Senior Director of IT, SAP

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation is a world-famous brand with offices across the globe. Fender was born in Southern California and has built a worldwide influence beyond the studio and the stage. A Fender is more than an instrument; it’s a cultural symbol that resonates globally.

We’re looking for a
Senior Director of IT, SAP to join our IT team and own the strategic technology roadmap for our SAP landscape. This is a
hands-on leadership role: you will lead a team of IT engineers and developers while personally staying engaged in configuration, design, and testing - not just managing people who do the work.

You’ll manage people, projects, system migrations, and 3 rd party system integrations. You will mentor team members on SAP capabilities, write and review design documents and functional specs, and make complex configuration changes. You will also build relationships with third‑party technology partners — including evaluating new partnerships that add value for Fender.

We are currently on SAP ECC 6.0, planning for an upgrade to S/4.

• Stay hands-on. Even at the senior director level, this role configures, writes and reviews technical specs, debugs and tests. If your background is purely people-management, this position isn't the right fit for you.
• Mentor the team. Share your deep SAP expertise to further develop less experienced engineers.
• Document. Keep IT processes and designs current in the IT Wiki.
• Manage vendor relationships. Establish and maintain relationships with external technology partners to support IT and business requirements.
• Lead the team. Manage IT engineers (analysts/configurators) and developers to ensure timely, high-quality delivery while supporting their growth and engagement.
• Prioritize work. Review and prioritize development requests in partnership with the development manager and key business stakeholders.
• Engage leadership. Interact regularly with members of Fender's Executive and Leadership Teams.
• Run multiple projects concurrently
  , ensuring the most valuable work is delivered on time and on budget.
• Optimize the landscape. Maximize development throughput while minimizing risk of disruption across the SAP environment.
• Stay current. Continuously evaluate new tools and technologies — including AI — that can add capability, lower cost, simplify operations, improve performance, or accelerate development.
• Know the integrations. Understand and clearly articulate Fender’s key SAP integration points across the SD, PP, MM and FI modules.
• Own SAP maintenance
  , in partnership with the Development Manager: OS and kernel patching, OSS notes and support pack implementation, system refreshes, data archiving, SDK updates, routine HA/DR testing, and evaluation of SAP EWA reports.

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or engineering or a related field.
• 12+ years SAP Technical experience.
• 7+ years of experience managing a team
• Strong organizational skill with the ability to prioritize and execute multiple tasks and projects simultaneously.
• Excellent interpersonal, oral, and written communication skills.
• A collaborative approach — solving problems with fellow IT team members with respect, trust, honesty, and professionalism, and contributing to a positive, engaged workplace
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills

Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC) is one of the world’s leading musical instrument manufacturers, marketers and distributors, whose portfolio of brands includes Fender®, Squier®, Presonus®, Gretsch®, Jackson®, EVH®, Charvel®, Bigsby®, and Groove Tubes®, among others. For more information, visit  . FMIC offers a competitive benefits package which includes medical, dental, 401(k), paid time off, and an…