Description
We are seeking an experienced SAP IBP Advisor to lead functional design, configuration, integration, and solution governance across SAP Integrated Business Planning and related SAP S/4HANA supply chain capabilities.
The ideal candidate will bring strong SAP IBP and SAP S/4HANA supply chain planning expertise, with practical experience in demand planning, response and supply planning, inventory planning, Control Tower, Order-Based Planning, Real-Time Integration, scenario modeling, exception management, and master data alignment.
Responsibilities:
- Configure and support SAP IBP capabilities across Demand Planning, Response & Supply, Inventory Planning, Sales and Operations Planning, and Control Tower.
- Design and support Demand to Supply processes including forecasting, demand sensing concepts, supply planning, inventory projections, days-on-hand targets, constrained planning, deployment planning, and purchase order recommendation logic.
- Support planning-area design, key figure configuration, master data attributes, planning views, copy operators, planning algorithms, scenario simulation, and planner workspaces.
- Configure and enhance IBP Control Tower capabilities, including custom alerts, intelligent visibility, exception monitoring, case management, analytics, and workflows that support daily planning operations and management by exception.
- Own functional design, configuration documentation, WRICEF requirements, test leadership, cutover planning, and release governance for IBP and SAP S/4HANA planning solutions.
- Ensure global template adherence, standardized planning controls, and scalable solution design across products, plants, locations, resources, suppliers, and customers.
Order-Based Planning Transformation
- Provide functional leadership for the transition from time-series or legacy supply planning processes to SAP IBP Order-Based Planning.
- Assess current planning models, integration methods, master data, transactional data, planning horizons, and process dependencies to develop an Order-Based Planning transition roadmap.
- Configure and support flexible planning areas, business meanings, application mappings, planning run profiles, versions, scenarios, supply heuristics, optimizers, allocations, response planning, and deployment planning.
- Support detailed operational planning using stock, planned orders, production orders, purchase requisitions, purchase orders, stock transport orders, sales orders, deliveries, resources, and sourcing data.
- Lead transition readiness, data validation, reconciliation, regression testing, parallel planning, cutover, and stabilization activities.
- Partner with business and technical stakeholders to manage process changes, capability gaps, adoption risks, training needs, and operating-model impacts associated with the transition to Order-Based Planning.
Real-Time Integration
- Design, configure, test, and support Real-Time Integration between SAP IBP and SAP S/4HANA for planning-relevant master and transactional data.
- Support Real-Time Integration architecture, communication arrangements, logical systems, communication systems, integration profiles, application mappings, Core Interface models, queues, and background remote function call connectivity.
- Validate initial and delta transfers for products, locations, resources, production data structures, transportation lanes, stock, orders, purchase documents, sales documents, deliveries, and other planning-relevant objects.
- Monitor data queues, integration health, reconciliation results, exceptions, and failed transactions; coordinate root-cause analysis and reprocessing with SAP Basis, integration, data, and application teams.
- Support the transition from batch-oriented or legacy integration methods to Real-Time Integration, including readiness assessments, dependency mapping, testing, cutover, reconciliation, and production support.
- Ensure integrated data is timely, complete, accurate, and aligned with Order-Based Planning and Control Tower requirements.
Cross-Functional Integration
- Collaborate closely with Supply Chain, PTP, OTC, EWM, Finance, Master Data, Integration, Data, Security, and Analytics teams to maintain seamless end-to-end Demand to Supply processes.
- Partner with demand planners, supply planners, inventory planners, business process owners, architects, and technical teams to translate planning requirements into reliable SAP solutions.
- Validate integration of demand forecasts, inventory, purchase orders, open sales orders, backorders, lead times, resources, sourcing priorities, safety stock targets, and planning outputs between SAP IBP and SAP S/4HANA.
- Coordinate Control Tower alert definitions, thresholds, escalation paths, analytics, and workflows with business stakeholders to ensure exceptions lead to timely and effective business action.
Operational Leadership
- Lead production support, planning-cycle issue resolution, root-cause analysis, and process optimization across IBP and Demand to Supply capabilities.
- Act as a senior subject matter expert for planning governance, solution design decisions, audit readiness, compliance alignment, and operational stability.
- Support data readiness, integration validation, parallel testing, cutover, hypercare, and post-release adoption for IBP and SAP S/4HANA planning enhancements.
- Drive continuous improvement by identifying opportunities to reduce manual effort, improve forecast and supply planning accuracy, strengthen inventory visibility, accelerate exception resolution, and increase planner productivity.
- Establish operational procedures, monitoring standards, support documentation, and knowledge-transfer materials for Control Tower, Order-Based Planning, and Real-Time Integration.
Education:
- Any bachelor's degree
Technical Skills
- Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Supply Chain, Business, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
- 10+ years of SAP supply chain planning, SAP IBP, SAP APO, SAP S/4HANA, or related configuration and business analysis experience.
- Experience with at least one full lifecycle SAP S/4HANA, SAP IBP, SAP APO-to-IBP, or major supply chain planning implementation.
- Hands-on experience with SAP IBP Demand Planning, Response & Supply, Inventory Planning, Sales and Operations Planning, and Control Tower.
- Demonstrated knowledge and practical experience configuring IBP Control Tower alerts, exception monitoring, analytics, workflows, and management-by-exception processes.
- Demonstrated experience planning or executing a transition to Order-Based Planning, including flexible planning areas, business meanings, application mappings, operational planning data, planning runs, testing, reconciliation, cutover, and adoption.
- Hands-on experience with Real-Time Integration between SAP IBP and SAP S/4HANA, including integration profiles, master and transactional data, initial and delta transfers, queue monitoring, reconciliation, error handling, and production support.
- Strong understanding of demand planning, constrained supply planning, response planning, deployment planning, inventory planning, Sales and Operations Planning, MRP, procurement planning, master data, and end-to-end Demand to Supply processes.
- Experience with SAP IBP planning areas, key figures, master data, planning views, planning operators, versions, scenarios, heuristics, optimizers, and supply planning algorithms.
- Proven ability to create functional designs, analyze business requirements, support testing, troubleshoot integrations, and drive alignment across business and technology stakeholders.
- Strong communication skills with the ability to explain complex planning processes, transformation impacts, and technical dependencies to business and technical audiences.