STEP Cutover Lead

Job Description Summary

The STEP Cutover Lead is responsible for defining, governing, and executing the end-to-end cutover strategy for STEP, with a primary focus on SAP S/4HANA and related SAP ecosystem components, while ensuring full alignment with non-SAP applications, integrations, data migration, infrastructure, business readiness, and operational transition activities. The incumbent acts as the central orchestration point for cutover planning, mock cutovers, go-live execution, fallback planning, issue escalation, and hypercare handover, ensuring that all business and technology workstreams are coordinated through a detailed, dependency-driven cutover plan. The role works closely with functional, technical, data, integration, security, quality, business, vendor, and programme teams to minimise business disruption, protect compliance and operational continuity, and enable a controlled, timely, and successful transition to the STEP target landscape.

Job Description

Major accountabilities: 

• Own and govern the end-to-end STEP cutover strategy, roadmap, governance model, and decision framework, with primary focus on SAP S/4HANA and related SAP ecosystem components while ensuring alignment with non-SAP applications and business processes.
• Develop, maintain, and continuously refine the integrated STEP cutover plan, including task sequencing, dependencies, ownership, business freeze activities, data migration, transports, integrations, infrastructure readiness, validation steps, and go/no-go milestones.
• Coordinate cutover preparation across SAP functional, technical, integration, data, security, quality, testing, infrastructure, business, vendor, and non-SAP application teams to ensure all pre-cutover and post-cutover activities are complete, validated, and traceable.
• Plan and lead mock cutovers, dress rehearsals, and cutover simulations to validate execution timing, dependencies, resource availability, business readiness, data conversion outcomes, technical readiness, contingency procedures, and escalation paths.
• Lead cutover execution during the go-live window, operating the cutover command structure, tracking progress against the detailed plan, managing risks and issues in real time, driving timely decisions, and escalating blockers to programme leadership as required.
• Ensure cutover activities comply with relevant regulatory, quality, security, data privacy, validation, auditability, and business continuity requirements, including appropriate documentation, controls, approvals, and evidence for validated and business-critical environments.
• Define and coordinate fallback, contingency, recovery, and business continuity approaches for critical SAP and non-SAP cutover scenarios, ensuring decision points, responsibilities, communication routes, and operational impacts are clearly understood.
• Provide transparent cutover readiness, execution, risk, and issue reporting to business, technology, quality, vendor, and programme stakeholders, and coordinate a structured transition into hypercare, post-go-live validation, lessons learned, and operational handover.
• Responsible for performing all assigned activities in compliance with GxP regulations, company SOPs, and data integrity requirements.

Minimum Requirements: 
Experience and Skills:

• 10+ years of experience in SAP programme delivery, deployment management, cutover management, release management, or complex enterprise transformation within a global, multinational organisation, ideally including SAP S/4HANA implementations.
• Proven experience leading cutover preparation and execution across multiple workstreams, including SAP functional and technical teams, data migration, integration, security, infrastructure, testing, business readiness, non-SAP applications, vendors, and system integrators.
• Strong understanding of SAP S/4HANA landscapes, SAP ecosystem components, integration patterns, data conversion processes, transport management, interface dependencies, batch jobs, authorisations, technical switchover activities, and connected non-SAP systems.
• Demonstrated ability to build and manage detailed cutover plans, command centre structures, dependency maps, readiness checklists, go/no-go criteria, fallback scenarios, escalation paths, and post-go-live transition plans.
• Hands-on experience planning and leading mock cutovers, dress rehearsals, dry runs, business freeze windows, production go-live execution, hypercare preparation, and post-cutover validation in business-critical environments.
• Strong delivery leadership skills, including risk and issue management, dependency management, vendor coordination, progress tracking, decision facilitation, executive-level reporting, and management of time-critical go-live activities.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to coordinate large cross-functional teams, lead cutover meetings, clarify responsibilities, manage escalations, and communicate risks, readiness, and contingency options clearly.
• Experience working in regulated, quality-driven, and business-critical environments, with awareness of security, compliance, data privacy, auditability, validation, segregation of duties, and operational resilience requirements.
• Strong analytical, structured problem-solving, and prioritisation skills, with the ability to identify critical path dependencies, resolve blockers, manage ambiguity, and maintain control during high-pressure cutover and go-live periods.
• Deep knowledge and practical experience in large-scale SAP S/4HANA transformation programmes, with strong understanding of cutover planning, deployment orchestration, data migration, integrations, transports, environment readiness, and business transition activities.
• Certification in SAP S/4HANA, SAP Activate, programme/project management, ITIL, PRINCE2, PMI, or equivalent delivery governance methods is a plus.
• Experience or certification in release management, deployment management, service transition, validation, quality management, or regulated system implementation practices is preferred.
• Experience with agile, hybrid, and waterfall delivery approaches, test coordination, readiness tracking, issue management, and cutover tooling in regulated enterprise environments is preferred.

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Business Administration, Engineering, Supply Chain, or a related field; Master’s degree preferred.

Languages:

• Fluent English required (oral and written)

Skills Desired

Budget Management, Business Acumen, Performance Management, Risk Management, Service Delivery Management, Stakeholder Management, Strategic Planning, Talent Development, Waterfall Project Management