Overview
Skills
Job Details
Job Overview:
Seeking a highly skilled and experienced SAP Ariba Technical Product Owner to join our IT team. The ideal candidate will have a strong background in both on-premise and cloud-based SAP environments, with a proven ability to bridge the gap between our legacy ECC system and our future S/4HANA and Ariba platforms. This role is not a developer role, but a hands-on technical and functional position focused on reviewing, designing, and governing configuration changes and integrations across the SAP landscape. As the product owner for SAP Ariba, this individual will define and manage the product roadmap, prioritize the backlog, and work closely with business stakeholders to ensure the platform delivers measurable value and follows best-practice functionality.
Job Responsibilities:
· 25% – Product Ownership & Business Partnership
o Product Strategy & Roadmap: Define and manage the SAP Ariba product roadmap, backlog, and release plan, aligning with business objectives for Source to Pay.
o Requirements & Solution Design: Gather, analyze, and translate business requirements into user stories and functional/technical specifications for Ariba.
o Process Optimization: Partner with Procurement, AP, and Finance to optimize Source to Pay processes, leveraging Ariba’s standard capabilities for efficiency and compliance.
o User Adoption & Training Support: Contribute to change management and training efforts, promoting user adoption and understanding of Ariba functionalities.
o Continuous Improvement: Stay current with Ariba releases and new features, evaluating and implementing beneficial functionalities to enhance the platform.
· 30% – Ariba Configuration, Governance & Operations
o Ariba Configuration & Best Practices: Lead hands on configuration of SAP Ariba modules (e.g., Sourcing, Contracts, Buying & Invoicing, SLP/SQM), ensuring adherence to best practices and minimizing customization.
o Workflow & Policy Management: Design, configure, and maintain Ariba workflows, approval rules, Guided Buying policies, and catalog structures.
o Data Management: Oversee master data and transactional data integrity within Ariba, ensuring consistency and quality.
o Security & Compliance: Ensure Ariba roles, permissions, and configurations adhere to security policies, internal controls, and compliance requirements.
o Documentation: Create and maintain comprehensive functional and technical documentation, including design documents, configuration guides, and process flows.
· 20% – Integration Design, Build & Support
o Integration Oversight: Provide functional and technical oversight for Ariba integrations with SAP ECC/S/4HANA and other systems, ensuring data flow and system connectivity.
o Lead the technical design, development, and support of complex integrations between SAP systems (ECC, S/4HANA) and non SAP applications.
o Develop and maintain interfaces using a variety of technologies, including OData services, SOAP/REST APIs, and IDocs.
o Design and implement integration flows using SAP’s modern integration platform, SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) Integration Suite (CPI).
· 20% – Testing, Release & Performance Management
o Testing & Quality Assurance: Plan and coordinate system integration testing (SIT), user acceptance testing (UAT), and regression testing for Ariba solutions.
o Release Management: Manage the deployment of Ariba configurations and enhancements across environments, ensuring smooth transitions.
o L3 Support & Troubleshooting: Provide expert level support for complex Ariba incidents, performing root cause analysis and coordinating with SAP/Ariba support.
o Performance Monitoring & Optimization: Monitor Ariba system performance and usage, identifying opportunities for continuous improvement and optimization.
· 5% - Other duties as assigned
Job Qualifications:
· Education/Experience
o Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or a related field.
o Overall Experience: 7+ years of progressive experience in SAP Ariba implementations, support, and product management.
o Ariba Implementation: Minimum of 3 full lifecycle SAP Ariba implementations in a lead, senior, or product owner capacity.
o Product Ownership: Demonstrated experience acting as a Product Owner, Solution Owner, or similar role for a SaaS application, preferably within the Source-to-Pay domain.
o Ariba Module Expertise: Hands-on configuration and functional expertise across multiple SAP Ariba modules, including Spend Control Tower, Ariba Business Network, Ariba Sourcing, Contracts, Buying & Invoicing (P2P, Guided Buying, Catalogs, PunchOut/CIF), and Supplier Lifecycle & Performance (SLP/SQM).
o SAP Integration: Strong experience integrating Ariba with SAP ECC or S/4HANA (MM, FI, AP modules).
o Methodologies: Experience working in Agile or hybrid Agile environments, with a solid understanding of backlog management, user story creation, and sprint planning.
· Technical Skills
o SAP Ariba Configuration: In-depth knowledge and hands-on experience configuring Ariba modules (Sourcing, Contracts, Buying & Invoicing, SLP/SQM, Ariba Network).
o SAP Integration Platforms: Proficiency with SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) Integration Suite (CPI) for designing and implementing integration flows.
o Ariba Connectivity: Expertise in managing and utilizing Cloud Integration Gateway (CIG) for seamless connectivity between SAP systems and the Ariba Network.
o Interface Technologies: Strong technical proficiency in developing and maintaining interfaces using OData services, SOAP/REST APIs, and IDocs.
o SAP Backend Knowledge: Solid understanding of SAP ECC/S4HANA modules (MM, FI, AP) and their integration points with Ariba.
o Data Management: Knowledge of master data and transactional data integrity principles within Ariba and integrated systems.
· Functional & Business Knowledge
o Source-to-Pay Expertise: Deep understanding of end-to-end Source-to-Pay / Procure-to-Pay processes, including strategic sourcing, contract management, requisitioning, purchasing, invoicing, and supplier management.
o Ariba Best Practices: Ability to drive adoption of standard Ariba best practices and minimize unnecessary customizations.
o Process Optimization: Skill in optimizing business processes by leveraging Ariba's standard capabilities for efficiency and compliance.
o Workflow & Policy Design: Knowledge of designing and maintaining Ariba workflows, approval rules, Guided Buying policies, and catalog structures.
· Soft Skills & Abilities
o Product Leadership: Ability to define and manage a product roadmap, prioritize backlogs, and translate business needs into actionable requirements.
o Stakeholder Management: Excellent communication, collaboration, and influencing skills to engage effectively with business stakeholders (Procurement, AP, Finance, Legal) and IT teams.
o Problem-Solving: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to troubleshoot complex functional and technical issues.
o Communication: Exceptional verbal and written communication skills, capable of articulating complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
o Strategic Thinking: Ability to think strategically about the Ariba platform's evolution and its impact on business objectives.
o Mentorship: Capability to mentor and guide junior team members on Ariba functionalities and best practices.
The Planet Group and our companies are equal opportunity employers. It is our practice not to discriminate against any employee or applicant based on any criteria, condition or basis protected by laws or regulations in the locations where we do business. All qualified applicants are encouraged to apply. We celebrate diversity and are committed to providing an environment of mutual respect. We believe that diversity, equity and inclusion enable us to better meet our mission and values while serving our clients across the globe. If you have a disability or handicap and would like us to accommodate you in any reasonable way, please inform your recruiter, or contact us, so that we can discuss the appropriate alternatives available.