Forward Deployed Engineering Manager

SAP SE; Saudi Arabia; On-site; SAR 350,000 - 700,000; Full time

Job summary

SAP SE is seeking a Director-level engineering leader to guide a team of senior engineers, data scientists, and AI practitioners embedded with strategic customers. You will drive technical direction, talent growth, and delivery outcomes at scale, interfacing with SAP leadership to align priorities and resources.

You will champion responsible AI practices, build strong customer relationships, and shape the team’s culture toward learning, inclusion, and innovation.

Qualifications

• Proven experience leading and managing senior engineering teams.
• Strong technical background in AI, machine learning, data engineering, or software engineering.
• Deep understanding of forward-deployed or customer-embedded delivery models.
• Ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on delivery accountability.
• Demonstrated talent development and cross-functional alignment.

Responsibilities

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of senior engineers and AI practitioners, fostering a high-performance culture grounded in accountability, collaboration, and continuous growth.
• Own team performance, including goal setting, feedback cycles, career development, and talent planning.
• Drive delivery excellence across multiple forward-deployed customer engagements, ensuring outcomes align with agreed success.
• Set technical direction and architectural guardrails for the team, in partnership with Chief Experts and technical leads.
• Act as a senior escalation point for delivery risks, team challenges, and customer concerns.
• Attract, hire, and onboard top engineering talent across AI, data, and software engineering disciplines.
• Partner with product, go-to-market, and regional leadership to align team capabilities with strategic priorities and customer demand.

Skills

Leadership

AI/ML

Data engineering

Software engineering

Stakeholder management

Talent development

Diversity & inclusion

Communication skills

Customer delivery

Job description

We help the world run better

At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we'll bring out the best in you. We're builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what's next. The work is challenging – but it matters. You'll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your wellbeing, and truly belong. What's in it for you Constant learning, skill growth, great benefits, and a team that wants you to grow and succeed.

In This Role, You Will

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of senior engineers and AI practitioners, fostering a high-performance culture grounded in accountability, collaboration, and continuous growth.
• Own team performance, including goal setting, feedback cycles, career development, and talent planning.
• Drive delivery excellence across multiple forward-deployed customer engagements, ensuring outcomes align with agreed success.

What You'll Build

• In this role, you lead and grow a team of senior engineers, data scientists, and AI practitioners embedded directly within SAP's most strategic customer environments. As a Director-level people manager, you are accountable for the performance, development, and wellbeing of your team — while also owning the delivery outcomes, technical quality, and customer impact of forward-deployed engagements at scale. You operate at the intersection of people leadership, technical strategy, and customer excellence — translating organizational goals into team direction, and ensuring your team has the support, clarity, and environment to do their best work.
• Set technical direction and architectural guardrails for the team, in partnership with Chief Experts and technical leads.
• Act as a senior escalation point for delivery risks, team challenges, and customer concerns — resolving issues with clarity and decisiveness.
• Build strong relationships with senior customer stakeholders and SAP leadership, representing the team's work and advocating for the resources needed to succeed.
• Attract, hire, and onboard top engineering talent across AI, data, and software engineering disciplines.
• Partner with product, go-to-market, and regional leadership to align team capabilities with strategic priorities and customer demand.
• Champion engineering best practices, responsible AI principles, and a culture of learning and innovation within the team.

What You Bring

• Proven experience leading and managing senior engineering teams, with a track record of building high-performing, inclusive, and motivated engineering organizations.
• Strong technical background in AI, machine learning, data engineering, or software engineering — with the credibility to guide technical decisions and earn the trust of expert engineers.
• Deep understanding of forward-deployed or customer-embedded delivery models, and experience managing complex, high-stakes customer engagements.
• Strong problem-solving skills and design thinking approach; ability to balance strategic thinking with hands‑on delivery accountability.
• Demonstrated ability to develop talent, navigate organizational complexity, and drive alignment across diverse, cross‑functional stakeholders.
• Proven ability to work in an Agentic AI context — understanding and shaping how AI agents are applied within teams and customer environments.
• Experience hiring and scaling engineering teams across regions, with a strong instinct for talent and a commitment to diversity and inclusion.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills — able to engage effectively with engineers, executives, and customers alike.
• Familiarity with SAP AI technologies and enterprise AI deployment realities is a strong advantage.

Where You Belong

You will be part of a growing AI and industry expert leadership team serving customers across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. At this level, your most important product is your team — their growth, their culture, and their impact on customers. We value leaders who are direct, empathetic, and energized by helping talented people do their best work. You will thrive here if you are a builder of teams as much as a builder of solutions — and if you are motivated by creating an environment where exceptional engineers can do the most important work of their careers. #SAPIndustryAICareers #SAPAICareers

Bring out your best

SAP innovations help more than four hundred thousand customers worldwide work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively. Originally known for leadership in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, SAP has evolved to become a market leader in end-to-end business application software and related services for database, analytics, intelligent technologies, and experience management. As a cloud company with two hundred million users and more than one hundred thousand employees worldwide, we are purpose-driven and future-focused, with a highly collaborative team ethic and commitment to personal development. Whether connecting global industries, people, or platforms, we help ensure every challenge gets the solution it deserves. At SAP, you can bring out your best.

We win with inclusion

SAP's culture of inclusion, focus on health and well‑being, and flexible working models help ensure that everyone – regardless of background – feels included and can run at their best. At SAP, we believe we are made stronger by the unique capabilities and qualities that each person brings to our company, and we invest in our employees to inspire confidence and help everyone realize their full potential. We ultimately believe in unleashing all talent and creating a better world.

SAP is committed to the values of Equal Employment Opportunity and provides accessibility accommodations to applicants with physical and/or mental disabilities.

For SAP employees: Only permanent roles are eligible for the SAP Employee Referral Program, according to the eligibility rules set in the SAP Referral Policy. Specific conditions may apply for roles in Vocational Training.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their age, race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, et al), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status, or disability, in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local legal requirements.

Successful candidates might be required to undergo a background verification with an external vendor.

AI Usage in the Recruitment Process

For information on the responsible use of AI in our recruitment process, please refer to our Guidelines for Ethical Usage of AI in the Recruiting Process. Please note that any violation of these guidelines may result in disqualification from the hiring process.

Requisition ID: 457080 | Work Area: Software-Design and Development | Expected Travel: 0 - 10% | Career Status: Professional | Employment Type: Regular Full Time | Additional Locations: