognize the need for business analysts due to the significance of data and data-driven choices. As data and analytics affect practically every part of our lives now, jobs in business analytics are growing at a steady rate. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that between 2020 and 2030, there will be a 7% growth in the number of business analysts role.

So what skills do you need to be successful in this field? What are the best job locations for this role? These may be some of the common questions in an aspirant’s mind. Continue reading this article to know the answers to these questions and more.

What are the Entry-Level Business Analytics Jobs?

While there are multiple categorizations for titles and roles depending on industry and project objectives, these are some of the entry-level roles in business analytics:

Junior Business Analytics Consultant

Roles and Responsibilities: The primary role of a junior business analytics consultant is to fabricate business models or processes by drawing comprehensive insights into the industry. They guide the enterprise to minimize risks and grow value in the long run. 

Skills Required/ Qualification: Business analytics consultants should have in-depth knowledge of how ERP, CRM, and BI tools function and understand key business protocols like SOAP, WDSL, and XML. The background qualification of a business consultant is computer science accompanied by business and operations expertise. 

Average Remuneration: The average entry-level business analytics consultant salary in the United States is $73,321 per year.

Junior Data Analyst

Roles and Responsibilities: A junior data analyst interprets data to solve a specific business problem. They implement databases, data collection techniques, data analytics strategies, and, pattern recognition techniques in complex data sets for data filtering to improve statistical efficiency and quality. 

Skills Required  

• Programming languages (R/ SAS)
• Data visualization
• SQL databases
• Database query languages
• Machine learning
• Data cleaning, mining, and munging
• Creative and analytical thinking 

Average Remuneration: The average entry-level data analyst salary in the United States is $66,201 per year.

Junior System Analyst

Roles and Responsibilities: The main role of a system analyst is to analyze how well the IT systems (software and hardware) fit into the company or the client’s business requirements. A system analyst also provides the need for a new system and implements them to ensure the effectiveness of business processes. 

Skills Required:

• C Language proficiency
• COBOL
• Hardware and software design, documentation, testing, and maintenance
• Software architecture knowledge
• Teamwork
• General consulting skills

Average Remuneration: The average entry-level system analyst salary in the United States is $74,669 per year. 

What are the Mid-Level and Advanced Business Analytics Jobs?

Have you completed a master’s degree or advanced certification in business analytics? Then you can work in any number of industries by applying your knowledge of data to solve organizational challenges. We have compiled a list of mid-level and advanced-level jobs in business analytics for you to check out below:

Business Insight and Analytics Manager

Roles and Responsibilities: Business insight and analytics managers are responsible for heading a team of analysts and ensuring the efficacy of their findings. They also identify the market trends and make recommendations on how the enterprise should evolve based on the findings. 

Skills Required: Ability to track, synthesize and evaluate business performance against benchmarks and goals. In-depth knowledge of reporting tools to create reports that can be shared with leadership to influence business decisions. Develop new systems and frameworks for acquiring, validating, and applying analytics to solve business problems.

Average Remuneration: $102,911 per year, according to Payscale

Senior Quantitative Analyst

Roles and Responsibilities: Quantitative analysts help organizations maximize their investments. They create data models to improve the outcomes of trading processes and implement data-driven strategies to increase business profits. 

Skills Required: Good knowledge of risk management and risk analysis tools and techniques, ability to analyze market data, manage portfolios, and recommend strategies for stock trades to improve performance. 

Average Remuneration: $85,742 per year, according to Payscale

Senior Analytics Consultant

Roles and Responsibilities: Analytics consultants develop and implement data-driven solutions for their enterprises and clients. They are responsible for mining data to use the information and meet a company’s requirements. 

Skills Required: Data visualization and mining skills to recommend systematic changes to improve organizational data. Must possess data auditing skills and implement new processes for ensuring quality outputs. Compile data into reports and benchmarks that can be used to draw insights about future performance. 

Average Remuneration: $85,946 per year, according to Payscale

ALSO READ: What Does a Business Analyst Do? How to Become a Successful Analyst

Which are the Best Locations for Jobs in Business Analytics?

To determine what are the best states in the United States that offer good job opportunities for professionals in business analytics, the popular job search site, Zippia considered the following factors for ranking: 

• Total jobs available
• The average annual salary for entry-level work
• The average annual salary for experienced professionals 
• Cost of living 

And, ranked the top 5 states in the order: 

1.  Virginia 
2.  Georgia
3.  Washington
4.  Texas 
5.  Illinois

What are the Highest Paying Jobs in Business Analytics?

Some of the highest-paying jobs related to business analytics include:

Business Systems Analyst ($91,695 average salary per year)

To take care of companies’ security monitoring and safeguarding the integrity of data storage systems, an expert Business Systems Analyst’s take-home salary can be as high as $112,707 per year in San Francisco (CA) and $106,902 per year in New york. 

Business Intelligence Analyst ( $89,396 average salary per year)

This is generally a more senior position. A business intelligence analyst might start a career in data analytics before getting promoted to these roles. Other roles further down the career ladder include Business Intelligence Architect, who brings home average salaries close to $1,30,000 per year. 

Business Process Consultant ($92,237 average salary per year)

The salary range for professionals who specialize in business process consulting begins at around $73,000 per year and can go as high as $1,85,000 per year. Some of the top-paying companies include SAP, Metlife, and ZS associates.

Business Development Director ($195,730 average salary per year)

For this senior executive-level job, there is a higher-than-usual degree variation in median salaries. But a Director of Business Development will typically make somewhere between $152,418 and $ 238,613, depending on the location and company. 

ALSO READ: Business Intelligence vs. Business Analytics: How to Distinguish Easily

What is the Demand for Business Analyst Jobs?

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), business analysts are on the track for growth of up to 25% by 2030. Therefore, with data and data-driven decisions becoming increasingly important, businesses are realizing the need for Business Analysts, which in turn is creating an ocean of job opportunities in 2023. 

There is a growing demand for business analysts globally. You can explore Emeritus’ online business analytics courses to build the skills, knowledge, and expertise needed to land some of the highest-paying jobs of the decade! 

By Swet Kamal

Write to us at content@emeritus.org