Head of Enterprise Platforms & Applications

stichd; 's-Hertogenbosch; On-site; EUR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

STICHD seeks a transformative Head of Enterprise Platforms & Applications to lead SAP S/4HANA and related platforms. You will drive product-led delivery, governance, and modernization while developing high-performing teams that enable business outcomes.

You will manage strategy, roadmaps, and operational performance, partnering with senior stakeholders to balance stability with innovation and transformation across the enterprise.

Qualifications

• Experience leading enterprise applications and ERP landscapes.
• Proven track record in SAP S/4HANA upgrades and modernization.
• Strong leadership, coaching, and stakeholder management.

Responsibilities

• Own strategy, roadmap, and performance of the enterprise application landscape.
• Lead SAP S/4HANA platform strategy and delivery organization.
• Drive Agile, DevOps adoption and product-led operating model.
• Develop future leaders and cross-functional teams to deliver measurable business value.
• Collaborate with infrastructure, security, and integration teams to maintain a robust application ecosystem.

Skills

Leadership

Agile & DevOps

Strategic governance

Stakeholder management

People development

Product management

SAP S/4HANA

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in IT/Business/Engineering

Tools

SAP S/4HANA

PLM

WMS

Job description

At STICHD, we connect technology, processes, and people to enable business growth across our global operations.

Our enterprise platforms are at the heart of everything we do, from product creation and supply chain execution to finance, planning, logistics, and customer delivery. We operate a modern SAP S/4HANA landscape complemented by PLM, WMS, Supply Planning, Integration, and other business-critical applications.

As we continue our transformation towards a product-oriented and agile operating model, we are looking for an experienced leader who can combine technology leadership, operational excellence, and people development. This is not a traditional application management role.

We are looking for a transformative leader who can build high-performing teams, modernize ways of working, and create an environment where stability, innovation, and continuous improvement go hand in hand.

As Head of Enterprise Platforms & Applications, you will lead the teams responsible for delivering, supporting, and continuously improving our enterprise application landscape. You will be responsible for SAP S/4HANA, surrounding enterprise platforms, and the people who make them successful. You will drive the evolution from a traditional functional support organization towards a product-led delivery model where multidisciplinary teams own both operational excellence and business outcomes.

Your mission is clear: Keep the core stable. Deliver change faster. Develop people.

Your Mission

As Head of Enterprise Platforms & Applications, you will lead the teams responsible for delivering, supporting, and continuously improving our enterprise application landscape. You will be responsible for SAP S/4HANA, surrounding enterprise platforms, and the people who make them successful.

You will drive the evolution from a traditional functional support organization towards a product-led delivery model where multidisciplinary teams own both operational excellence and business outcomes.

Your mission is clear: Keep the core stable. Deliver change faster. Develop people.

• Own the strategy, roadmap, and operational performance of the enterprise application landscape.
• Ensure enterprise platforms support current and future business objectives.
• Balance operational stability with business innovation and transformation initiatives.
• Drive modern application management practices across the organization.
• Act as a trusted advisor to senior business and technology stakeholders.
• Lead the SAP S/4HANA platform strategy and delivery organization.
• Drive adoption and governance of Clean Core principles.
• Lead SAP upgrade initiatives, release planning, and technology modernization efforts.
• Oversee SAP Fiori adoption and continuous user experience improvements.
• Ensure sustainable architecture, standardization, and reduction of technical debt.
• Govern SAP enhancements, developments, integrations, and lifecycle management activities.
• Own the end-to-end enterprise application landscape strategy.
• Lead environment governance across Development, Test, Acceptance, and Production environments.
• Oversee landscape refreshes and data replication activities.
• Ensure non-production environments are regularly refreshed with relevant production data while meeting compliance, security, and quality requirements.
• Improve testing effectiveness by providing reliable and representative test environments.
• Collaborate with infrastructure, security, and integration teams to maintain a robust application ecosystem.

