ERP Lead

Finance & Digital Transformation Program

Reports to:

Mariya Tarakanova, Transformation Lead.

Location:

US preferred, Germany considered. Type:
Full-time employee or FT contractor.

Seniority:
Senior — 8 to 12 years. Must have led at least one full SAP S/4

HANA Public Cloud implementation as program or workstream lead.

Start:
As soon as possible — this role is on the critical path. Several Phase 1 work streams are blocked until the ERP Lead is in post.

Duration:
Employee or full-time contractor. Duration aligned to the program—estimated 24 to 36 months through S/4 go‑live and hypercare.

Travel: US and Germany. Travel to Rendsburg as needed—most collaboration can be managed remotely.

Language:
English required. German is an advantage but not required.

The ERP Lead is the most time‑sensitive hire in the program. Pilot scope definition, ERP partner selection, RFP issuance, and S/4 design are all blocked until this person is in post. AYNA has a recommendation. The goal is to hire and onboard before end of Q2 2026.

Lapmaster Wolters is a precision manufacturing company with operations in the US, Germany, UK, and Asia. The company is embarking on a 24 to 36 month finance and digital transformation—migrating from Elliott ERP (US) and SAP ECC (Germany) to SAP S/4

HANA Public Cloud, with the US entity as the pilot deployment.

This is a greenfield S/4 implementation, not a lift‑and‑shift. The business has committed to starting fresh—clean chart of accounts, redesigned finance processes, and a platform built to scale. The ERP Lead will own the technical and functional delivery of that vision from day one.

The program is well‑structured. Governance is in place, the transformation lead is experienced, the CFO is an active sponsor, and the business owner is engaged. The ERP Lead joins a small, accountable team with real decision‑making authority and a clear mandate.

• Own S/4 design end to end—FI, CO, and PS module scope across US pilot and Germany template
• Define pilot entity scope, module configuration, and deployment sequencing in collaboration with the transformation lead
• Lead ERP partner selection—define evaluation criteria, assess partner shortlist, and issue the RFP
• Manage the implementation partner day to day—hold them accountable to scope, quality, and timeline
• Drive data migration planning—legacy data from Elliott and SAP ECC, validation approach, and cutover sequencing
• Own the integration design between S/4, SAP BTP, Tagetik, CRM (C4C), and field service (FSM)

The transformation lead owns finance process redesign—close process, COA structure, and margin reporting. The ERP Lead's role is to translate those process decisions into S/4 configuration terms and ensure the system is built to deliver them.

• Collaborate with the transformation lead on month‑end close redesign—translate agreed process changes into S/4 workflow, journal entry automation, and Financial Closing Cockpit configuration
• Support COA implementation in S/4—ensure it is configured correctly and consistently across all entities
• Drive resolution of SAP ECC master data gaps—approx. 20–25% of material costs in Germany flagged due to booking errors; must be resolved before S/4 configuration begins
• Coordinate with Jan‑Niklas and Werner on the SAP PS profitability tracking POC in Rendsburg—ensure S/4 design accommodates their approach and POC findings feed into the deployment template

S/4 will change how finance and operations staff work day to day across US and Germany. The ERP Lead is responsible for ensuring the business is ready—not just technically, but practically.

• Work closely with the implementation partner to design the change management approach—impact assessment, stakeholder engagement plan, and readiness checkpoints at each phase gate
• Drive development of training materials with the implementation partner—role‑based training covering new workflows in S/4, Financial Closing Cockpit, and reporting
• Ensure training covers both US and Germany teams—account for language, process differences, and the different ERP starting…