Director 2 ERP Platforms (SAP)

Northrop Grumman • Falls Church, VA

1d • $242,100 - $363,100

About The Position

The Director II, ERP Platforms is a strategic technology and business leader responsible for defining, owning, and evolving Northrop Grumman’s global ERP and manufacturing systems landscape, with SAP at its core. The role drives end-to-end transformation of core business processes and ensures the ERP, MES, and PLM-integrated ecosystem is positioned for growth and remains secure, compliant, resilient, and high-performing against service-level agreements.

The position leads the SAP platform vision and roadmap, platform health and lifecycle, solution architecture, transformation programs, and operational excellence. It builds relationships with executive business stakeholders and strategic suppliers, manages multi-year budgets and investment portfolios, and leads a global organization of approximately 300 internal staff and 120 partner resources. The role oversees an annual ERP/MES investment portfolio of approximately $130 million.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems, Computer Science, Engineering, Business, Finance, Supply Chain, or a related field.
• At least 15 years of progressive experience in SAP ERP and enterprise applications, including at least 5 years in leadership roles overseeing large, complex SAP environments.
• Demonstrated experience leading major SAP S/4HANA programs in Aerospace & Defense or similarly regulated industries.
• Deep hands-on leadership in at least one core SAP domain, such as FI/CO, MM, SD, PP, PS, QM, or WM/EWM, and strong understanding of integration points and cross-module process flows.
• Proven track record delivering large-scale SAP or digital transformation programs across multiple functions and/or business units.
• Strong understanding of Finance, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Projects, and related reporting and analytics processes, and how SAP, MES, and PLM enable them.
• Experience with structured program and change management approaches, such as PMI, Agile, SAFe, PROSCI, or ADKAR.
• Familiarity with Aerospace & Defense regulatory and security frameworks, including ITAR/EAR, FAR/DFARS, CAS, DCAA, and CMMC/DoD cybersecurity.
• Demonstrated ability to influence and engage C-suite and VP-level stakeholders and manage complex stakeholder landscapes.

Nice To Haves

• Advanced degree, such as an MBA or MS.
• Direct leadership of an S/4HANA transformation, including greenfield, brownfield, or selective data transition.
• Experience with SAP cloud or hybrid deployments, SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP), SAP Fiori, and modern integration platforms.
• Experience integrating SAP with PLM, MES, and engineering or manufacturing systems in an Aerospace & Defense environment.
• Strong financial acumen and experience managing large SAP/ERP run and change portfolios, including budgets on the order of $100 million or more.
• Experience leading global or geographically distributed SAP teams and support models, such as Centers of Excellence or shared services.
• Experience applying data, analytics, and AI in ERP or manufacturing contexts to improve business outcomes.

Responsibilities

• Define and own the SAP-centric ERP platform vision, strategy, and multi-year roadmap aligned with corporate, sector, and functional strategies.
• Ensure ERP, MES, and PLM systems optimize end-to-end business processes, including Order to Cash, Procure to Pay, Plan to Produce, Record to Report, and Project/Program Management.
• Track SAP and broader data and AI technology developments and translate them into a roadmap with measurable business outcomes.
• Establish standards and reference architectures for SAP and adjacent platforms, including PLM, MES, CRM, data and analytics, and integrations.
• Manage the SAP application lifecycle, including release strategy, upgrades, hosting, and platform rationalization.
• Own platform availability, performance, capacity, scalability, and cost optimization across ERP, MES, and critical integrations.
• Govern solution design, favor standard capabilities, and minimize custom code and technical debt while supporting Aerospace & Defense requirements.
• Ensure SAP and related solutions meet Aerospace & Defense security and compliance obligations, including ITAR, EAR, DFARS, CMMC, and government cost accounting standards.
• Build, lead, and mentor a high-performing global team of SAP product owners, architects, functional and technical leads, and support analysts.
• Lead large, multi-year SAP transformation initiatives, including S/4HANA migrations, implementations, instance consolidation, and operating-model changes.
• Drive harmonization of core business processes using SAP best practices and model company content.
• Partner with business process owners and product line leaders to define requirements, prioritize backlogs, and sequence SAP releases.
• Chair or participate in SAP design authorities, change control boards, and solution review forums.
• Define and track transformation KPIs covering cycle time, quality, compliance, cost, user adoption, technical debt, and value realization.
• Identify innovation opportunities using ERP, MES, and PLM data and AI, including predictive supply chain, intelligent planning, analytics, automation, and AI-assisted user experiences.
• Oversee day-to-day SAP, MES, and integration operations, including incident and problem management, change and release management, and environment strategy.
• Define and monitor SLAs, OLAs, platform-health metrics, and continuous-improvement plans.
• Ensure robust backup, disaster recovery, business continuity, and cybersecurity practices for applications, interfaces, and infrastructure.
• Promote automation and DevSecOps-aligned practices, including transport automation, test automation, regression testing, and monitoring.
• Use operational data and analytics to identify issues, trends, and improvement opportunities across RUN, BUILD, and INNOVATION.
• Serve as the primary liaison between IT and executive business stakeholders for ERP strategy, prioritization, and delivery.
• Manage strategic relationships with SAP, system integrators, and other key partners, including the SAP Strategic Customer Program.
• Facilitate decisions across sectors and functions, balancing global standards with program and regional requirements.
• Develop and manage multi-year SAP/ERP platform and transformation capital and operating budgets of approximately $130 million annually.
• Develop business cases and ROI analyses for S/4HANA programs, SAP enhancements, and digital and AI-enabled initiatives.
• Optimize total cost of ownership through platform rationalization, vendor optimization, and disciplined demand and portfolio management.

Benefits

• Health insurance coverage
• Life insurance
• Disability insurance
• Savings plan
• Company-paid holidays
• Paid time off for vacation and/or personal business
• Employees in Vice President or Director positions may be eligible for Long Term Incentives.
• Employees may be eligible for overtime, shift differential, and a discretionary bonus, depending on the position.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director