We’re Designing the Future of SAP – Join Us as Our Enterprise IT Architecture Leader
OBJECTIVE
Responsible for the SAP and non-SAP IT architecture (“AS IS” and “TO BE”) within the end-to-end processes for the Record-to-Report, Source-to-Pay & Order-to-Cash domains, managing the strategic vision and SAP roadmap (multi-year plan) in collaboration with IT and business management to ensure a coherent, stable, powerful, and cost-efficient IT architecture landscape that meets user needs.
MAIN ACTIVITIES
* Serve as the point of contact for Enterprise Architecture within the assigned domains:
* Develops and monitors the vision, strategy, and multi-year plan for enterprise architecture based on business processes, information, lifecycle, and the interaction between various applications and technologies, taking into account IT trends, strategic vision, and customer needs.
* Communicates the relevant strategy and roadmap within the organization.
* Provides instructions to customer stakeholders, functional analysts, technical architects, and solution architects to ensure that sound architectural choices are respected in the context of new needs and projects formulated by IT and the customer.
* Documents, proposes, defines, and objectively negotiates legal architectural standards usable within the IT organization, in collaboration with various experts and technical specialists, to ensure that standards are adhered to in projects and during application development.
* Documents and follows up on deviations from standards.
* Prepare SAP Change Control Board and overall Architecture Council reviews in order to ready files (projects, standards, etc.) for the Architecture Board, and participate in the Architecture Board for decisions and projects within the assigned domain.
* Play an active role in projects:
* Validates customer proposals in consultation with Business Relationship Managers and Project Managers.
* Defines the roadmap and SAP solutions to be proposed at review councils and boards. The high-level architecture will serve as input for solution development.
* Monitors, in collaboration with Solution Architects, the design and final development of the approved solutions.
* Maintain the inventory of applications and technologies. Manage the IT landscape:
* Monitors the development of the IT landscape, documents new initiatives in this context, and integrates them into the existing landscape, monitors and corrects interactions with applications, in line with the IT roadmap and the company’s strategic vision.
* Contributes to collecting budgetary data regarding, among other things, the evolution of maintenance costs, lifecycle management, expected projects, and IT migrations.
* Proactively proposes improvements to align the IT landscape with customer needs and developments, both technologically and in the market.
* Defines the strategic and tactical plan for transition projects and ensures their follow-up.
* Provide support for procurement files:
* Advises on the purchase of hardware, tools, and software licenses.
* Validates the technical part of specifications and assesses the submitted offers against the applicable architectural vision.
* Knowledge management:
* Stays constantly up to date with developments in SAP and other IT solutions in the assigned domain (through training, seminars, etc.).
* Examines the usability of new technologies, including in existing systems.
* Follows the methodology and uses tools for enterprise architecture in which all knowledge related to the IT landscape, project scope, interactions, and related matters are stored.
* Ensures completeness of IT landscape documentation and ensures that the supplied methods and tools are used.
* Shares knowledge within the architecture team to ensure continuity.
MINIMUM KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE
At least 15 years of hands-on experience in implementing full-scope SAP Financials in Belgian companies, including at least:
* one public company,
* one MRO (Maintenance, Repair, Operations) company, and
* one utility company,
with:
* In-depth solution knowledge of ECC and S4HANA FICO and FICA functionalities, as well as in-depth functional and configuration knowledge of integrated modules (MM, SD, PP, PM).
* Preferably experience integrating C4C, BRIM, and Ariba into financial flows.
* Expertise in a broad range of financial solutions inside and outside SAP (treasury, consolidation, expense management, reporting, etc.).
* Knowledge of project management methodology and experience with ServiceNow, Jira & Xray, and Solution Manager.
* Ability to lead meetings with senior business managers in Finance, Procurement, and Sales.
* Ability to convince a team of SAP consultants (internal or external) of target solutions in line with future architectures.
* Demonstrated experience in leading projects with full or partial scope in Financials.
PROBLEM SOLVING
* Defining short-, medium-, and long-term IT architecture strategy within the assigned domain.
* Ability to make correct decisions (in line with the strategy) in the event of disputes between different architects (infrastructure, solutions, enterprise), project managers, and/or operational teams.
* Having a transversal view of the IT landscape consisting of hundreds of applications across many business domains, thousands of business processes, and dozens of technologies.
* Providing advice for all customer projects and purchases within the assigned domain.
* Proactively identifying and initiating desired architectural changes, especially based on changing business processes, technology and application lifecycles, market developments, and best practices.
* Convincing the customer and internal stakeholders of the IT architecture strategy.
* Autonomously responsible for defining the customer’s IT architecture strategy, managing the IT landscape, and providing advice for procurement files within the assigned domain.
* Adhering to the strategic vision and customer needs, the lifecycle of applications and technologies, as well as IT trends within the assigned domain.
* Escalating to management for arbitration in choices regarding standards, principles, transitions, in case of conflicting choices between architects (infrastructure, enterprise, solutions, etc.) or discussions with users.
COMMUNICATION
Languages
* Fluent in spoken and written Dutch or French, and English.
* Able to present and explain complex architecture and/or roadmaps in a structured manner and in layman’s terms.
Internal contacts
* Weekly to daily contact with stakeholders, functional analysts, Business Area Leads, Business Relationship Managers, and architects (technical, systems, solutions) when they need advice to make the right architectural choices for new needs.
* Monthly contact with the procurement department to advise on the purchase of hardware, tools, and software licenses, as well as for the technical validation of specifications and assessment of offers against the architectural vision.
* Ad hoc contact with the CISO, Data Protection Officers, etc., regarding legal and security aspects.
External contacts
* Frequent contact with users and management to identify vision and needs, to monitor IT architecture vision, ongoing projects, new or evolving business processes, and to provide related advice.
* Frequent contact with SAP, other suppliers, and user groups to further build and strengthen knowledge, translating business needs into new solutions or releases.
* Frequent contact with architects from implementation or ADMS partners, and building a network with peers in the assigned domain.
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