Competence Manager - Finance

H&M

About The Position

As a Competence Manager, you will lead and develop a defined community of engineers and technical experts within a specific technology or engineering area. You will be responsible for creating the right conditions for people to grow, build their capabilities, and contribute effectively across our delivery teams. This role involves formal people responsibility, coaching, mentoring, and defining competence development strategies aligned with business needs. You will partner with various stakeholders to align people, skills, and staffing with business priorities, identify capability gaps, and contribute to workforce planning and talent strategies. The role requires a data-driven approach to understand competence coverage and workforce needs, and to represent the engineering community in organizational discussions.

Requirements

14+ years in SAP Finance (FICO), including 3–4 years of hands-on people management—leading direct reportees, driving performance reviews, and supporting career progression
Mentored and coached team members to align with both business goals and individual growth paths—driving high employee engagement and retention
Expertise in core FICO modules: GL, AP, AR, Cost Center Accounting, Profit Center Accounting, and Internal Orders.
Previous experience in a senior engineering or technical leadership role within areas such as software, applications, data, platforms, or related technologies.
Strong subject matter expertise and a good understanding of the end-to-end engineering development lifecycle.
Experience in people leadership, coaching, mentoring, or technical talent development.
Experience building or contributing to Communities of Practice and creating environments where knowledge sharing and collaboration thrive.
Experience with workforce, resource, or organisational planning and the ability to connect capability needs with business priorities.
Strong stakeholder management skills and the ability to influence and collaborate across different organisational levels.
Understanding of modern engineering practices, including Agile ways of working, CI/CD, DevOps, automation, and continuous improvement.
Basic financial acumen and the ability to make informed decisions around staffing and competence-development investments.
A data-driven approach to identifying capability gaps, measuring progress, and supporting organisational decisions.
Collaborative – you bring people together, create strong relationships, and value diverse perspectives.
Empowering – you trust others, listen actively, and create space for people to grow and take ownership.
Innovative – you are curious, open to new ideas, and comfortable challenging established ways of working.
Improvement-oriented – you take action, learn continuously, and turn insights into meaningful improvements.
Resourceful – you are proactive, responsible, and able to find practical solutions to complex challenges.
Honest and self-aware – you communicate openly, seek feedback, and lead with authenticity.
Clear and outcome-focused – you create clarity, make priorities visible, and focus on achieving meaningful results.

Responsibilities

Lead a team of engineers and technical experts with formal people responsibility, creating an inclusive, psychologically safe, and high-performing environment.
Coach and mentor team members, supporting career development, individual growth plans, succession planning, and long-term capability building.
Define and execute a competence development strategy aligned with current and future business needs.
Build and nurture Communities of Practice that encourage knowledge sharing, collaboration, innovation, and continuous improvement.
Partner with Engineering Managers, Tech PMs, Area Managers, People Business Partners, and other Team Managers to align people, skills, and staffing with business priorities.
Identify capability gaps and develop targeted initiatives through training, certifications, mentoring, internal mobility, and other learning opportunities.
Contribute to workforce planning, talent pipelines, recruitment, onboarding, retention, and sourcing strategies for critical capabilities.
Support resource planning and cost efficiency, including budgets related to competence development and community activities.
Represent the engineering community in organisational discussions and act as a point of escalation for people-related topics impacting delivery.
Use data and insights to understand competence coverage, workforce needs, employee development, and emerging capability requirements.