SAP Program Manager

Job Description

SAP Program Manager

Must Have Technical/Functional Skills

We are seeking an experienced SAP Program Manager to lead a large-scale SAP transformation program involving SAP S/4HANA, SAP GTS, data migration, enterprise integrations, testing, cutover, and business readiness.

The Program Manager will be responsible for end-to-end program governance, delivery planning, stakeholder management, risk and issue management, financial oversight, dependency management, and coordination across business, functional, technical, data, testing, and global delivery teams.

The role requires extensive experience managing complex SAP transformation programs across multiple workstreams, geographies, vendors, and business functions.

Provide overall leadership for the SAP transformation program.

Establish the program governance structure, delivery operating model, and decision-making framework.

Define program objectives, scope, milestones, deliverables, and success criteria.

Develop and maintain the integrated program plan across all SAP workstreams.

Conduct steering committee meetings, program reviews, and leadership updates.

Ensure alignment between business priorities, technology strategy, and program objectives.

Establish clear ownership and accountability across workstreams.

SAP Transformation Delivery

Manage end-to-end delivery across SAP S/4HANA, SAP GTS E4H, data, integrations, testing, security, change management, and deployment.

Coordinate solution design, configuration, development, testing, data migration, cutover, go-live, and hypercare activities.

Ensure the SAP solution follows enterprise architecture standards and SAP-recommended practices.

Monitor deliverables across functional and technical workstreams.

Manage dependencies between SAP and non-SAP applications.

Ensure timely resolution of cross-functional and cross-workstream issues.

Planning and Execution

Develop and maintain detailed program schedules, milestone plans, and dependency trackers.

Track scope, schedule, budget, quality, resources, and program benefits.

Monitor critical-path activities and implement corrective action when required.

Manage change requests and evaluate their impact on cost, schedule, resources, and business outcomes.

Establish delivery metrics, dashboards, and reporting mechanisms.

Ensure program deliverables are completed within agreed timelines and quality standards.

Stakeholder Management

Act as the primary point of contact for business executives, IT leadership, delivery teams, and implementation partners.

Facilitate discussions and decisions between business and technology stakeholders.

Communicate program status, risks, dependencies, and decisions to senior leadershi p.

Manage stakeholder expectations and maintain leadership alignment.

Escalate critical issues with clear impact analysis and recommended actions.

Build effective collaboration across onsite, offshore, vendor, and client teams.

Risk, Issue, and Dependency Management

Establish and maintain RAID logs covering risks, assumptions, issues, and dependencies.

Identify delivery risks early and define practical mitigation plans.

Manage critical escalations and ensure timely closure.

Track decisions and actions from governance meetings.

Monitor regulatory, compliance, security, and operational risks.

Ensure risks affecting go-live readiness are addressed before deployment.

Financial and Resource Management

Manage program budgets, forecasts, resource plans, and financial performance.

Monitor effort, utilization, vendor costs, and program expenditure.

Work with functional and technical leaders to ensure appropriate resource allocation.

Identify resource constraints and initiate corrective staffing actions.

Manage vendor performance against agreed deliverables and service levels.

Testing, Cutover, and Deployment Governance

Provide governance for SIT, UAT, performance testing, regression testing, and business readiness.

Monitor test execution, defect trends, defect ageing, and closure plans.

Review cutover strategy, mock cutover results, and go-live readiness criteria.

Lead executive go/no-go discussions.

Monitor hypercare activities and ensure an effective transition to steady-state support.

Generic Managerial Skills

Bachelor s degree in Engineering, Computer Science, Information Systems, Business Administration, or a related field.

15+ years of SAP consulting or enterprise transformation experience.

Minimum 8 years of SAP program or project leadership experience.

Experience managing at least three full-life-cycle SAP implementations.

Proven experience managing large, multi-workstream SAP S/4HANA transformation programs.

Strong experience with global onsite-offshore delivery models.

Excellent executive communication and presentation skills.

Strong financial, commercial, vendor, and contract management capabilities.

Demonstrated ability to lead teams across multiple functions, locations, and organizations.

Strong facilitation, decision-making, negotiation, and conflict-resolution skills.

Preferred Qualifications

SAP S/4HANA transformation experience.

Experience managing SAP GTS implementations.

PMP, PRINCE2, SAFe, or equivalent program management certification.

SAP Activate certification or practical SAP Activate experience.

Experience with Agile, SAFe, Waterfall, and hybrid delivery methodologies.

Experience in global manufacturing, technology, supply chain, or regulated industries.

Familiarity with Jira, Azure DevOps, SAP Cloud ALM, Solution Manager, or similar tools.

Key Skills

SAP Program Management

SAP S/4HANA Transformation

SAP GTS E4H

Program Governance

Integrated Program Planning

Executive Stakeholder Management

Financial Management

Vendor Management

RAID Management

Release Management

Testing Governance

Cutover and Deployment

Change Management

Global Delivery Management

Success Metrics

Achievement of program milestones within agreed timelines and budget.

Effective coordination across business, SAP functional, technical, data, and testing teams.

Timely resolution of critical risks, issues, and dependencies.

Successful completion of SIT, UAT, cutover, and go-live activities.

Stable production deployment with controlled hypercare.

High stakeholder satisfaction and timely executive decision-making.

Delivery of agreed business and transformation outcomes.