Job Description

Job Title Service Lead Core ERP

Job Summary
Oversees the end-to-end service lifecycle from conception to delivery. Ensures alignment with business objectives and customer needs. Drives continuous improvement and innovation in service offerings.
Key Areas of Responsibility

• Manages the end-to-end lifecycle (from development to retirement) of digital services, ensuring alignment with company strategies working with stakeholders.
• Coordinates and maintain a strong relationship with stakeholders to identify service requirements and prioritize development efforts.
• Leads/mentors a team of professionals in the design, implementation, and optimization of digital services (SAP & Non- SAP applications).
• Monitors service performance and implement improvements based on feedback and analytics within agreed SLAs and budget.
• Develops and maintains strong relationships with internal and external partners to enhance service capabilities.
• Drives innovation by exploring new technologies and methodologies to improve service offerings. Engages on the same with external partners as well.
• Define and own the service strategy and roadmap for technology, application, and Digital services within scope. Drive continuous improvement: identify opportunities for automation, process improvement and cost optimization.
• Responsible for cost-control & optimization of the services. Develop and manage service budgets, ensuring that resources are allocated effectively & efficiently in order to ensure cost optimization.
• Responsible for Infrastructure Services (including Network, Hosting, Workplace Services) and Virtual bot automation team - This is very specific to the Service Owner of Backbone services

Critical Experiences

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.
• extensive hands on experience in digital service management, including lifecycle management and stakeholder engagement.
• ITIL certification is essential for managing service lifecycle and ensuring alignment with best practices.
• Domain (SAP, Non-SAP, Identity & Access Management) knowledge

Key Accountabilities and Responsibilities (KARs)
Service Management & Operational Excellence

• Own and drive the day-to-day delivery of SAP services, ensuring alignment with SLAs and business expectations.
• Lead the setup and refinement of ITSM processes such as incident, problem, change, and request management.
• Guide the ASM partner in following structured service delivery practices, ensuring compliance with agreed SLAs and continuous improvement targets.
• Drive operational excellence by identifying inefficiencies and implementing process improvements.

Automation & Innovation

• Identify and eliminate waste caused by repetitive manual activities by introducing automation tools, scripts, or workflow enhancements.
• Work with the ASM partner and internal teams to embed automation in service operations wherever feasible.
• Foster a culture of innovation, leveraging modern tools and techniques to improve service reliability and speed.

Collaboration & Governance

• Collaborate with the Service Owner to align service delivery with strategic objectives and business priorities.
• Work closely with the Product Owner to support service refinement as part of the broader product lifecycle.
• Actively participate in CABs, service review boards, and incident/post-incident review sessions to maintain governance and accountability.
• Coordinate resolution across squads, infrastructure, and partner teams to address cross-functional issues.

Continuous Improvement

• Track service metrics and trends to proactively identify and resolve underlying systemic issues.
• Lead root cause analysis for major incidents and implement preventive measures.
• Promote LEAN principles to create a culture of continuous improvement within the SAP service domain.

People & Stakeholder Engagement

• Mentor and coach team members on service practices and the importance of operational discipline.
• Serve as a trusted advisor to stakeholders by translating technical service details into meaningful business language.
• Promote knowledge sharing across teams to improve support coverage and resilience.

Planning and Execution

• Contribute to sprint, release, and capacity planning from a service readiness perspective.
• Ensure readiness of service documentation, runbooks, monitoring tools, and escalation procedures.
• Maintain an accurate and current service catalogue and participate in roadmap and portfolio discussions.

Financial management

• Responsible for cost optimisation by executing service improvement plans

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

• SLA and KPI adherence (incident response time, change success rate, etc.)
• Reduction in repetitive manual tasks via automation
• Business continuity and system uptime
• Quality of service documentation and process maturity
• Stakeholder satisfaction (via NPS or equivalent)
• Execution of service improvement initiatives

Skills & Competencies

• Deep understanding of SAP ERP core modules and service delivery, with desirable exposure to SAP S/4HANA.
• Proven experience in managing service operations and vendor-led support models.
• Strong knowledge of ITSM frameworks (e.g., ITIL), with the ability to design and operationalize support processes.
• Demonstrated success in driving automation and process improvement in an enterprise IT environment.
• Agile mindset with experience working in agile or DevOps-oriented teams.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to work across technical and business domains.
• Strong analytical thinking with a proactive approach to problem-solving.

Experience & Qualifications

• 6-10 years of experience in SAP service delivery, service management, or IT operations roles.
• Prior experience working with or managing ASM/vendor support teams.
• Hands-on experience or understanding of SAP HANA is highly desirable.
• ITIL Foundation certification (or higher) preferred.

Skills Required