SAP EDI SPECIALIST

Description

DEFINITION

The SAP EDI Specialist owns the day-to-day reliability and continuous improvement of electronic data interchange between our customers, suppliers, service providers, and internal systems. Building on a foundation of hands-on EDI expertise, this role serves as the primary point of contact for EDI operations, leading transaction monitoring, exception resolution, mapping validation, and trading partner onboarding across the SAP ECC and EDI environment. The Specialist works cross-functionally with Commercial, Supply Chain, Customer Service, IT, and Finance teams, and acts as the principal liaison to the VAN provider and external integration resources. This position is expected to operate with a high degree of autonomy, translating business needs into functional requirements, driving root-cause resolution of integration issues, and recommending and implementing improvements that strengthen the accuracy, visibility, and resilience of data exchange supporting ordering, shipping, invoicing, warehousing, and procurement activities.

SUPERVISION RECEIVED

This position reports directly to the Customer Service Manager and works closely with IT, SAP Operations, and Finance teams.

SUPERVISION EXERCISED

This position does not directly supervise employees but coordinates the activities of the VAN provider and external EDI/integration resources on assigned projects.

Requirements

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS OF THE POSITION

NOTE: An employee assigned to this title shall perform a majority, but may not perform all, of the duties listed in this job description. Conversely, minor level duties performed on the job may not be listed.

• EDI Operations Ownership (Main Focus):
•  Own day-to-day EDI operations across the SAP ECC and EDI environment, ensuring reliable processing, high availability, and timely resolution of transaction issues.
•  Monitor EDI and IDoc transaction activity, proactively identifying failed, delayed, or erroneous documents and driving them to resolution, including reprocessing and correction within SAP.
•  Serve as the primary operational contact for the VAN environment; manage service requests, escalations, and performance follow-up with the VAN provider and support teams.
•  Perform mapping validation and support map changes, coordinating testing and deployment with internal IT teams and external integration resources.
•  Ensure adherence to EDI standards (ANSI X12) and trading partner specifications across all transaction flows.
•  Maintain EDI workflows, transaction visibility tools, and operational documentation, including partner-specific runbooks and exception-handling procedures.
•  Develop and maintain reporting on EDI transaction volumes, error rates, and service levels to support operational decision-making.
•  Resolve transaction exceptions involving orders, order acknowledgments, ASNs, invoices, warehouse documents, and procurement-related messages, performing root-cause analysis to prevent recurrence.
•  Partner with Commercial, Supply Chain, Customer Service, and Warehouse stakeholders to understand operational issues and translate business needs into functional requirements for technical teams.
•  Train and support Customer Service and Supply Chain users on EDI-related processes, tools, and exception handling.
• Trading Partner Onboarding and Maintenance:
•  Lead onboarding of new customer and supplier trading partners, coordinating requirements gathering, mapping, connectivity, testing, validation, and cutover.
•  Maintain existing trading partner configurations and coordinate updates driven by partner specification changes.
•  Plan and execute end-to-end testing of new or updated EDI connections, including coordination of test cycles with partners and internal stakeholders.
• Continuous Improvement:
•  Identify and implement opportunities to automate monitoring, reduce manual touchpoints, and improve first-pass transaction success rates.
•  Stay current on EDI standards, integration technologies, and best practices, and recommend enhancements supporting digital transformation initiatives.

EVOLVING FUNCTIONS OF THE POSITION SAP

• SAP Customization and Development:
•  Over time, contribute to the design and testing of custom SAP transactions driven by business needs, with the potential to develop hands-on SAP/ABAP development skills.
•  Assist in troubleshooting SAP-related technical issues and provide ongoing support to help maintain system stability and performance.
• Project Management & External Resource Coordination:
•  Act as project lead for EDI-related initiatives, managing timelines, test plans, and stakeholder communication from requirements through go-live.
•  Coordinate external programmers and outsourced integration resources on EDI-related SAP development tasks, ensuring deliverables align with business requirements.
•  Collaborate with business departments to translate requirements into SAP/EDI solutions and support the specification and testing of custom SAP transactions and enhancements that affect EDI flows.
•  Maintain detailed documentation of system modifications, mappings, and process changes, and develop and deliver EDI training materials for business users.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

• Strong working knowledge of EDI standards (ANSI X12), envelope structures, and acknowledgment handling (997/824).
• Hands-on experience supporting transaction sets such as EDI 850, 855, 810, 824, 856, 861, 754, 940, 944, 945, 947, and 846 across ordering, shipping, invoicing, warehousing, and procurement processes.
• Experience with SAP ECC integration concepts, including IDoc monitoring, error analysis, and reprocessing.
• Experience with mapping validation, testing methodologies, and transaction troubleshooting across partner onboarding and production support.
• Familiarity with integration concepts and data exchange formats, including XML, flat files, APIs, middleware, and back-end system interfaces.
• Experience working with VAN providers, including service management, transmission monitoring, and incident escalation.
• Understanding of supply chain processes, transportation logistics, warehouse operations (including 3PL relationships), and inventory management related to customer support.
• Understanding of product life cycle management and sales and distribution processes.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to identify root causes independently, troubleshoot complex transaction issues, and recommend durable solutions.
• Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills with the ability to collaborate effectively across business and technical teams, and with external partners.
• Ability to work autonomously, prioritize competing demands, manage multiple responsibilities, and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong attention to detail, ensuring accuracy in order processing, invoicing, and communication.
• Ability to adapt to changing environments, customer demands, and technology, and to implement new strategies or processes as needed.
• Coordination — Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
• Ability to read, write, speak, understand, or communicate in English sufficiently to perform the duties of this position. American Sign Language may also be considered as acceptable forms of communication.

Preferred (aligned with the future development functions above):

• Experience coordinating external IT resources and supporting outsourced development projects.
• Familiarity with SAP development concepts (e.g., custom transactions, ABAP debugging) sufficient to specify requirements and validate deliverables with developers.
• Familiarity with database management and reporting tools.
• Knowledge of Material Requirements Planning (MRP) concepts and their interaction with procurement and EDI-driven order flows.

Education and Experience

Required:

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• 5+ years of hands-on EDI support experience, including transaction troubleshooting and trading partner onboarding.
• Experience supporting EDI in an SAP ECC environment.

Preferred:

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Business, Supply Chain, or related field.
• Experience in manufacturing or distribution environments.
• Experience leading VAN provider relationships and end-to-end trading partner onboarding.
• Experience with EDI mapping tools or middleware platforms.
• Experience acting as project lead or coordinator on SAP or integration projects involving external development resources.
• Exposure to MRP implementation or optimization within SAP.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

This position is primarily office-based, with occasional visits to manufacturing facilities. Appropriate PPE is required when entering production areas.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The above job description is not intended to be an all-inclusive list of duties and standards of the position. Incumbents will follow any other instructions, and perform any other related duties, as assigned by their supervisor.

Citterio USA is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate based on race, ancestry, color, religion, sex, gender, age, marital status, sexual orientation, national origin, medical condition, disability, veteran status, gender identity, or any other basis protected by law.

FLSA STATUS: FLSA EXEMPT

DESIGNATION: At Will Employee

UNION STATUS: NON-UNION