IT & Business Systems Manager

Description

Job Summary

The IT & Business Systems Manager serves as the primary business technology leader for Phoenix Lighting, responsible for aligning business processes, enterprise applications, data, reporting, and technology investments with the company’s operational and strategic objectives.

This position is primarily a business systems and transformation role rather than an infrastructure administration role. The successful candidate will combine strong ERP experience with business-process knowledge, project leadership, data and analytics capabilities, and the ability to partner effectively with functional leaders.

A major near-term responsibility will be leading Phoenix Lighting’s transition from Microsoft Dynamics AX to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, including business-process design and standardization, requirements definition, data migration, system configuration, testing, training, deployment, adoption, and continuous improvement.

The IT & Business Systems Manager will work closely with Operations, Finance, Supply Chain, Sales, Engineering, Human Resources, executive leadership, ERP implementation partners, software vendors, and the company’s outsourced IT service provider. Infrastructure, cybersecurity operations, hardware support, and first-line help-desk services will primarily be delivered through external technology partners. The role provides internal governance, prioritization, vendor oversight, and escalation rather than serving as the primary technical administrator.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

ERP & Business Systems Leadership

• Serve as the internal business owner and primary liaison for the migration from Microsoft Dynamics AX to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central.
• Lead cross-functional ERP discovery, requirements gathering, process design, configuration decisions, data conversion, testing, training, deployment, stabilization, and post-go-live improvement.
• Ensure the ERP implementation drives business-process improvement and standardization rather than simply recreating legacy processes in a new system.
• Develop and maintain the ERP roadmap, project plan, milestones, budget, risks, issue log, decision log, and executive status reporting.
• Establish governance for ERP enhancements, configuration changes, integrations, and future releases.
• Own and continuously improve the company’s major business applications, including ERP, CRM, HRIS, reporting/BI, labeling, workflow, and operational systems.

Business Process Improvement

• Partner with functional leaders to understand current-state processes, identify gaps and inefficiencies, and develop scalable future-state processes.
• Facilitate cross-functional process improvement across Quote-to-Cash, Procure-to-Pay, Plan-to-Produce, Inventory and Warehouse Management, Product and Item Management, and Financial Close and Reporting.
• Identify opportunities to eliminate manual processes, duplicate data entry, spreadsheets, disconnected applications, and unnecessary process complexity.
• Establish appropriate process ownership, documentation, controls, and performance measures.
• Help business leaders distinguish between technology issues, process issues, data issues, and organizational issues before implementing solutions.

Data, Reporting & Business Intelligence

• Develop a company-wide approach to data governance, including ownership, definitions, quality standards, security, maintenance, and change control.
• Partner with functional leaders to improve master-data integrity across customers, vendors, items, inventory, pricing, manufacturing, and financial information.
• Establish consistent KPI definitions and trusted sources of management information.
• Lead or coordinate the development of Power BI dashboards, operational reporting, management reporting, and self-service analytics.
• Reduce dependence on manually maintained spreadsheets and disconnected reporting processes.
• Help establish a scalable data and analytics architecture supporting future business growth.

Technology Strategy & Project Management

• Develop and maintain a practical multi-year technology roadmap aligned with Phoenix Lighting’s business strategy.
• Create an intake, evaluation, and prioritization process for technology requests and projects.
• Evaluate technology investments based on business value, ROI, operational impact, risk, scalability, integration, and total cost of ownership.
• Manage multiple cross-functional initiatives and ensure accountability for scope, schedule, budget, risks, dependencies, decisions, and outcomes.
• Coordinate internal resources, implementation partners, software vendors, consultants, and other technology partners.
• Identify opportunities to leverage workflow automation, Microsoft Power Platform, AI, and emerging technologies where they can measurably improve business performance.

IT Governance & Vendor Management

• Serve as Phoenix Lighting’s primary relationship owner for the outsourced IT service provider.
• Establish clear expectations, service levels, escalation procedures, performance metrics, and accountability for outsourced infrastructure and support services.
• Coordinate infrastructure, endpoint, Microsoft 365, cybersecurity, identity/access, backup/disaster recovery, hardware, and help-desk requirements with external providers.
• Participate in cybersecurity, business continuity, and technology-risk planning with leadership and external partners.
• Manage technology budgets, contracts, licensing, renewals, and vendor relationships.
• Ensure appropriate documentation, controls, policies, and technology standards are maintained.

Change Management & User Adoption

• Build strong relationships with users and functional leaders and serve as the bridge between business operations and technology.
• Develop communication, training, documentation, and change-management plans for major technology initiatives.
• Establish super-user and process-owner structures where appropriate.
• Measure system adoption and business outcomes following major implementations.
• Promote continuous improvement and effective utilization of the company’s technology investments.

Requirements

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Information Systems, Business, Operations, Engineering, Finance, Supply Chain, or a related discipline preferred; equivalent relevant experience will be considered.
• Five or more years of progressive experience working with ERP systems, business applications, business analysis, or technology-enabled process improvement.
• Significant experience participating in or leading an ERP implementation, migration, or major enterprise system transformation.
• Manufacturing ERP experience strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated understanding of manufacturing business processes including planning, purchasing, inventory, production, costing, order management, fulfillment, and financial reporting.
• Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central experience strongly preferred.
• Microsoft Dynamics AX or Dynamics 365 experience beneficial.
• Experience with Power BI, Power Platform, SQL, APIs/integrations, or comparable analytics and automation technologies strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience with business-process analysis, requirements gathering, process mapping, testing, training, and change management.
• Project-management experience managing cross-functional initiatives and third-party implementation partners.
• Experience with data governance, master-data management, data migration, and reporting.
• Experience managing outsourced IT providers or technology vendors beneficial.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Strong business acumen with the ability to understand how technology affects operational and financial performance.
• Ability to move comfortably between executive-level business discussions and detailed conversations with system users and implementation consultants.
• Strong business-process analysis and problem-solving capabilities.
• Ability to challenge existing processes constructively and facilitate future-state process design.
• Strong analytical orientation and ability to use data to identify problems, measure performance, and support decisions.
• Strong project-management discipline and ability to manage priorities, dependencies, risks, budgets, vendors, and timelines.
• Ability to translate business requirements into practical system requirements and technology solutions.
• Strong facilitation and communication skills.
• Ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and influence stakeholders without direct authority.
• Ability to balance strategic planning with hands-on execution in a mid-market manufacturing environment.
• Strong vendor-management and negotiation skills.
• High level of ownership, accountability, curiosity, and continuous-improvement orientation.

First 12–18 Month Priorities

• Successfully lead the Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central implementation and transition from Microsoft Dynamics AX.
• Establish standardized cross-company business processes and clear process ownership.
• Improve master-data quality and establish sustainable data-governance practices.
• Establish a core management KPI and Power BI reporting environment with trusted, consistent data.
• Develop a practical multi-year business systems and technology roadmap aligned with company priorities.
• Establish effective governance, performance expectations, and accountability for outsourced IT and technology partners.

Additional Expectations

• Occasional support outside normal business hours may be required during major system implementations, significant system disruptions, or other critical business events.