Process Improvement Specialist
92% skill overlap
Your role
Process Analyst (Banking)
Full profileYour role
- L3 salary
- Not published yet
- Upcoming dated changes
- 7 changes ahead
What the role does
A Process Analyst in banking studies how work flows through a bank's operations and finds ways to make it faster, cheaper and safer. The role maps processes along the trade, payment or loan lifecycle, measures volumes, handling times and errors, defines key performance indicators (KPIs), and proposes improvements using Lean and continuous improvement methods. Typical outputs are process maps, cost and capacity analyses, automation candidates and new procedures. Many hold Lean Six Sigma belts.
Read a day in the life
A day in the life
The analyst is reviewing the process for handling failed trade settlements in an operations team. The morning starts at the team's desks, observing how staff investigate a failed trade: they check three systems, email the counterparty and update a spreadsheet by hand. The analyst times each step and notes where work waits. Late morning goes to data: extracting three months of failed trades and calculating volumes by cause, average resolution time and the share that needed a second touch. After lunch the analyst draws the current process map and marks the steps that add no value. A workshop with the team lead and two senior staff follows, discussing options such as standard email templates, a single exception queue and automated matching for the most common failure. Mid-afternoon the analyst estimates the hours saved and the effect on settlement penalties for each option. The day ends with drafting KPIs for the new process and a short proposal for the operations manager.
Levels
- L1 Starting out
- L2 Independent
- L3 Senior or specialist
- L4 Leads a team or an area
- L5 Leads the function
Full level descriptions and job titles
The EFO level names are the common scale; job titles differ between employers.
| Level | What the work looks like | Typical years | Typical job titles |
|---|---|---|---|
| L1 Starting out | Maps processes, collects volumes and timings, builds simple KPI reports and learns Lean methods, banking operations and the trade lifecycle under supervision. | 0-2 | Banks: Analyst, Junior Analyst, Associate (asset servicing), Trainee, GraduateAsset servicers: Junior, Specialist (entry), Officer |
| L2 Independent | Owns process reviews for a team or process end to end: mapping, data analysis, improvement options and KPIs, and supports teams through the change. | 2-5 | Banks: Analyst / Senior Analyst, AssociateAsset servicers: Specialist, Senior Specialist, Senior Officer |
| L3 Senior or specialist | Senior process analyst or Lean Six Sigma black belt. Leads complex cross-team reviews, builds cost and capacity models, identifies automation cases and coaches others. | 5-9 | Banks: Senior Associate, AVP, Assistant ManagerAsset servicers: Senior Specialist, Expert, Team Lead (small team) |
| L4 Leads a team or an area | Leads a process excellence or continuous improvement team, sets methods and KPI standards, owns the improvement pipeline and reports benefits to operations leadership. | 8-14 | Banks: VP, Manager, Senior ManagerAsset servicers: Team Lead, Manager, Head of Section |
| L5 Leads the function | Head of operational excellence for a business line or region. Accountable for process efficiency and the improvement agenda, sets standards and advises senior management on the operating model. | 12+ | Banks: Director, Executive Director, Managing Director, Head of functionAsset servicers: Head of Department, Director |
Skills
Where the skill weights come from
Each role lists its skills with a tier and a weight. The weights of one role add up to 100 percent.
Source: the EFO role catalogue, built from the ESCO classification and reviewed by the editors.
The percentage is the skill's share of the role; the bars are drawn relative to the anchor skill, which is shown full.
Critical
- Lean methods and continuous improvementWeight 12.2%Relevant to you
- Process mapping and redesignWeight 8.2%Relevant to you
- Cost structure and efficiency leversWeight 8.2%Relevant to you
- Defining and using KPIsWeight 8.2%Relevant to you
- Descriptive statistics and distributionsWeight 8.2%Relevant to you
- Trade lifecycleWeight 8.2%Relevant to you
Important and supporting skills 17
Important
- Process mapping tools (Visio, Lucidchart)Weight 4.1%Relevant to you
- Querying data with SQLWeight 4.1%Relevant to you
- Advanced Microsoft ExcelWeight 4.1%Relevant to you
- Change management and adoptionWeight 4.1%Relevant to you
- Stakeholder managementWeight 4.1%Relevant to you
- Structuring ambiguous problemsWeight 4.1%Relevant to you
- Communicating data to non-technical audiencesWeight 4.1%Relevant to you
- Project planning and dependenciesWeight 4.1%Relevant to you
Supporting
- Business case and cost-benefit analysisWeight 2.0%Relevant to you
- Visualisation tools (Power BI, Tableau)Weight 2.0%Relevant to you
- Quality management systems (ISO 9001, PPAP, supplier quality)Weight 2.0%Relevant to you
- Professional written communicationWeight 2.0%Relevant to you
- Project governance and reportingWeight 2.0%Relevant to you
- Prioritising with incomplete informationWeight 2.0%Relevant to you
Useful
- Python for data analysisWeight 0.7%Relevant to you
- Leading without formal authorityWeight 0.7%Relevant to you
- Target operating model designWeight 0.7%Relevant to you
Processes
The work the role takes part in.
- Change and project delivery
- Securities settlement
- Trade capture and booking
- Trade confirmation and affirmation
What each process covers
- Change and project deliveryMain
- Securities settlementMain
- Trade capture and bookingMain
- Trade confirmation and affirmationMain
Where the role concentrates
How AI is changing the role
Process mining tools now rebuild process maps from system logs, and AI tools find bottlenecks, classify exceptions and draft procedures.
Read the full assessment
Process mining tools now rebuild process maps from system logs, and AI tools find bottlenecks, classify exceptions and draft procedures. Manual observation and data collection take less time. Analysts increasingly identify where AI and automation fit in a process, and the European Banking Authority notes rising AI use in EU banks with clearer governance expectations. Value grows in judging which changes are worth making, designing controls into new processes and leading teams through change. The World Economic Forum Future of Jobs Report 2025 lists analytical thinking among the most important skills.
Dated changes for this role
- ESMA guidelines on allocations and confirmations for T+1Relevant to you
- CSDR settlement discipline rules updated for T+1 in three stepsRelevant to you
- ECB Pontes: DLT settlement in central bank moneyRelevant to you
- ECB digital euro pilot with 36 payment providersRelevant to you
- Switzerland and Liechtenstein move to T+1 with the EU and UKRelevant to you
Salary snapshot
Salary figures are not published yet
The L3 salary range for this role, with its sources, will appear here when the salaries section opens.
Certifications
- PMP
- PRINCE2 Practitioner
- Certified ScrumMaster
- Professional Scrum Master I
- CBAP
- CAPM
Concepts to know
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Do this job? Suggest a correction
Sources
Lean Six SigmaLean Six Sigma is a continuous improvement method that combines Lean (removing waste and delay from a process) with Six Sigma (reducing variation and defects using data). Projects often follow the DMAIC cycle: define, measure, analyse, improve, control.