SAP Ariba Technical Architect
Introduction
A career in IBM Consulting is rooted by long-term relationships and close collaboration with clients across the globe. You'll work with visionaries across multiple industries to improve the hybrid cloud and AI journey for the most innovative and valuable companies in the world. Your ability to accelerate impact and make meaningful change for your clients is enabled by our strategic partner ecosystem and our robust technology platforms across the IBM portfolio; including Software and Red Hat. Curiosity and a constant quest for knowledge serve as the foundation to success in IBM Consulting. In your role, you'll be encouraged to challenge the norm, investigate ideas outside of your role, and come up with creative solutions resulting in ground breaking impact for a wide network of clients. Our culture of evolution and empathy centers on long-term career growth and development opportunities in an environment that embraces your unique skills and experience.
Your role and responsibilities
In this role, the selected candidate will lead and deliver SAP Ariba programs, act as the primary solution architect across Sourcing and Procurement solutions and oversee a team of SAP Ariba consultants. The position requires strong technical expertise, strategic thought leadership, and the ability to execute in a fast-paced, evolving environment. The role will also involve engaging with senior stakeholders across internal and client organisations.
The successful candidate will contribute by:
Project Leadership:
Drive end-to-end delivery of SAP Ariba projects including new implementations, global rollouts, and system enhancements. Ensure projects are delivered within agreed timelines, budget, and scope while maintaining strong governance and communication with all stakeholder groups.
Solution Design & Configuration:
Serve as the solution SME, ensuring design integrity and functional excellence across SAP Ariba platforms. Lead configuration, enhancements, and template design across all major Ariba modules (Sourcing, Contracts, Category Management, Supplier Management, and Buying & Invoicing). Demonstrate deep expertise of Ariba administration, features, and best-practice solution design.
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Business Process Optimization:
Apply deep understanding of end-to-end Source-to-Pay processes to evaluate current business practices, identify improvement opportunities, and recommend best-practice workflows enabled through SAP Ariba to improve efficiency, compliance, and user experience.
Integration Management:
Oversee seamless integration between SAP Ariba and customer ERP systems (SAP and Non-SAP), along with other third-party platforms. Ensure data accuracy, system stability, and optimal integration performance.
Stakeholder Engagement:
Engage closely with business stakeholders and IT leadership to gather requirements, translate them into robust technical solutions, and ensure alignment with broader business strategies and transformation goals.
Team Leadership:
Lead and mentor a team of SAP Ariba professionals, providing hands-on guidance, managing work allocation and capacity, nurturing capability growth, and fostering a collaborative, high-performance team culture.
Practice Development:
Contribute to continuous improvement of delivery methodologies, accelerators, templates, and reusable assets. Develop internal capability and coach consultants and architects. Stay abreast of SAP Ariba innovation and champion adoption of emerging capabilities and industry trends.
Required education
Bachelor's Degree
Required technical and professional expertise
Experience:
- 10+ years of overall experience in IT consulting and enterprise application delivery, with 6+ years of hands-on SAP Ariba implementation experience across multiple modules (Sourcing, Contract Management, Category Management, Supplier Management, Buying & Invoicing).
- Proven track record delivering end-to-end SAP Ariba programs including new implementations, global rollouts, and transformation initiatives in large-scale organisations.
- Demonstrated experience in SAP Ariba Solution Architecture, including solution scoping, blueprinting, configuration, testing, deployment, and hyper-care support.
- Strong exposure to SAP S/4HANA or SAP ECC integration with Ariba, involving Cloud Integration Gateway (CIG), middleware integration, and master/transactional data flows.
- Hands-on experience designing and optimising Source-to-Contract and Procure-to-Pay processes in complex operating environments.
- Experience in leading functional teams, managing consultants, and working closely with cross-functional delivery teams including technical, data, PMO, and change management.
- Experience in project governance, Agile/Waterfall delivery methodologies (SAP Activate), risk management, and quality assurance.
- Prior consulting experience with a global SI or technology consulting firm (preferred).
Technical & Soft Skills:
- Expert level proficiency in SAP Ariba configuration, customization, and administration
- Advanced knowledge of procurement processes, sourcing methodologies, and contract management
- Strong understanding of integration technologies, APIs, and data management
- Experience with SAP Ariba Analytics, reporting tools, and spend analysis platforms
- Knowledge of supplier risk management and compliance frameworks
- Excellent analytical and problem-solving capabilities with attention to detail
- Strong presentation and training skills for diverse audiences
- Ability to work independently and manage multiple priorities in fast paced environments
- Negotiation skills and commercial acumen
Preferred technical and professional experience
Education:
- Bachelor's degree in Supply Chain Management, Business Administration, Information Technology, or related field
- Master's degree or professional procurement certification preferred
Certifications:
- SAP Ariba certifications in multiple modules (required)
- Project Management Professional (PMP) or equivalent (preferred)
- SAP S/4HANA or SAP ERP certification (advantageous)
Industry Knowledge:
• Understanding of regulatory compliance requirements and industry specific procurement practices
• Knowledge of global sourcing, supplier diversity, and sustainability initiatives
• Familiarity with procurement best practices and emerging technologies in the space
ABOUT BUSINESS UNIT
IBM Consulting is IBM's consulting and global professional services business, with market leading capabilities in business and technology transformation. With deep expertise in many industries, we offer strategy, experience, technology, and operations services to many of the most innovative and valuable companies in the world. Our people are focused on accelerating our clients' businesses through the power of collaboration. We believe in the power of technology responsibly used to help people, partners and the planet.
YOUR LIFE @ IBM
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Being an IBMer means you'll be able to learn and develop yourself and your career, you'll be encouraged to be courageous and experiment everyday, all whilst having continuous trust and support in an environment where everyone can thrive whatever their personal or professional background.
Our IBMers are growth minded, always staying curious, open to feedback and learning new information and skills to constantly transform themselves and our company. They are trusted to provide on-going feedback to help other IBMers grow, as well as collaborate with colleagues keeping in mind a team focused approach to include different perspectives to drive exceptional outcomes for our customers. The courage our IBMers have to make critical decisions everyday is essential to IBM becoming the catalyst for progress, always embracing challenges with resources they have to hand, a can-do attitude and always striving for an outcome focused approach within everything that they do.
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ABOUT IBM
IBM's greatest invention is the IBMer. We believe that through the application of intelligence, reason and science, we can improve business, society and the human condition, bringing the power of an open hybrid cloud and AI strategy to life for our clients and partners around the world.
Restlessly reinventing since 1911, we are not only one of the largest corporate organizations in the world, we're also one of the biggest technology and consulting employers, with many of the Fortune 500 companies relying on the IBM Cloud to run their business.
At IBM, we pride ourselves on being an early adopter of artificial intelligence, quantum computing and blockchain. Now it's time for you to join us on our journey to being a responsible technology innovator and a force for good in the world.
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