Project Manager – SAP Ariba

Job Description: Project Manager – SAP Ariba

• Location: Canary Wharf, London (4 days per week from Office)

• Program Context: S/4HANA Implementation – Finance, Procurement (Ariba), HCM (SuccessFactors), Concur

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Role Overview

We are seeking a delivery focused Project Manager to lead the end to end planning and execution of the SAP Ariba workstream within a fast paced, time and budget constrained transformation program. This role orchestrates multi disciplinary teams to implement and roll out Ariba (Buying & Invoicing, Guided Buying, Sourcing, Contracts, Supplier Lifecycle & Performance) integrated with S/4HANA, enabling best practice Source to Pay, supplier enablement, and compliance across the enterprise.

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Key Responsibilities

Delivery Ownership & Planning

• Own the Ariba workstream scope, roadmap, and delivery plan aligned to program milestones and business objectives.

• Build and maintain integrated schedules and resource plans; manage critical path and stage gates for design, build, test, cutover, and hypercare.

• Define clear deliverables (templates, configurations, integrations, onboarding plans) and acceptance criteria.

Scope, Change & Governance

• Establish scope baseline for Ariba modules and integrations; control change via structured impact assessments and PMO/CAB governance.

• Ensure alignment with enterprise architecture, procurement policies, data governance, and security/compliance standards.

RAID (Risks, Assumptions, Issues, Dependencies)

• Proactively manage RAID with timely mitigation and escalation; maintain transparent logs and dashboards.

• Coordinate dependencies with S/4HANA (MM, AP, Business Partner/Vendor master), Finance, HR (for approvals/roles), and Concur where relevant.

Stakeholder Management & Communication

• Engage Procurement, AP, Finance, Legal, IT Security, and business stakeholders to confirm priorities, benefits, and release sequencing.

• Run steering committees, working groups, and sprint ceremonies; deliver concise status reporting on scope, schedule, budget, and risks.

Team Leadership & Vendor/Partner Management

• Coordinate internal functional/process teams, integration/data teams, and external SI/SAP resources (near/offshore).

• Govern vendor deliverables and SLAs; resolve resourcing gaps and optimize throughput across parallel workstreams.

Technical Oversight (Non Hands On)

• Partner with Solution Architects and Functional Leads to assure fit for purpose designs for Ariba Buying & Invoicing, Guided Buying, Sourcing, Contracts, and SLP.

• Oversee integration approach (e.g., SAP Ariba Cloud Integration Gateway, SAP Integration Suite) to S/4HANA and non SAP systems; track readiness for master data, catalogs, approvals, and invoicing.

• Ensure supplier enablement plans, catalog strategy, approval matrices, and control frameworks meet business and compliance needs.

Supplier Enablement & Change Management

• Lead supplier onboarding to Ariba Network, communication plans, and training; monitor enablement KPIs (e.g., PO compliance, e invoicing adoption).

• Drive organizational change and end user training for buyers, requesters, approvers, and AP teams; manage cutover communications.

Quality, Testing & Release Management

• Define and execute test strategy (SIT, UAT, integration, performance, security) for end to end Source to Pay processes.

• Plan releases and cutovers; coordinate data migration (vendors/business partners, contracts, catalogs), hypercare, and handover to BAU.

Financial Management & Benefits Tracking

• Manage workstream budget, forecasts, and variances; ensure cost controls and accurate vendor invoicing.

• Track delivery outcomes against KPIs (e.g., cycle time, maverick spend reduction, PO/invoice first time right) and report benefits realization.

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Required Skills & Experience

• Proven experience delivering SAP Ariba programs in enterprise environments, covering at least two of: Buying & Invoicing, Guided Buying, Sourcing, Contracts, Supplier Lifecycle & Performance.

• Strong understanding of S/4HANA procurement and finance processes (MM, AP, Business Partner/Vendor master) and Ariba–S/4 integration patterns.

• Demonstrated success managing complex multi vendor projects under tight timelines and budgets.

• Mastery of RAID management, scope/change control, and PMO governance in hybrid Agile/Waterfall settings.

• Practical knowledge of integration technologies (Ariba CIG, SAP Integration Suite) and data migration for vendors, contracts, and catalogs.

• Experience leading supplier enablement programs and driving adoption of Ariba Network and e invoicing.

• Excellent communication, stakeholder engagement, and vendor management skills; able to translate procurement priorities into executable delivery plans.

• Proficiency with delivery tooling (e.g., Azure DevOps/Jira, MS Project/Smartsheet) and executive reporting.