Racing Australia is the peak body for Thoroughbred racing in Australia. Established in 2016 following the merger of the Australian Racing Board and Racing Information Services Australia and owned by the 8 state and territory based Principal Racing Authorities (PRA). Racing Australia is responsible for the operation of the information services business to service the Australian horse racing industry and other users of horse Racing Materials. This includes:
* a consolidated national uniform and standard system for the collection, processing, storage, dissemination and protection of Racing Materials;
* establishing and maintaining participation in a consolidated national uniform and standard Racing Materials system by the Principal Racing Authorities and all others integral to the successful conduct of such system;
* developing procedures to maximise the integrity, and minimise duplication and data cleansing costs, with respect to all Racing Materials collected, processed and disseminated in the conduct of such system;
* adopting, administering and altering the Australian Rules of Racing and the Rules of the Australian Stud Book;
* ensuring the integrity of Thoroughbred breeding in Australia including by maintaining the officially published records of Thoroughbred bloodlines in Australia in the form of the Australian Stud Book complemented by the Australian Rules of Racing;
* maintaining information regarding the ownership and identity of Thoroughbred racehorses for racing in Australia and for export including by acting as the Registrar of Racehorses complemented by the Australian Rules of Racing;
Based in our Melbourne office, this role offers the opportunity to play a hands-on role in the delivery of bespoke software solutions that support a nationally significant industry.
The Role:
This is a hands-on Business Analyst role focused on bespoke software delivery. It is not a product-led or platform-centric position.
You will work closely with Racing Australia's internal software developers to deliver custom-built applications and integrations. Requirements will originate from business stakeholders and industry end users, many of whom are non-technical. It will be your responsibility to extract, clarify, structure, and document those requirements so they can be confidently built by developers.
The environment is lean. There is no Product Owner or large delivery team gathering requirements on your behalf. You will take full ownership of requirements discovery, documentation, and ongoing clarification throughout the delivery lifecycle.
Key responsibilities:
* Engage directly with business stakeholders and industry end users to elicit, analyse, and document functional and non-functional requirements.
* Translate business needs into clear, detailed functional specifications, user stories, acceptance criteria, and supporting artefacts suitable for bespoke software development.
* Work closely with internal software developers on a day-to-day basis to clarify requirements, address edge cases, and ensure shared understanding before and during build.
* Act as the primary bridge between business users and developers, ensuring requirements are accurately understood and delivered.
* Facilitate workshops, interviews, and walkthroughs to validate requirements and confirm outcomes with stakeholders.
* Prepare clear Scope of Works (SoW) documentation and support effort estimation and delivery planning.
* Support system testing, solution validation, and user acceptance testing, ensuring delivered solutions meet business needs.
* Maintain high-quality documentation using tools such as JIRA, Confluence, and diagramming tools (e.g. Lucidchart).
* Contribute to continuous improvement of analysis and delivery practices across the team.
You will bring:
* Experience in, or willingness to learn about the Thoroughbred Racing industry (highly desirable).
* 5+ years' experience as a Business Analyst working within software development environments, ideally on bespoke or custom-built systems.
* Demonstrated experience gathering requirements from non-technical business stakeholders and end users, not from technical or product teams.
* Strong experience working directly with software developers and producing specifications that can be built with minimal ambiguity or rework.
* A practical understanding of the software development lifecycle and how requirements evolve from discovery through to delivery.
* High levels of initiative and accountability, with the ability to operate effectively in a lean environment without layered delivery roles.
* Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with strong attention to detail.
* Experience using tools such as JIRA, Confluence, and similar requirement and documentation platforms.
* Experience in regulated, data-driven, or complex operational environments will be well regarded.
Note: Experience primarily limited to large off-the-shelf platforms (e.g. Salesforce, ServiceNow, Dynamics) without exposure to bespoke software development may not be well suited to this role.
What's On Offer
* Competitive salary package and benefits, including free on-site parking.
* A pivotal, hands-on role delivering meaningful systems in a nationally significant organisation.
* Direct access to senior leaders and decision-makers.
* A collaborative, pragmatic IT team focused on delivery over process.
* Hybrid working arrangements once established and confident in the role.
Application Requirements (Important)
Interested candidates are invited to submit their resume and tailored cover letter via Seek or email to
Applications that include generic or templated cover letters will not be considered.
Your cover letter must clearly address:
* Your experience working on bespoke software solutions
* How you gather requirements from business stakeholders and end users
* How you work directly with developers in a lean delivery environment
This requirement is intentional and reflects the level of attention to detail and care expected in this role. Applications that do not meet this requirement will be excluded without further review.
Racing Australia is an equal opportunity employer. This is a full-time role based at our Flemington offices in Melbourne, with the option to work from home part of the week once you're established and confident in the role.