Position Purpose:

A Senior Manager responsible for cloud-based SAP platforms must possess a combination of strategic vision, operational expertise, and advanced leadership capabilities. Below are the key job qualifications and responsibilities, categorized in generic terms to reflect the seniority and scope of the role. The Systems Engineer Sr. Manager focuses on guiding and executing the implementation, maintenance, and support of hardware, software, and systems necessary to enable sales, drive efficiency, and build customer satisfaction. Within their Systems Engineering teams, Systems Engineer Sr. Managers, work closely with business stakeholders and the stores. They support system planning reviews and communicate with, and present across, all levels of the organization.
The Systems Engineer Sr. Manager is a strategic leader that is skilled and experienced in generating innovative ideas for growth within their respective area and across the systems engineering organization. The Sr. Manager must exhibit the ability to lead managers and their teams and drive change management and process improvement.

Key Responsibilities:

• 40% Strategy & Planning:
• Drives Systems Engineering by reviewing performance and directing work efforts of Engineers and vendors to ensure alignment with company, stakeholder, and end user priorities
• Aligns Systems Engineering efforts across products and projects
• Understands enterprise goals and KPIs to ensure value is delivered against them
• Gains a thorough understanding of end user needs, both existing and potential, and uses that knowledge to help design infrastructure that exceeds expectations
• Communicates with key user and operational groups to understand business needs
• Elicits ideas and assists team members with gaining shared understanding of systems engineering techniques
• Markets and promotes Systems Engineering capabilities so that end users understand the team's capabilities and the associated benefits
• Presents complex design concepts and rationale to multidisciplinary teams, as well as to key stakeholders and business partners
• Contributes to and makes recommendations for strategic plans in support of key objectives in a timely and fiscally responsible manner
• Supports and nurtures strategic vendor relationships; recommends ways to influence vendors that align to domain, portfolio, and enterprise strategic objectives
• 15% Delivery & Execution:
• Provides guidance on configuration, debugging, and support for infrastructure
• Documents, reviews and ensures that all quality and change control standards are met
• Guides field and corporate roll-outs of technology
• Guides the stand up of necessary system software, hardware, and equipment (physical or virtual) to meet changing infrastructure needs
• Reviews specifications for complex technology solutions
• Provides regular status to leadership regarding progress of Systems Engineering efforts
• Reviews and approves purchase requests for hardware and software
• Makes suggestions that help drive operational excellence to create internal customer satisfaction and meet operational metrics
• 15% Support & Enablement:
• Removes roadblocks and obstacles that may impair Systems Engineers to help ensure efforts meet strategic, financial, and technical goals
• Receives and prioritizes escalations and incoming requests from product teams and stakeholders
• Guides the production of in-house documentation around solutions
• Monitors tools and proactively helps teams struggling with systems issues
• 30% People:
• Provides leadership, mentoring, and coaching to Systems Engineering professionals
• Attracts, retains, and develops top talent
• Conducts annual and mid-year reviews, reviewing individual development plans and providing performance feedback
• Fosters collaboration with team members to drive value and identify and resolve impediments
• Advocates for the end user and stakeholder by becoming associated with the product, empathizing with and understanding user needs
• Guides more junior team members in strategy, alignment, analysis, and execution tasks
• Participates in and contributes to learning activities around systems engineering core practices (communities of practice)

Direct Manager/Direct Reports:

• Typically reports to the Technology Director, Sr. Director or Vice President.

Travel Requirements:

• Typically requires overnight travel 5% to 20% of the time.

Physical Requirements:

• Most of the time is spent sitting in a comfortable position and there is frequent opportunity to move about. On rare occasions there may be a need to move or lift light articles.

