IT Program Manager

Role Purpose

As an IT Program Manager specializing in SAP S/4HANA and enterprise applications, you will play a pivotal role in driving the successful planning, coordination, and execution of ASD’s SAP S/4HANA implementation and related IT initiatives. This position requires a strategic leader who can oversee complex project schedules, track critical deliverables, and ensure seamless coordination of resources across multiple workstreams, including SAP S/4HANA, SalesBuzz, SalesCode, Image Recognition, and SO99. You will serve as the central liaison between AFG, internal teams, business stakeholders, and technology vendors, ensuring timely delivery within scope while proactively managing risks, issues, and dependencies throughout the project lifecycle.

Key Accountabilities

SAP S/4HANA Program Management

You will provide comprehensive program management support for the SAP S/4HANA initiative, guiding the project through all phases from initiation to deployment. This includes coordinating activities across SAP workstreams and implementation partners, monitoring progress against milestones, and ensuring alignment with strategic objectives. Your responsibilities will encompass tracking risks, issues, dependencies, and quality metrics, preparing detailed project status reports, and facilitating governance and phase-gate reviews. Additionally, you will oversee data migration strategies, cutover planning, and deployment readiness to ensure a smooth transition to the new system.

Application Portfolio Management

In this role, you will manage enterprise application initiatives such as SalesBuzz and other digital transformation projects. You will maintain and update the application portfolio roadmap, ensuring it reflects current priorities and future-state objectives. Collaborating closely with business stakeholders, you will define project scope, timelines, deliverables, and success criteria, while managing application change requests to maintain alignment with the broader SAP landscape. Your strategic oversight will ensure that all initiatives contribute to the organization’s digital transformation goals.

Stakeholder & Vendor Management

Effective communication and coordination are central to your success. You will act as the primary point of contact between business functions, IT teams, SAP consultants, and external vendors, facilitating governance meetings, project workshops, and steering committee reviews. Your responsibilities will include managing stakeholder communications, providing project updates, addressing risks, and aligning expectations across all parties. Additionally, you will coordinate training and user readiness activities in collaboration with Change Management to ensure a seamless adoption of new systems and processes.

Testing & Quality Assurance

You will oversee comprehensive testing activities across multiple phases, including Unit Testing, System Integration Testing (SIT), User Acceptance Testing (UAT), Performance Testing, and Regression Testing. Your role will involve tracking defects, monitoring their resolution, and ensuring that all testing exit criteria are met. You will manage business sign-offs, validate data accuracy, and confirm production readiness. By capturing lessons learned and implementing continuous improvement initiatives, you will contribute to the enhancement of project delivery methodologies and overall quality standards.

Cutover, Go-Live & Hypercare

You will coordinate meticulous cutover planning, Go-Live activities, and business readiness assessments to ensure a successful deployment. Your responsibilities will include supporting Go/No-Go decision-making processes and managing deployment governance. Following the Go-Live, you will oversee Hypercare activities, resolve critical issues, and facilitate a smooth transition to Business-as-Usual (BAU) operations. Post-implementation reviews and benefits realization tracking will be integral to your role, ensuring that the project delivers the intended value to the organization.

Documentation & Knowledge Management

You will maintain comprehensive project documentation, governance records, and decision logs to ensure transparency and accountability. Your efforts will include facilitating effective knowledge transfer from implementation partners to internal IT teams, capturing lessons learned, and recommending improvements to project delivery methodologies. This documentation will serve as a valuable resource for future initiatives and contribute to the organization’s continuous learning and improvement culture.

Job Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or Business Administration. Advanced degrees or certifications in a related field are advantageous.
• Certifications: SAP Activate Program Manager certification is preferred. Project Management Professional (PMP) certification is also preferred. Additional certifications in SAP modules are a plus.
• Experience: Proven track record of end-to-end delivery for at least two full-lifecycle SAP S/4HANA or SAP ECC implementations, with direct accountability for go-live in a Program Manager capacity.
• Methodology Expertise: Strong expertise in SAP Activate methodology, with hands-on experience across all six phases: Discover, Explore, Realize, Verify, Deploy, and Run.
• Testing & Deployment: Comprehensive experience managing all SAP testing cycles, including SIT, multi-round UAT, data migration runs, performance testing, and cutover rehearsals.
• Industry Knowledge: Deep understanding of SAP functional areas relevant to the FMCG/Dairy sector, ensuring solutions are tailored to industry-specific requirements.