The SAP COE Service Manager is responsible for the day-to-day operational management of SAP S/4HANA Run services, ensuring service stability, SLA adherence, and high business satisfaction. The role acts as the operational backbone of the SAP COE, translating service strategy into execution, managing incidents and changes, coordinating AMS partners, and ensuring seamless support for business operations.

Goal of function:

The role will require to collaborate with business leaders, IT executives, and SAP architects to define service roadmaps. Manage SAP service performance metrics, SLAs, and continuous improvement initiatives. Oversee incident, problem, and change management processes.

Tasks*

1) Main tasks:

1. SAP Run Operations Management

• Manage daily SAP Run operations across SAP S/4HANA and integrated systems.
• Ensure timely resolution of incidents, service requests, problems, and changes.
• Coordinate 24x7 support coverage and on-call models as required.
• Support stabilization during post-go-live and hypercare phases.

2. Incident, Problem & Change Management

• Lead major incident management (P1/P2) including coordination, communication, and resolution.
• Drive root cause analysis (RCA) and preventive action plans.
• Ensure all changes follow approved Change Management processes and are properly tested and communicated.
• Monitor change success rates and minimize unplanned outages.

3. SLA & Performance Monitoring

• Track and report SLAs, OLAs, and KPIs for SAP Run services.
• Prepare weekly and monthly service performance dashboards.
• Identify service gaps and drive corrective actions with internal teams and vendors.

4. Vendor & Partner Coordination

• Manage day-to-day interactions with AMS partners and system integrators.
• Ensure vendors meet contractual commitments, response times, and quality expectations.
• Support service reviews and contribute inputs for commercial and performance discussions.

5. Business & Stakeholder Engagement

• Act as the primary operational contact for business users and process owners.
• Communicate service status, incidents, and planned outages clearly and proactively.
• Gather business feedback and support continuous service improvements.

6. Knowledge Management & Process Discipline

• Ensure knowledge articles, SOPs, and runbooks are created and maintained.
• Promote shift-left practices and self-service enablement.
• Enforce adherence to ITIL / ITSM processes and SAP best practices.

7. Continuous Improvement & Automation Support

• Identify opportunities for automation, monitoring improvements, and ticket reduction.
• Support implementation of AIOps, alert optimization, and standard operating models.
• Contribute to COE maturity and operational excellence initiatives

2) Stakeholder Engagement

• Global Business Services Leadership
• Global ITS Organization
• SAP System Integrator(s)
• Business Process Owners & Operations Leaders
• Finance, HR, Procurement, Supply Chain Leadership
• External SAP and Technology Partners

3) Miscellaneous tasks:

Tasks not performed regularly which are nevertheless a distinct part of the job, or special tasks / project work.

Organization*

The function incumbent reports to:

Organizational unit:

GBS SAP COE Lead

GBS ITS

Important internal interfaces:

Important external interfaces:

Please list cooperation with important departments, sites, subsidiaries etc.

• ITS Business Partners

Please list cooperation with important external companies, agencies, authorities etc.

Key Performance Indicators

• Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
• Service Delivery
• SLA compliance (% incidents & requests met)
• Incident resolution time (MTTR)
• P1/P2 incident frequency
• Quality & Stability
• Repeat incident rate
• Change success rate
• Reduction in manual interventions
• Business Satisfaction

Qualifications, experience, know-how and skills critical for success*

1) Required training and education:

Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Information Technology/Business Information Systems/Information Security or related is required. • Master’s degree in business administration, Computer Science or related field is preferred.

• SAP certifications in service management or architecture are a plus.

2) Required professional experience (in years):

•   8–12 years of experience in SAP support or service management roles
•   Hands-on experience supporting SAP S/4HANA
•   Prior experience in SAP AMS, Run operations, or COE models
•   Experience working with global teams and offshore delivery models
•   ITIL Foundation certification preferred

3) Important personal qualities:

•   Execution-focused with strong follow-through
•   Calm and structured during high-severity incidents
•   Customer-oriented mindset with attention to detail
•   Collaborative team player across IT, business, and vendors
•   Continuous improvement mindset with curiosity to learn

4) Other specialized knowledge:

c) IT skills

• SAP Functional & Technical Understanding
• Strong working knowledge of SAP S/4HANA Run support
• Exposure to SAP functional areas such as:
• Finance (FI/CO)
• Supply Chain (MM, SD, PP, WM/EWM)
• Basic understanding of:
• SAP Basis operations
• SAP Fiori, roles & authorizations
• SAP integrations (CPI / PI-PO)
• Service Management Skills
• Strong grounding in ITIL / ITSM practices
• Experience using ServiceNow or similar ITSM tools
• Understanding of AMS delivery models and ticket-based operations
• Communication & Coordination
• Clear and structured communication skills
• Ability to manage multiple stakeholders and priorities
• Comfortable handling escalations and business-facing discussions

d) Product knowledge

Core SAP & Technical Skills

• Strong expertise in SAP S/4HANA Run Operations
• Solid understanding of:
  • SAP Finance (FI/CO)
  • SAP Logistics (MM, SD, PP, WM/EWM)
  • SAP Basis & Technical Operations
  • SAP Fiori, Authorizations, Interfaces
• Familiarity with SAP Solution Manager, Focused Run, ChaRM
• Understanding of SAP integrations (CPI, PI/PO, third-party systems)

Service Management & Governance

• Deep knowledge of ITIL / ITSM frameworks
• Experience with multi-vendor AMS governance
• Strong service transition and stabilization experience

Leadership & Stakeholder Management

• Executive-level communication and influence
• Strong escalation and conflict resolution capability
• Ability to balance business urgency with operational discipline

• SAP Products
• SAP S/4HANA
• SAP BW/4HANA / SAC
• SAP Solution Manager / Focused Run
• SAP Fiori & UI5
• SAP CPI / PI-PO
• Supporting Platforms
• ITSM tools (ServiceNow preferred)
• Monitoring tools (SAP ALM, APM, AIOps)
• Cloud platforms (AWS / Azure / GCP – SAP workloads)

5 ) Special personal requirements:

Please list requirements such as willingness to travel or work weekends or shifts etc.