Working Conditions:

• Located in a comfortable indoor area. Any unpleasant conditions would be infrequent and not objectionable.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Must be eighteen years of age or older.
• Must be legally permitted to work in the United States.
• Must be legally permitted to work in the United States

Preferred Qualifications:

• 6-8 years of relevant work experience
• Professional experience in the following areas: Infrastructure Engineering, Network Engineering, Database Engineering, or Security Engineering
• Proficiency in working as part of a collaborative, cross-functional, modern engineering team
• Proficiency in guiding more junior team members through systems engineering fundamentals in a professional setting
• Proficiency in managing and growing team members in a professional setting
• Proficiency balancing workloads across teams
• Proficiency managing and growing vendor relationships; experience with vendor negotiations
• Proficiency in infrastructure, network, database or security troubleshooting and remediation; experience with at least one other
• Experience installing and upgrading applications or databases and performing system maintenance
• Experience with networking, system and hardware design and architecture, DBMS concepts, SQL programming, and client server concepts
• Experience with system and environment analysis, design, and optimization
• Experience with object oriented programming languages (preferably Java), distributed computing environments, and code reviews
• Experience with system security design and management
• Experience with disaster recovery planning and engineering
• Experience monitoring the operational status and performance of, and configuring as well as tuning systems, networks, or databases
• Experience with operating system commands and utilities as well as scripting
• Experience working with cloud platforms such as GCP and Azure
• Proficiency in supporting a 24x7 retail operation

Minimum Education:

• The knowledge, skills and abilities typically acquired through the completion of a bachelor's degree program or equivalent degree in a field of study related to the job.

Preferred Education:

• No additional education

Minimum Years of Work Experience:

• 6

Preferred Years of Work Experience:

• No additional years of experience

Minimum Leadership Experience:

• None

Preferred Leadership Experience:

• None

Certifications:

• None

Competencies:

• Strategic Leadership & Vision 
• Strategic Roadmap Development: Ability to define and execute a multi-year technology strategy that aligns SAP platform capabilities with broader business goals. 
• Innovation & Transformation Management: Proven experience leading large-scale organizational or digital transformations, particularly the migration of legacy environments to modern, scalable infrastructure.
• Executive Presence: Skilled at communicating complex technical concepts, risks, and project statuses to senior executives and non-technical stakeholders to gain buy-in and drive decision-making.

• Operational Oversight & Governance 
• End-to-End Service Delivery: Accountability for the stability, performance, and security of global enterprise platforms, ensuring consistent service levels and minimized downtime.
• Architecture & Design Governance: Expert-level understanding of enterprise architectural principles, including high availability, disaster recovery, and the integration of third-party solutions.
• Methodology Mastery: Proficient in overseeing projects using various delivery frameworks, such as Agile, Waterfall, or modular implementation methodologies, to ensure efficient project lifecycles. 

• People Management & Talent Development 
• Team Leadership: Experience managing large, diverse, and often geographically distributed teams of engineers, architects, and analysts.
• Mentorship & Coaching: A commitment to developing a "deep talent bench" by providing career guidance, technical coaching, and performance management to high-performing associates.
• Culture Building: Ability to foster a collaborative environment that values continuous learning, curiosity, and high accountability. 

• Business Acumen & Risk Management 
• Financial Stewardship: Experience managing significant capital and operational budgets, including conducting cost-benefit analyses and optimizing infrastructure spend.
• Stakeholder Partnership: Ability to build strong, collaborative relationships with cross-functional partners in Finance, Supply Chain, and Merchandising to understand their needs and deliver value-driven solutions.
• Compliance & Risk Mitigation: Experience conducting risk assessments and ensuring that platforms meet rigorous enterprise standards for security, data privacy, and regulatory compliance. 

• Professional Background & Experience 
• Extensive Industry Experience: Significant professional experience in technology management, with a clear history of increasing responsibility in enterprise software or platform operations.
• Educational Foundation: An advanced degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Business Administration, or a related field is typically expected. 
• Problem-Solving Mastery: A proven ability to navigate highly ambiguous situations and solve complex business problems using analytical methods and structured communication.