Senior Director, SAP Center of Excellence

Responsibilities

• Establish and execute the long-term roadmap, vision and operational standards for the SAP Center of Excellence.
• Partner closely with Finance, Purchasing and Invoicing Leads to align SAP investments and capabilities with overarching business objectives.
• Drive the adoption of SAP’s Clean Core strategy, minimizing custom legacy ABAP code and leveraging SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) for extensions.
• Manage the SAP CoE operating budget, resource allocation (internal, external, offshore), and strategic vendor relationships (including SAP, system integrators and third‑party software providers).
• Lead PMO across SAP Corporate Backbone, ensuring that programs, upgrades, and rollouts are delivered on time, within scope, and on budget.
• Define and enforce uniform project management methodologies across all SAP initiatives.
• Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) and operational metrics to measure delivery efficiency, resource utilization, and business value realization.
• Lead risk mitigation strategies and executive‑level reporting for major SAP transformation initiatives.
• Define and govern a modern, secure, and scalable SAP integration strategy.
• Ensure seamless, high‑performance data flow and connectivity between SAP S/4 HANA and non‑SAP legacy systems, third‑party platforms, and external cloud solutions.
• Collaborate with Enterprise Architecture and Security teams to enforce compliance, robust data governance, and strict SOX/SOD controls across all integration points.
• Lead the strategy, tooling, and framework for enterprise‑wide automated and intelligent testing across the SAP footprint.
• Lead a dedicated testing team, leveraging industry‑standard tools to drive continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD).
• Reduce manual regression testing overhead, accelerate release cycles, and ensure near‑zero downtime operations during SAP upgrades and patch cycles.
• Define rigorous quality gates and validation processes for all code, configuration, and data migrations prior to production release.

• Education:
  
  Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field. Master’s degree or MBA is highly preferred.
• Experience:
  
  15+ years of experience in enterprise technology and software development, with a minimum of 10 years dedicated to leading complex SAP environments.
• 7+ years of direct leadership experience managing large, multi‑disciplinary, and globally distributed teams (including internal staff, contractors, and global system integrators).
• Proven track record of successfully directing at least one major full lifecycle SAP S/4 HANA implementation.
• Direct experience leading high‑volume billing, invoicing, or financial transactional modernization programs in an enterprise setting is a plus.
• Technical & Process Expertise:
  • Deep technical understanding of SAP S/4 HANA architecture, SAP BTP, and modern integration methodologies (APIs, SAP Integration Suite).
  • Hands‑on familiarity with automated testing frameworks and tools.
  • Expertise in SAP Activate methodology, Agile/Scrum frameworks, and modern PMO practices.
  • Strong understanding of financial compliance, internal controls (SOX), and global tax regulations.
• Leadership &
  
  Soft Skills:
  • Exceptional executive‑level communication, negotiation, and stakeholder management skills.
  • Proven ability to guide organizations through complex technical and cultural change management.
  • Analytical, forward‑thinking mindset with a passion for automation, operational efficiency, and engineering excellence.

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science
• Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology
• Master’s degree
• MBA