SAP Finance - CoE Lead

Olam Agri Carreiras; Chennai District; On-site; INR 4,000,000 - 7,000,000; Full time

Job summary

Olam Agri is seeking a seasoned SAP Finance COE Lead to establish and govern the SAP Center of Excellence for Finance, Costing, Budgeting, Consolidation, and Reporting. You will own global standards, drive process modernization, and align IT with business value across SAP S/4HANA landscapes.

The role requires 10–15+ years in SAP FI/CO, strong leadership, and stakeholder engagement. Expect global collaboration, regulatory localization work, and ongoing COE maturity initiatives.

Qualifications

• Deep expertise in SAP FI/CO within SAP S/4HANA environments.
• Strong knowledge of Financial Accounting, Controlling, Budgeting & Planning, Consolidation, Group Reporting, and Financial Compliance.
• Proven experience in SAP COE governance and global template ownership.
• Ability to balance global standards with statutory, regulatory, and business requirements.
• Experience leading large-scale SAP Finance transformation, modernization, and S/4HANA programs.
• Strong stakeholder management, communication, influencing, and executive engagement skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead the SAP COE for Finance, Costing, Budgeting, Consolidation, and Reporting.
• Govern global SAP standards, solution design, release management, and template ownership.
• Serve as the Design Authority for Finance, Budgeting, Costing, Consolidation, and Reporting solutions.
• Drive fit-to-standard adoption while managing statutory and localization requirements through controlled exceptions.
• Ensure end-to-end integration across Finance, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Commercial, Banking, Tax, and enterprise applications.
• Lead SAP demand intake, prioritization, and roadmap execution aligned to business value and strategic objectives.
• Balance Run, Grow, and Transform initiatives across the SAP portfolio.
• Own solution quality and approve designs, integrations, and enhancements while minimizing customizations and process variations.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Leadership

Analytical thinking

Decision making

Communication

Education

CA mandatory

Bachelor's degree in Commerce/Finance/Accounting/Business Administration

Tools

SAP FI/CO

SAP S/4HANA

SAP ECC

Job description

Olam Agri is a market-leading, differentiated food, feed and fibre agri-business with a global origination footprint, processing capabilities and deep understanding of market needs built over 37 years. With a strong presence in high-growth emerging markets and products across grains & oilseeds, wheat milling & pasta, rice, edible oils, animal feed & protein, cotton, wood products, rubber, sugar & biofuel, freight management and risk management solutions. We are at the heart of global food and agri-trade flows, providing affordable food staples and processed agricultural products that are daily necessities and living essentials for people around the world. Driven by our Purpose to transform food, feed and fibre for a more sustainable and food secure future, we aim to create value for customers and enable farming communities to prosper sustainably. Olam Agri is majority 80.01% owned by the Saudi Agricultural and Livestock Investment Company (SALIC).

Job Description

The SAP Finance - COE Lead is responsible for establishing, governing, and continuously enhancing the SAP Center of Excellence (COE) for the Finance, Costing, Budgeting, Consolidation, and Reporting domains.This role provides global ownership of finance processes, template governance, solution quality, and value realization across SAP S/4HANA and integrated application landscapes. Acting as a strategic bridge between Finance leadership, business stakeholders, and IT teams, the position drives process standardization, digital transformation, operational excellence, and business value delivery through a COE-led operating model.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead the SAP COE for Finance, Costing, Budgeting, Consolidation, and Reporting.
• Govern global SAP standards, solution design, release management, and template ownership.
• Serve as the Design Authority for Finance, Budgeting, Costing, Consolidation, and Reporting solutions.
• Drive fit-to-standard adoption while managing statutory and localization requirements through controlled exceptions.
• Ensure end-to-end integration across Finance, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Commercial, Banking, Tax, and enterprise applications.
• Lead SAP demand intake, prioritization, and roadmap execution aligned to business value and strategic objectives.
• Balance Run, Grow, and Transform initiatives across the SAP portfolio.
• Own solution quality and approve designs, integrations, and enhancements while minimizing customizations and process variations.
• Govern SAP releases, upgrades, migrations, rollouts, and RISE with SAP programs.
• Drive continuous improvement through analytics, automation, AI-enabled capabilities, Fiori adoption, and process optimization.
• Ensure compliance with SoD, audit, risk, security, and GRC requirements.
• Manage system integrators and strategic partners to deliver high-quality business outcomes.
• Build internal SAP capability through functional excellence, process standardization, and consulting expertise.

Job Requirements

• Deep expertise in SAP FI/CO within SAP S/4HANA environments.
• Strong knowledge of Financial Accounting, Controlling, Budgeting & Planning, Consolidation, Group Reporting, and Financial Compliance.
• Strong understanding of finance processes, operating models, and enterprise performance management.
• Proven experience in SAP COE governance, global template ownership, and process standardization.
• Ability to balance global standards with statutory, regulatory, and business requirements.
• Strong capability in solution governance, architecture review, and process optimization.
• Experience leading large-scale SAP Finance transformation, modernization, and S/4HANA programs.
• Strong stakeholder management, communication, influencing, and executive engagement skills.
• Ability to challenge business stakeholders and implementation partners constructively.
• Comfortable engaging with CFOs, senior leaders, auditors, and governance forums.
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making capabilities.
• Focus on business value realization, operational excellence, and continuous improvement.

Experience & Qualifications

• 10 -15+ years of experience in Finance and SAP environments, with strong expertise in SAP FI/CO.
• Proven experience in SAP FI/CO implementations, support, and SAP S/4HANA transformations.
• Experience leading SAP COE, Global Template, Product Ownership, or similar governance functions.
• Track record of delivering global SAP rollouts, upgrades, migrations, and enterprise transformation programs.
• Hands-on experience across SAP ECC and SAP S/4HANA landscapes.
• Strong exposure to budgeting, costing, financial consolidation, group reporting, and compliance processes.
• Experience in manufacturing, process industries, or other complex multi-entity, multi-country organizations.
• Demonstrated success in finance process standardization and SAP-enabled business transformation initiatives.
• Chartered Accountant (CA) mandatory; Bachelor's degree in Commerce, Finance, Accounting, Business Administration, or a related field.
• SAP FI/CO and/or SAP S/4HANA Finance certification preferred.
• Strong understanding of financial controls, governance, compliance, and reporting frameworks.
• Proven leadership experience managing enterprise-wide transformation programs and global stakeholder networks.

Olam Agri is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, nationality, disability, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Applicants are requested to complete all required steps in the application process including providing a resume/CV in order to be considered for open roles.

Want to be notified with the latest job alerts from Olam Agri?