Step Technical Governance & Solution Assurance Lead

**Job Description Summary** The STEP Technical Governance & Solution Assurance Lead is responsible for providing strategic direction, delivery leadership, and operational governance for the STEP development factory, with a primary focus on SAP S/4HANA and SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP). The incumbent leads the design, build, integration, extension, and continuous optimisation of SAP-based solutions across STEP, ensuring that development activities are delivered in line with the STEP roadmap, enterprise architecture principles, clean-core standards, quality expectations, and business priorities. The role oversees cross-functional internal and external delivery teams, manages key technology and implementation partners, and ensures scalable, secure, compliant, and future-ready SAP solutions that support global business transformation. **Job Description** **Major accountabilities:**  * Oversee the end-to-end development factory delivery lifecycle for SAP S/4HANA and SAP BTP solutions in alignment with STEP timelines, including planning, prioritisation, resource allocation, risk management, deployment readiness, and hypercare support. * Lead governance of SAP development, integration, and extension activities across global STEP workstreams, ensuring alignment with enterprise architecture, solution standards, clean-core principles, and business priorities. * Direct and inspire internal and external development teams to deliver high-quality SAP solutions, technical designs, integrations, enhancements, and platform services across SAP S/4HANA, SAP BTP, and related ecosystem components. * Oversee the design, build, integration, testing, deployment, and continuous optimisation of SAP-based capabilities to enhance business processes, improve operational efficiency, and support digital transformation objectives. * Establish and maintain strong relationships with SAP, system integrators, technology partners, and managed service providers to ensure delivery of robust, secure, scalable, and future-ready solutions and services. * Ensure compliance with relevant regulatory, quality, security, data privacy, and technology standards, including appropriate controls for validated and business-critical SAP environments. * Champion continuous improvement, automation, DevOps, reusable development patterns, and innovation across the SAP development factory, leveraging SAP BTP capabilities where appropriate to accelerate delivery and reduce technical debt. * Engage proactively with business, technology, architecture, security, quality, and programme stakeholders to gather requirements, manage expectations, provide transparent delivery updates, and ensure that SAP solutions effectively address business needs. * Responsible for performing all assigned activities in compliance with GxP regulations, company SOPs, and data integrity requirements. **Minimum Requirements:  Experience and Skills:** * 10+ years of experience in SAP solution delivery, enterprise application development, application management, or IT services within a global, multinational organisation, ideally including large-scale SAP S/4HANA transformation programmes. * Proven experience leading SAP development factories or large cross-functional delivery teams across internal associates, external partners, system integrators, and managed service providers. * Strong understanding of SAP S/4HANA architecture, SAP BTP capabilities, side-by-side and in-app extensibility, integration services, APIs, event-driven integration, Fiori, workflow automation, and cloud-native development approaches. * Demonstrated ability to govern SAP development standards, technical design quality, clean-core adherence, reusable patterns, technical debt reduction, and scalable solution architecture. * Strong delivery leadership skills, including portfolio prioritisation, release planning, risk and issue management, budget oversight, vendor management, and transparent executive-level reporting. * Excellent communication, collaboration, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to translate complex SAP technical topics into clear business value, delivery choices, and decision options. * Experience working in regulated, quality-driven, and business-critical environments, with awareness of security, compliance, data privacy, auditability, validation, and operational resilience requirements. * Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to convert business requirements into robust technical designs, delivery plans, and sustainable platform capabilities. * Proven ability to drive change, continuous improvement, automation, innovation, and high-performing team culture in complex global delivery environments. * Deep knowledge and practical experience in SAP S/4HANA, SAP Business Technology Platform, SAP integration patterns, extensions, and enterprise application delivery. * Certification in SAP S/4HANA, SAP BTP, SAP Integration Suite, SAP Activate, or relevant SAP development technologies is a plus. * Certification in project, product, agile, or service management methods such as Agile, Scrum, SAFe, ITIL, PRINCE2, or PMI is a plus. * Experience with Agile, DevOps, CI/CD, test automation, release governance, and modern engineering practices in regulated enterprise environments is preferred. **Education:** * Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration, Engineering, or a related field; Master’s degree preferred. **Languages:** * Fluent English required (oral and written) **Skills Desired** Budget Management, Business Acumen, Performance Management, Risk Management, Service Delivery Management, Stakeholder Management, Strategic Planning, Talent Development, Waterfall Project Management