Agile Product Delivery & DevOps

• Lead a sprint-based enterprise application organization operating under Agile and DevOps principles.
• Transform functional consultant teams into Product Owners, Product Experts, and business partners.
• Establish clear ownership of products, services, backlogs, and business outcomes.
• Drive effective sprint planning, backlog refinement, reviews, and retrospectives.
• Ensure teams balance Run, Change, and Innovation activities within a single operating model.
• Improve delivery predictability, quality, and responsiveness to business demand.
• Foster a culture where success is measured through delivered business value rather than completed activities.
• Lead, coach, and inspire a multidisciplinary team of Application Owners, Product Owners, Functional Consultants, Technical Specialists, and external partners.
• Develop future leaders and subject matter experts within the organization.
• Build a culture of accountability, ownership, collaboration, and continuous learning.
• Manage performance through clear objectives, measurable outcomes, and coaching.
• Create development plans that support both individual ambitions and organizational needs.
• Empower teams to make decisions and take ownership without micromanagement.

Enterprise Application Portfolio

Provide leadership, governance, and direction across business-critical platforms including:

• SAP S/4HANA
• SAP Fiori
• Product Lifecycle Management (PLM)
• Warehouse Management Systems (WMS)
• Supply Planning Solutions
• Integration Platforms
• Business Process Automation Solutions
• Future enterprise platforms supporting business growth

You will ensure application owners and product owners operate as one aligned team focused on delivering measurable business value.

Continuous Improvement & Operational Excellence

• Create a culture focused on continuous improvement and operational excellence.
• Drive simplification, standardization, automation, and process optimization.
• Reduce recurring incidents, technical debt, and operational inefficiencies.
• Establish meaningful KPIs and service performance measures.
• Improve system reliability, stakeholder satisfaction, and delivery velocity.
• Ensure lessons learned from incidents, releases, and projects are embedded into future ways of working.

Business Partnership & Stakeholder Management

• Partner closely with Functional Excellence teams, Business Process Owners, Process Excellence Leads, Enterprise Architects, and senior business leaders.
• Build strong relationships between business and technology teams.
• Translate business priorities into clear delivery roadmaps and actionable backlogs.
• Facilitate alignment across commercial, product creation, supply chain, logistics, planning, finance, and technology domains.
• Create an environment where business and technology jointly own outcomes and success.

What Success Looks Like

Within your first 24 months, you will have:

• Established a mature product-oriented operating model.
• Successfully developed functional consultants into business-focused Product Owners and Product Experts.
• Improved collaboration between Enterprise Applications, Functional Excellence, Process Owners, Architecture, and Business stakeholders.
• Increased delivery speed while improving platform stability.
• Successfully delivered SAP upgrades and landscape modernization initiatives.
• Reduced technical debt through effective Clean Core governance.
• Improved employee engagement, ownership, and accountability.
• Created a culture of continuous improvement and measurable business value delivery.

Your Talent

• A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in IT, Business Administration, Engineering, or a related field.
• Extensive experience leading enterprise applications, ERP landscapes, and digital transformation initiatives.
• A strong track record in managing SAP S/4HANA environments, including upgrades, modernization programs, and Clean Core governance.
• Experience with broader enterprise platforms such as PLM, WMS, Supply Planning, and integrations.
• Proven success in Agile, DevOps, and product-led operating models.
• The ability to lead high-performing teams, collaborate with external partners, and build strong relationships across business and technology functions.
• Who you are
• A people-first leader who inspires teams and helps others grow.
• A coach who empowers ownership, accountability, and decision-making.
• Equally comfortable discussing long‑term strategy and rolling up your sleeves to get things done.
• Pragmatic, collaborative, and focused on delivering measurable business value.
• Passionate about continuous improvement, innovation, and building strong partnerships.
• Someone who naturally connects technology, processes, and people to drive business success.

This role is based in Den Bosch, the Netherlands. Working remotely from other countries is not possible.