SAP Program Director

Next Ventures; Leinster; On-site; EUR 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Next Ventures is seeking an experienced SAP Programme Director to lead a major enterprise-wide SAP S/4HANA transformation. This senior role has full accountability for programme delivery, governance and commercial performance across workstreams.

You will have led at least three SAP transformations and managed C-level stakeholders, budgets and milestones from mobilisation to stabilisation.

Qualifications

• At least three complete SAP transformation programmes led end-to-end.
• Experience with multi-country projects and complex governance.
• Strong leadership and delivery discipline across large teams.

Responsibilities

• Lead the SAP transformation programme from mobilisation through go-live and stabilisation.
• Own the integrated programme plan, delivery roadmap, budget, governance and reporting.
• Ensure all contractual milestones and service commitments are met.
• Coordinate cross-functional workstreams: business, data, integration, testing and change management.
• Establish programme governance with steering committees, risk management and escalation.
• Build relationships with client executives and serve as senior delivery accountability.
• Provide accurate reporting on status, financials, risks and decisions.

Skills

Executive stakeholder management

SAP S/4HANA leadership

Programme governance

Budget & commercial governance

C-suite communication

Tools

SAP S/4HANA suite

Job description

We are seeking an experienced SAP Programme Director to lead a major enterprise-wide SAP S/4HANA transformation.

This is a senior leadership position with full accountability for programme delivery, executive stakeholder management, governance and commercial performance. You will take control of a complex transformation, establish clear direction across multiple workstreams and ensure that contractual commitments are delivered to the required scope, quality, budget and timeline.

The successful candidate will have personally led at least three complete SAP transformation programmes and will be comfortable operating with highly engaged, detail-focused C-level stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the SAP transformation programme from mobilisation through design, build, testing, deployment and stabilisation.
• Own the integrated programme plan, delivery roadmap, budget, governance structure and executive reporting.
• Ensure all contractual milestones, deliverables and service commitments are achieved.
• Coordinate multiple functional, technical, data, integration, testing and change-management workstreams.
• Establish effective programme governance, including steering committees, decision forums, risk management and escalation processes.
• Build trusted relationships with client executives and act as the senior point of accountability for programme delivery.
• Provide clear, accurate reporting on programme status, financial performance, risks, dependencies and critical decisions.
• Maintain control of scope, resources, delivery quality and commercial performance.
• Lead programme recovery and corrective action where milestones or workstreams are at risk.
• Manage senior internal teams, implementation partners, third-party suppliers and client stakeholders.
• Ensure business readiness, user adoption and operational stability throughout deployment.
• Create a delivery culture based on accountability, transparency and measurable outcomes.
• Extensive experience leading large and complex SAP transformation programmes.
• Successful delivery of at least two full end-to-end SAP programmes.
• Strong leadership experience within SAP S/4HANA environments.
• Experience managing programmes from initial mobilisation through go-live and post-go-live stabilisation.
• Proven ability to manage senior client stakeholders at CIO, CFO, COO and wider C-suite level.
• Strong understanding of SAP programme governance, delivery assurance and risk management.
• Commercial experience covering programme budgets, contracts, scope control, change requests and delivery commitments.
• Experience coordinating large, multidisciplinary and internationally distributed teams.
• Ability to take control of challenging programmes and make clear decisions under significant delivery pressure.
• Excellent communication, negotiation and executive presentation skills.

Preferred Experience

• SAP S/4HANA Public Cloud implementation experience.
• Experience delivering enterprise-wide business transformation rather than purely technical SAP implementations.
• Previous responsibility for complex multi-country or multi-entity programmes.
• Experience working within a major systems integrator or leading an implementation involving several delivery partners.

Leadership Profile

You will be a credible and composed programme leader who can balance strong client relationships with firm delivery control. You must be comfortable challenging senior stakeholders, resolving competing priorities and maintaining momentum when timelines are demanding.

This position requires someone who is highly structured, commercially aware and able to move confidently between executive-level discussions and detailed programme delivery.