JOB DESCRIPTION
Role: Project Manager – SAP FI/CO
Position: Permanent
Salary: Circa £60k
Location: Crawley
Travel: International Travel 10 - 15% Pa
Background to the role
This role ensures the integrity of all finance processes within the SAP platform by providing global direction, cohesion and consistency to financial processes from beginning to end. The role has a broad scope since it includes the pulling together of processes from all cross-functional areas, as well as sub processes in finance, for a complete picture of the financial results. The role includes staff responsibility for one team member.
Purpose of the role
• Design, develop, implement and support best practice for world-class, global financial processes and procedures applicable to the company line of business through investigation of customer needs, current practices and best practice.
• Guide and train regional business finance teams in the adoption and implementation of the agreed best practice processes and procedures on a homogeneous global basis.
• Maintain the integrity of the SAP finance system processes and ensure support issues are resolved in line with the defined global process.
• To provide the strategic leadership role for the development of financial systems that improve efficiency of operations and data collection, and that enable process improvements to be realised.
Systems development
• Manage the configuration and development of the required enhancements to the SAP system functionality and the implementation of consistent system processes globally. Specific responsibility for the core Financial modules of SAP, FI/CO, as well as related sub-modules, receivables, payables and assets, (AR/AP/AM). Finally to ensure that financial systems that are not maintained on an SAP platform are integrated with the Global SAP platform on a consistent basis and in such a way that Global Reporting integrity is maintained.
• Maintain & update documentation of systems, processes, procedures and training materials resulting from enhancements and developments.
• Work closely with the other SAP Team Leads to ensure that the financial impacts of each of these multiple process flows, which extend across legal entities, flow accurately into the core financial reporting tools.
• To work closely with the Finance Transaction Managers in Europe, US and Asia to ensure that the financial ledgers are maintained in a controlled state.
• Engender and maintain cross-territorial and cross-functional contact, communication and co-operation. Bring regional and central staff to a common concept of the global organisation and an understanding of common needs and purposes.
• Identify and deliver initiatives that will provide continuous improvement of the global financial processes, procedures and systems.
• Provide SAP expertise and advice to the financial community with respect to changing business requirements to ensure the system continues to support the financial reporting requirements.
Systems support
A key requirement of the role is to ensure that global users are provided with a satisfactory level of support such that the Regional Transaction Managers and Business Analysts are able to leverage the functionality of the system for progressive business improvement.
• This support includes break-fix as well as process improvement support to a level that is manageable within the priorities of implementation and improvement.
• Manage the resource from the third party outsourced technical team based in India to ensure changes being made to the SAP system meet the global design.
• Ensure Sarbanes Oxley controls are maintained within our control system which is used to manage all system changes to the SAP Production System. Ensure adequate approval is given for all changes and each change is assessed to ensure cross functional impacts are assessed. Ensure adequate testing, including cross functional testing, is fully carried out and documented.
Knowledge, skills, experience required
•Graduate, qualified accountant (preferred), with ideally 10 years' experience in a commercial organisation.
•Experience in business process re-engineering / change management and project management.
•Experience in the implementation/development of business software applications.
•Experience will preferably have spanned both financial transaction and group consolidation roles.
•Strong computer literacy, with experience in using, configuring, managing and implementing SAP systems.
•Strong interpersonal skills are a necessity. Specifically must be an excellent team player forming strong working relationships within the IT function and the business community, have excellent listening and oral communication skills, be persuasive and assertive, be plausible and effective when dealing with senior managers.
The ideal Finance Project Manager will have extensive experience in:
• Multiple SAP FI/CO implementations
• SAP ECC 6
• Working in a manufacturing environment
• Experience in SAP CO configuration
• Detailed experience in SAP FI configuration
• Strong written and spoken communication with the ability to engage with stakeholders at all levels of the organisation and System Integrators to articulate proposed solutions and impacts
• Strong consultancy experience in SAP Finance/Controlling modules
• Excellent consulting skills with the ability to understand business requirements and translate these in to viable solutions within the SAP Solution Footprint (Blueprinting, writing of functional specifications, testing)
Principal accountabilities
• Accountable for maintaining Finance Process Team progress on ongoing SAP support, enhancements and developments. Includes direct line responsibility for the staff management of the core financial ledgers, and coordination of the cross functional SAP processes.
• Accountable for the detailed design, specification, documentation and ownership of core financial processes, and for the way in which they interact with non-financial processes including ensuring that they reflect the commercial needs of the business.
• Accountable for preparing, implementing and maintaining of training materials and programmes for the proper implementation of global financial processes.
• Identify and implement year-on-year improvements in business processes.
• Ensure adequate, documented controls are followed with regards system changes to SAP.
• Keep abreast of changing internal business strategies and structures.
• Identify and implement process changes and improvements in order to maintain/improve the relevance of information systems and processes.
Nature and scope
• will be a member of the Global IT (Information Technology) team, working closely with the regional Finance Transaction Managers and must be highly regarded by business management.
• will have to acquire a good knowledge of the business operations and the relevant systems processes and procedures.
• will be the Finance team lead for the SAP team and in that position will have a reporting line into the IT Business Process Manager.
• is responsible for Finance developments of SAP and ongoing support.
• Close integration will be required with the cross functional team leads.
The role is international in scope and therefore a level of travel is vital to its success. It is expected that international travel will make up as much as 10-15% of each year.