IT Operations Manager (Full time Retainer)

Role & responsibilities

IT Operations Manager SAP FICO / SAP FICO Application Lead (Operations)

Role Overview

This role bridges the gap between the corporate Finance/Accounting teams and the IT department. You will manage the day-to-day run operations, coordinate with external vendor support teams, ensure system availability during critical financial periods (like month-end close), and manage incident resolution and minor change requests.

Key Responsibilities

Daily Operations & Incident Management

• SLA Governance: Monitor, assign, and track everyday IT support tickets (Incidents and Service Requests) related to SAP FICO, ensuring resolution within agreed SLAs.
• Critical Period Support: Provide dedicated IT hyper-care during Month-End, Quarter-End, and Year-End financial closures to resolve processing bottlenecks immediately.
• Root Cause Analysis: Drive Problem Management to identify recurring system bugs, failed batch jobs, or interface errors, implementing permanent fixes.

Change Management & Enhancements

• Minor Changes: Evaluate, test, and deploy small change requests (CRs), such as updating tax codes, modifying payment files, or tweaking financial report variants.
• Release Management: Coordinate with the broader IT team to transport fixes from Development through Quality Assurance to the Production environment following strict ITIL frameworks.

Vendor & Team Leadership

• Partner Management: Oversee external managed service providers (AMS vendors) or internal junior support analysts to ensure quality deliverables.
• System Health: Collaborate with the SAP Basis and Security IT teams to monitor interface health (IDocs/APIs connecting to banks, tax authorities, etc.) and user access controls.

Required Qualifications & Skills

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in IT, Computer Science, Finance, Commerce, or equivalent. (ITIL Certification or an MBA/CA background is a major plus).
• Experience: 5 to 8+ years of total SAP FICO experience, with at least 3+ years specifically in an IT operational support, AMS, or helpdesk lead capacity.
• Technical Competencies:
• Strong configuration troubleshooting skills across GL, AP, AR, Asset Accounting, and Cost Center Accounting.
• Deep familiarity with ITIL processes (Incident, Problem, and Change Management).
• Experience using IT service tools like ServiceNow, Jira, or SAP Solution Manager.
• Soft Skills: Calm under pressure during critical financial deadlines, excellent stakeholder management, and strong vendor governance capabilities.

Preferred candidate profile