Purpose of the Job

The Head of SAP COE will be responsible for establishing, leading, and evolving the SAP Center of Excellence for our global organization. This role requires a visionary leader with proven experience setting up and embedding COE structures, governance, processes, and best practices across large, complex, international enterprises. The Head of SAP COE will act as the strategic custodian of SAP, ensuring alignment with business priorities, driving innovation, and safeguarding operational excellence.

Crucially, this role demands a leader with strong people leadership capabilities — someone who is present with the team, able to build trust, establish authority, inspire confidence, and cultivate a culture of collaboration and accountability across diverse global teams.

The overall purpose of this role is to:

• Establish and lead the SAP Center of Excellence (COE) as the strategic and operational hub for all SAP-related initiatives.
• Define and implement the vision, mission, and operating model of the COE to ensure consistent delivery of value across business units and geographies.
• Partner with business leadership and IT stakeholders to align SAP strategy with enterprise business goals.
• Drive SAP roadmap development and execution, ensuring adoption of industry best practices, innovation, and digital transformation opportunities.
• Act as a visible and approachable leader, fostering trust, inclusion, and accountability within the COE team and across stakeholders.
• Design and embed governance frameworks, policies, and controls for SAP solution delivery, operations, and compliance.
• Define and enforce standards for SAP architecture, configuration, integration, and change management.
• Establish KPIs and metrics to measure effectiveness of SAP investments, service delivery, and COE performance.

Lead continuous improvement by identifying emerging SAP capabilities, process enhancements, and automation opportunities.

Job Description

Customer:

• Act as a trusted partner to internal business stakeholders, ensuring SAP solutions enhance business processes and user experience.
• Champion a customer-centric approach, ensuring end-users and business teams receive timely, reliable, and value-driven services.
• Build strong partnerships with functional leaders to capture business needs, translate them into SAP solutions, and drive adoption.

• Establish feedback loops and engagement models to continuously improve SAP service quality and user satisfaction.

People:

• Works collaboratively within a matrix organization, engaging with D&T staff and corporate function leaders.
• Visible, present leader who actively engages with teams and stakeholders.
• Builds trust and authority by fostering accountability, inclusion, and collaboration.
• Strategic thinker with the ability to influence senior executives and shape enterprise-wide decisions.
• Strong people leadership skills: able to build, inspire, and manage diverse global teams.
• Proven ability to drive change management and foster SAP adoption across cultures and regions.
• Excellent communication, stakeholder management, and negotiation skills.

• Results-driven mindset with focus on value delivery, cost optimization, and continuous improvement.

Operations:

• Oversee SAP solution design, deployment, and lifecycle management across modules (S/4HANA, Finance, Procurement, Supply Chain, HR, etc.).
• Ensure global template adoption and standardization while accommodating necessary localizations.
• Collaborate with external vendors, system integrators, and support partners to optimize service delivery and cost efficiency.

• Provide oversight for SAP support, enhancements, upgrades, and incident management.

Financial:

• Own the financial governance of SAP investments, ensuring maximum value realization and ROI from SAP programs.
• Develop and manage the annual SAP budget (projects, licensing, operations, and support).
• Monitor and control TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) of SAP platforms, balancing efficiency with innovation.
• Partner with Finance leadership to ensure SAP enables accurate reporting, compliance, and financial transparency.

Identify opportunities for cost optimization through automation, standardization, and vendor negotiations

Job Requirements - Experience and Education

Education

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Business Administration, or related field.
• SAP certifications (e.g., S/4HANA, Solution Architect, or COE leadership credentials) are highly desirable.

Professional Experience

• 15+ years of progressive experience in SAP leadership roles.
• Proven track record of leading SAP COE functions in large, complex international organizations.
• Hands-on experience in setting up and embedding SAP COE including governance frameworks, best practices, and operational processes.

• Strong exposure to SAP S/4HANA transformation programs, migrations, and multi-module deployments.
• Experience working with C-level stakeholders to define and execute SAP strategy aligned with business priorities.
• Demonstrated success in managing vendor relationships and negotiating large SAP-related contracts.
• Evidence of exceptional people leadership skills: trusted by teams, visible and engaged in daily activities, able to establish authority and inspire collaboration across multiple cultures.

Technical Skills

• Deep expertise across SAP S/4HANA and related modules (FI/CO, MM, SD, PP, HR, SuccessFactors, Ariba, Concur, GRC, etc.).
• Strong knowledge of SAP Basis, integration (PI/PO, CPI, API management), security, and cloud hosting (Azure, AWS, GCP).
• Familiarity with SAP Analytics (BW/4HANA, SAC) and emerging technologies (BTP, AI/ML integration).

• Strong understanding of data governance, master data management, and regulatory compliance requirements.

Skilled in ITIL processes, DevOps, agile methodologies, and SAP Solution Manager/Focused Build.

Leadership Behaviors

Skills