Title: ERP System Manager / ERP Optimization Manager IFS
(ERP transformational vs. ongoing support)
Requires ship or Permanent/Legal Resident
Location: San Diego, CA 92128 (HQ)
100% onsite or at least 4 days a week at HQ
Domestic and International travel: Amount of time to be discussed
Department: Information Technology / Business Operations
Reports To: [Chief Financial Officer / Chief Information Officer / Director of IT]
Size of company: About 400 employees globally
Size of staff to oversee: No direct reports at first.
Budgetary responsibility: to be determined
Education: Bachelor s degree in Information Systems, Business Administration, Accounting, Finance, Operations, Engineering, or a related field.
Position Summary
The ERP Optimization Manager will serve as the internal owner and subject-matter expert for the company s IFS ERP system. This role is responsible for improving the effectiveness, usability, data integrity, and business value of the ERP platform.
The manager will lead ERP-related projects, develop business reporting and analytics, refine system configurations and data inputs, and partner with functional leaders to improve processes across Finance, Operations, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Procurement, Sales, and other departments. The successful candidate will combine strong IFS technical knowledge with business-process expertise, project-management discipline, and the ability to translate operational needs into practical system solutions.
Key Responsibilities
ERP Ownership and Optimization
Serve as the primary internal owner and administrator of the IFS ERP environment.
Develop and maintain an ERP optimization roadmap aligned with company priorities and growth objectives.
Evaluate existing workflows, configurations, screens, tables, fields, and inputs to identify opportunities for simplification, automation, and improved data accuracy.
Configure and enhance IFS functionality in partnership with business stakeholders, external consultants, and third-party providers.
Promote consistent system usage and reduce reliance on manual spreadsheets and disconnected processes.
Assess new IFS features, modules, upgrades, and integrations and recommend solutions based on business value.
Maintain appropriate documentation for configurations, workflows, reports, interfaces, and system changes.
Project Management
Lead ERP projects from requirements gathering through design, testing, training, deployment, and post-implementation support.
Define project scope, objectives, timelines, responsibilities, resource requirements, risks, and success measures.
Manage multiple initiatives simultaneously and provide clear status reporting to leadership and project stakeholders.
Coordinate internal resources, IFS representatives, consultants, and other vendors.
Maintain project plans, issue logs, decision records, and change-control documentation.
Ensure projects are delivered on time, within scope, and with measurable operational benefits.
Lead user-acceptance testing and validate that system changes meet approved business requirements.
Business Reporting and Analytics
Design, build, and maintain operational, financial, and management reporting within IFS and approved reporting tools.
Partner with department leaders to define key performance indicators, reporting requirements, and management dashboards.
Improve the accuracy, consistency, accessibility, and timeliness of business information.
Develop standardized reports that support forecasting, profitability analysis, inventory management, production performance, purchasing, project performance, and executive decision-making.
Reconcile reports to source data and establish controls to validate reporting accuracy.
Identify opportunities to automate recurring reports and reduce manual data preparation.
Maintain clear definitions for key metrics and promote a consistent source of truth across the organization.
Data, Tables, and System Inputs
Review and refine ERP data structures, master data, tables, fields, validation rules, and user-input processes.
Establish standards for customer, supplier, item, inventory, financial, project, and other master data.
Improve data-entry screens and workflows to make information easier to enter correctly and consistently.
Identify duplicate, incomplete, inaccurate, or obsolete data and coordinate appropriate remediation.
Establish data-quality measures, ownership responsibilities, and ongoing monitoring processes.
Manage data imports, conversions, updates, and integrations using controlled and documented procedures.
Ensure changes to data structures and configurations are appropriately tested, approved, secured, and documented.
Protect system stability by ensuring database-level changes are performed only through approved technical and change-management processes.
Business Process Improvement
Work directly with functional leaders and end users to understand business challenges and identify root causes.
Map current-state processes and design improved future-state workflows supported by IFS.
Recommend solutions that balance standard IFS functionality, business requirements, maintainability, cost, and risk.
Identify and eliminate unnecessary manual steps, duplicate entry, workarounds, and process gaps.
Facilitate cross-functional working sessions and help departments agree on standardized processes.
Track the financial and operational benefits achieved through ERP optimization initiatives.
Governance, Security, and Support
Establish an ERP governance process for prioritizing enhancements, projects, reports, and support requests.
Participate in or support the company s IT Steering Committee.
Partner with IT and business leadership to maintain appropriate user roles, permissions, approval authorities, and segregation of duties.
Support cybersecurity, internal-control, audit, and regulatory requirements related to the ERP environment.
Coordinate upgrades, patches, integrations, system testing, and release management.
Develop training materials and provide education to end users, process owners, and system champions.
Monitor recurring support issues and implement long-term solutions that reduce disruption and improve user adoption.
Manage vendor relationships and evaluate the performance and cost-effectiveness of external ERP support resources.
Required Qualifications
Bachelor s degree in Information Systems, Business Administration, Accounting, Finance, Operations, Engineering, or a related field.
Five or more years of ERP administration, implementation, business analysis, or optimization experience.
Direct functional or technical experience with IFS Applications or IFS Cloud.
Demonstrated experience managing cross-functional ERP projects.
Experience developing business reports, dashboards, queries, and data extracts.
Strong understanding of ERP data structures, master data, configuration, workflow, and system controls.
Ability to translate business requirements into clear functional and technical specifications.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, documentation, and project-management skills.
Effective written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to work with executives, functional leaders, end users, consultants, and technical teams.
Preferred Qualifications
Experience with IFS modules supporting Finance, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Procurement, Projects, Maintenance, or Customer Order Management.
Experience with IFS Business Reporter, IFS Lobby, Information Sources, SQL, Power BI, or similar reporting and analytics tools.
Knowledge of APIs, integrations, data migration, and workflow automation.
Experience working in a manufacturing, distribution, engineering, project-based, or field-service environment.
Familiarity with financial controls, cybersecurity practices, role-based access, and segregation-of-duties requirements.
Project-management or process-improvement certification, such as PMP, Lean, or Six Sigma.
Experience supporting an ERP upgrade or migration to IFS Cloud.
Core Competencies
Business and systems thinking
Project leadership and accountability
Data analysis and reporting
Process improvement
Cross-functional collaboration
Requirements gathering
Change management
Attention to detail
Prioritization and execution
User training and support
Vendor management
Clear executive communication
Measures of Success
Success in this role will be measured through:
Completion of ERP projects on time and within approved scope and budget.
Improved accuracy and timeliness of financial and operational reporting.
Increased user adoption of standard IFS functionality.
Reduction in manual processes, duplicate data entry, and spreadsheet dependency.
Improved master-data quality and completeness.
Faster resolution of ERP-related issues.
Stronger system controls, documentation, and governance.
Measurable productivity, working-capital, reporting, or cost improvements resulting from ERP initiatives.
Positive feedback from business users and functional leaders.
Work Environment
This position requires regular collaboration with employees across departments and organizational levels. The ERP Optimization Manager may occasionally need to work outside normal business hours to support system upgrades, critical deployments, month-end activities, or urgent production issues.
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