Requirements
The ideal candidate will possess a Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Business Administration, or a related field, with a minimum of 8-10 years of experience in technology implementation and management. Key requirements include strong understanding of business processes supported by ERP systems, experience with cloud infrastructure deployments of large-scale enterprise systems, and demonstrated experience with infrastructure and connectivity for global organizations. Experience with hyperscalers like Microsoft Azure and SAP is desirable. Strong leadership, communication, problem-solving, and vendor management skills are essential. Relevant certifications such as PMP, ITIL, or ERP certifications are a plus.
Description
Job Summary:This position will be responsible for overseeing the infrastructure setup and management of the SAP S/4HANA system deployed on Microsoft Azure as part of the RISE with SAP initiative. The Infrastructure Lead will work closely with SAP and Microsoft to ensure the ERP infrastructure is properly configured and managed, and that all technical aspects related to connectivity, failover, and disaster recovery are handled efficiently.A critical element of this role is to ensure effective alignment of the ERP to the Group's overall infrastructure approach, and this role will act as a bridge between our central Infrastructure experts and the ERP Transformation program teamThis role will also take responsibility for managing the SLA and uptime performance of SAP (and Microsoft), and therefore will play a large role in ensuring effective monitoring of availability, reporting on performance and effective and ongoing vendor managementThis role requires strong experience in working with deploying enterprise systems onto hyperscalers (ideally experience in Azure) with demonstrated experience of network architecture, firewalls, connectivity, security and availability managementThe Infrastructure Lead will work closely with other functional business and tech leads, stakeholders, and end-users to ensure effective access to different user groups in different locations, testing of specifically intense workloads, to ensure that the infrastructure supports the needs of the programThis role will align with functional technology streams in the program to ensure that the requirements of each functional area are effectively captured in this streams scope, and to ensure that dependencies required of functional streams are well managed into InfrastructureThis role requires knowledge of ERP and enterprise systems, strong leadership capabilities, and excellent communication skills to work with cross-functional teams, stakeholders, and vendors.Infrastructure Design And Architecture:Lead the review of architecture of the infrastructure environment proposed by SAP and Microsoft required to support the ERP systemEnsure that detailed infrastructure blueprints and architecture aligns with the ERP system's technical and business requirements, including designing for scalability, ensuring the infrastructure can grow with business needs and accommodate future expansionIdentify and flag key infrastructure design decisions that require validation or approval from Group technical stakeholders.Ensure all infrastructure-related decisions (e.g., network architecture, security models, resource sizing) are made with input from the right technical experts in the Group.Coordinate technical workshops with SAP, Microsoft, and Group stakeholders to ensure alignment on infrastructure design and implementation.Infrastructure Setup And Configuration:Oversee and validate the configuration of the ERP infrastructure in Azure, ensuring that all technical and business requirements are met.Work closely with SAP and Microsoft to ensure the cloud environment is set up according to best practices and meets the organization's performance and security needs.Monitor infrastructure delivery timelines, and ensure they are in sync with the broader project schedule.Network And Connectivity Management:Lead the design and validation of the connectivity strategy, ensuring seamless integration between SAP S/4HANA and other systems within the organizationEnsure the proper set up and configuration of firewalls, VPNs, and other security measures to protect infrastructure components and ensure secure connectivity.Implement load balancers, gateways, and network monitoring tools to ensure high availability and optimal performanceInfrastructure Testing, Failover, And Disaster Recovery:Lead infrastructure-related testing efforts, including performance testing, failover testing, and disaster recovery simulations. This includes location testing across different countries in the GroupCollaborate with SAP and Microsoft to establish disaster recovery plans, ensuring that infrastructure failover capabilities are robust and tested.Ensure the backup and archiving strategy is clearly documented and put in place as part of the ERP program implementationMonitoring, Maintenance, and Troubleshooting:Oversee the monitoring setup for the cloud infrastructure, ensuring that proactive performance tracking is establishedWork with the DevOps Support Lead to ensure infrastructure monitoring and alerting is embedded into service management disciplines and ITSM toolingRegularly review performance metrics to ensure that SAP and Microsoft are meeting uptime and performance SLAs.Ensure that any performance or connectivity issues are quickly identified, escalated, and resolved with SAP and Microsoft.Security And Compliance:Work with the Group InfoSec team and the Identify & Access Mgt Lead to ensure the relevant security policies and controls across the infrastructure are deployed, including identity and access management, encryption, and intrusion detection.Ensure the infrastructure complies with organizational security standards, industry regulations, and data protection laws (e.g., GDPR).Legacy Archiving:Lead the development, planning and execution of a legacy archiving strategy for the Group's outgoing legacy ERP estateEnsure the data to be archived from decommissioned systems has clear access and retrieval protocols, should users or functions require access to cold stored dataIdentify the cloud, application and support vendor requirements needed to deliver upon the legacy archiving strategyDocumentation And Knowledge Sharing:Maintain comprehensive documentation on the infrastructure setup, connectivity strategy, and disaster recovery plans.Ensure all infrastructure-related knowledge is effectively transferred to the appropriate teams for long-term maintenance and management.Organize and lead knowledge-sharing sessions with relevant teams to ensure ongoing infrastructure management aligns with best practicesWhat You'll Need To Succeed:Strong understanding of business processes and how they are supported by ERP systems.Experience working with Cloud Infrastructure deployments of large-scale enterprise systemsDemonstrated experience working with infrastructure and connectivity for global organisationsIdeally, would have experience of different infrastructure deployment models (e.g. IaaS, PaaS, SaaS)Experience working with SAP is desirable, more important is for experience of working with hyperscalers such as Microsoft AzureExperience managing large hybrid teams comprised of internal and external resourcesExperience managing external vendors to a budget / target and ensuring close scope managementMinimum of 8-10 years of experience in technology implementation and management.Proven experience as a technical lead or similar role in large-scale transformation programsBehavioural Skills And Certification:Strong leadership and team management abilitiesExcellent communication and interpersonal skillsProblem-solving and analytical skillsAbility to work effectively with cross-functional teams and stakeholders.Detail-oriented with a strong focus on quality.Proactive and self-motivated with a strong sense of ownership.Adaptable and able to thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment.Committed to continuous learning and professional development.Education And Professional CertificationBachelor's degree in information technology, Business Administration, or a related field.Relevant certifications (e.g., PMP, ITIL, ERP certifications) is a plus