Dan Levesque

Available for Consulting Inquiries
Business Analyst Consultant
📍 Vancouver Island, BC, Canada • 🌐 badphilosopher.com • 🔗 LinkedIn

Professional Summary

I'm a results-driven Senior Business Systems Analyst with over 7 years of experience translating business needs into detailed solution requirements. I have a proven track record mapping complex end-to-end processes & data flows through different systems, and managing the delivery of functional & non-functional requirements into scalable technical solutions.

Core Competencies

📋 Requirements Management

BRDs
Business Requirements Document
What it is: Defines business objectives, KPI's, and solution scope.
How it is applied: Documenting business requirements for replacing a legacy system with a new solution, or adding new functionality/capabilities to an existing solution.
Functional Specifications
Functional Specifications
What it is: Detailed technical specifications of how system components must behave.
How it is applied: Defining system logic, business rules, interactions between different systems & APIs, and inputs from users needed in order to meet a business need.
User Stories
User Story Writing
What it is: Agile requirements framed from the end-user perspective.
How it is applied: Captures the business need in the in a simplified format for dev teams to understand and work from. Example: As an organization planning a change initiative, I want to onboard a business analyst consultant to help define and document requirements, so that the final solution is successful.
Acceptance Criteria
Acceptance Criteria
What it is: Pass/Fail conditions determining when a feature is complete.
How it is applied: Questrade to support definition-of-done standards and UAT.
Use Cases
Use Case Development
What it is: Pass/Fail conditions determining when a feature is complete.
How it is applied: Questrade to support definition-of-done standards and UAT.
Gap Analysis
Gap Analysis
What it is: Assessing system differences between current and target states.
Applied at: HELOC and Prime Mortgage expansions into Quebec.

🔄 Process Design & Optimization

Process Mapping
As-Is / To-Be Process Mapping
What it is: Visualizing current workflows and engineering optimized future states.
Applied at: Questrade & BC Ministry of Finance to remove bottlenecks.
Decision Trees
Decision Trees
What it is: Automating and removing manual steps from business processes.
Applied at: Automated rate calculation & approval features at Questrade.
BPMN
Business Process Model and Notation
What it is: Standardized diagrams illustrating logic and data flows.
Applied at: Complex mortgage application and underwriting channels.
Sequence Diagrams
Sequence Diagram (UML) Notation
What it is: Standardized diagrams illustrating logic and data flows.
Applied at: Complex mortgage application and underwriting channels.
Workflow Optimization
Workflow Optimization
What it is: Automating and removing manual steps from business processes.
Applied at: Automated rate calculation & approval features at Questrade.

⚖️ Regulatory & Compliance Knowledge

OSFI
OSFI Financial Institution Regulations
What it is: Domain knowledge in consumer financial products and rules.
Applied at: Alt-A mortgage guidelines, HELOCs, and mortgage launch initiatives.
KYC / AML
FINTRAC Compliance Requirements
What it is: Federal guidelines for anti-money laundering and bank risk management.
Applied at: Questrade bank launch preparation and regulatory alignment.
PIPEDA / PIPA
Information Privacy Regulations (Canada)
What it is: Federal guidelines for anti-money laundering and bank risk management.
Applied at: Questrade bank launch preparation and regulatory alignment.
GDPR
General Data Protection Regulation (EU)
What it is: Federal guidelines for anti-money laundering and bank risk management.
Applied at: Questrade bank launch preparation and regulatory alignment.

⚡ Technical & Agile Delivery

Jira & Confluence
Jira & Confluence
What it is: Standard suite for managing backlogs, sprints, and documentation.
Applied at: Daily sprint execution and product backlog refinement.
CI/CD Development
Continuous Integration / Continuous Delivery best practices
What it is: Standard suite for managing backlogs, sprints, and documentation.
Applied at: Daily sprint execution and product backlog refinement.
SQL
Structured Query Language (SQL)
What it is: Database querying and specifying endpoint contracts between systems.
Applied at: Mapped digital workflows and 3rd party integrations.
API Specifications
API Specifications
What it is: Database querying and specifying endpoint contracts between systems.
Applied at: Mapped digital workflows and 3rd party integrations.
Agile / Scrum
Agile Frameworks
What it is: Scaled enterprise delivery methodologies.
Applied at: Managing competing priorities across multiple engineering squads.

Professional Experience

💡 Bad Philosopher Inc. (Self-Employed)
Sept 2026 – Present
Business Analyst Consultant Sept 2026 – Present
  • Providing high-level business systems analysis, requirements elicitation, and digital transformation consulting for client initiatives.
  • Advising on workflow optimization, software integrations, and enterprise solution design across product platforms.
🏢 Questrade Financial Group (Remote)
May 2022 – July 2026 (4 yrs 3 mos)
Senior Business Systems Analyst Jan 2024 – Jul 2026
  • Led end-to-end requirements analysis and documentation for mortgage product initiatives, including standing up new LOS/LMS systems to replace legacy software in preparation for bank launch. This included writing BRDs, functional specifications, user stories, and acceptance criteria.
  • Designed and mapped As-Is and To-Be processes to minimize bottlenecks between business and engineering teams, and to identify opportunities for improvement.
  • Executed targeted gap analyses for HELOC and Prime Mortgage expansions into new provincial markets (Quebec), mitigating launch risks and ensuring regulatory compliance within a new jurisdiction.
  • Translated complex Alt-A mortgage underwriting guidelines, regulatory & compliance obligations, and business policies into detailed solution requirements documentation, use cases, and decision trees.
  • Partnered with underwriting, servicing, compliance, legal, and technology stakeholders to define and validate stakeholder requirements for implementing and enhancing the new LOS system.
Product Owner May 2022 – Jan 2024
  • Streamlined Agile delivery in a fast-paced environment, breaking down high-level business needs into epics, features, and developer-ready user stories in support of Questrade's B2C mortgage offering.
  • Mapped and optimized digital application workflows and third-party integrations, leading the implementation of automated rate calculation and approval features to reduce application processing and decision times.
  • Championed clear "Definition of Done" standards, facilitated backlog refinement, and supported rapid and continuous delivery of features and enhancements throughout the product lifecycle.
  • Partnered with executive, legal, compliance, and underwriting stakeholders to resolve competing priorities, maximize value delivery, and ensure consistent sprint delivery cadence utilizing the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe).
🏛️ BC Ministry of Finance (Victoria, BC • Hybrid)
March 2018 – Nov 2021 (3 yrs 9 mos)
Business Analyst Aug 2019 – Nov 2021
  • Delivered business analysis on property tax systems supporting provincial revenue assessment and collection, acting as lead BA for Home Owner Grant modernization and Speculation and Vacancy Tax projects in BC.
  • Elicited, documented, and validated business and functional requirements from ministry stakeholders, policy, internal staff, and IT delivery teams.
  • Mapped existing property tax workflows and designed improved To-Be processes in Audit & Compliance functions in accordance with provincial tax regulation changes.
  • Produced detailed requirements documentation including BRDs, process maps, data dictionaries, and user stories for system modernization projects.
  • Coordinated user acceptance testing, prepared test plans, and tracked defect resolution through to production release.
  • Liaised between policy, legal, and technology teams to ensure regulatory requirements were accurately captured and implemented.
Compliance Analyst March 2018 – Aug 2019
  • Evaluated provincial tax compliance frameworks and operational workflows to ensure alignment with statutory and regulatory mandates.
  • Assisted policy and operational teams in audit review workflows and identified procedural gaps to support system modernization efforts.

Certifications

CBAP (Certified Business Analysis Professional)

IIBA — Validation of experience and professional development completed. Exam planned for Fall 2026.

Education

Bachelor of Arts, Philosophy & English

University of Victoria (2014)

Interested in working together?

I am currently taking on selective business systems analysis and process optimization consulting work through Bad Philosopher Inc.

✉️ Get in Touch