Global ERP Platform Director — SAP & Governance

The principal purpose of the Director, ERP Platforms is to direct the creation of value through enterprise resource planning applications through quality, performance and value-driven governance thus aligning the ERP platforms function across the business to promote and facilitate optimisation, stability, security, and efficiency.

You’ll be responsible for direct management of Brambles ERP technologies and teams while driving platform strategies considering business priorities and external market innovation in the function. Brambles core ERP applications are the backbone of the organization supporting Finance, Inventory Management, Supply Chain and other critical business functions. As part of this role, the ERP Platforms Lead is accountable for the day-to-day execution of platform services including development, data governance, platform support, and strategic direction across the Brambles landscape.

You'll be accountable for the evaluation and monitoring of all ERP services required, linking the business benefits created by resilient, responsive, and stable platform usage consumed by a growing Brambles global business user base. In addition, you will be accountable to collaborate with the wider TS organization (primarily the Finance, Supply Chain function) on portfolio demand and delivery performance metrics.

You will maintain, incorporate, and provide facilitation of governance methods, standards, and principles across all processes and capabilities relative to SAP ERP platforms. These methods, standards, and principles will be developed, adopted, and embedded by the wider platform, product and analytics teams across all business units looking to integrate ERP data with complimentary systems and people. Governance processes and practices include as a minimum: ERP service management, vendor selection and management, risk management, ERP technologies roadmap and platform management (upgrades and modernization), service catalogue, project support, and reporting.

• Provide strong leadership and direction by setting clear objectives and priorities with alignment with the Finance and Supply Chain programme functions by defining SAP ERP platform services, strategies, and roadmaps and communicating to applicable ERP audience.
• Constructively partners with functional business leadership and other key stakeholders to shape strategy, identify opportunities, leverage industry trends, develop, deliver, and implement value-added solutions that drive financial effectiveness, simplification and/or and improve ERP services.
• Develop delivery best practices and principles, and a culture of service excellence across Technology Services, Data & Digital, Finance, Supply Chain, and the wider organisation.
• Advise and provide direction of performance measurement metrics to support the operational objectives of existing and new ERP platform services.
• Provide strong technical coaching while influencing global technology adoption.
• Drive and enable a strong partnership across all platform/product support and development teams within, and external to, Technology Services ensuring applications are consistent, scalable, and secure.
• Maintain and drive vendor/partner relationships at the highest levels through performance metrics and action plans.
• Act as the single point of contact and escalation point for incidents which run across ERP platforms and own process improvement protocols post-major incidents ensuring process uplift where appropriate leveraging internal / external resources.
• Work collaboratively across platform teams and the various platform and product owners to identify the best areas for continuous improvement.
• Meet Brambles internal governance, policy/process requirements, (e.g., financial planning, procurement, internal audit, people, and policies).
• Develop an effective organisational structure in place which enables delivery of key initiatives.
• Recruit, develop, motivate, develop, and retain a technical proficient team through talent management, succession planning, and skill development.
• Develop and execute and effective risk framework for the ERP platforms.
• Successful delivery of initiative milestones on time, within budget, and to agreed success criteria.

Number of Staff (direct & indirect): 40-50

Number of Staff (direct): 6-7

• 12+ years experience managing or influencing technical staff, transformation, and/or significant business as usual change projects.
• Proven success in ERP design, strategy, and defining delivery best practices and linking Business Platforms with the objectives of the Brambles business.
• Strong experience with Finance, Pricing & Invoicing, Inventory Management, and back-office business processes.
• Experience with cradle to grave support, implementation, and delivery of ERP applications.
• Experience managing SaaS applications and partners including delivery capacity.
• Experience migrating to new and migrating off existing ERP platforms required (e.g. SAP, tax and reporting,…