About the Role
This role sits inside a major SAP transformation at a leading energy infrastructure organization, which is migrating its financial planning environment from SAP BPC to SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) Planning and currently has no in-house SAC Planning expertise. Working in a joint-led delivery model alongside an external System Integrator, this person represents the client side: evaluating what the SI proposes, shaping model design decisions, and making sure the technical direction actually holds up against live FP&A business needs. The scope covers SAC Planning model design and the full output side (reports, stories, and dashboards) built on advanced SAC functionality including formulas, allocations, versions, and scenarios, integrated with a parallel S/4HANA implementation already underway.
The right person for this role is a hands-on SAC Planning specialist who has carried that experience through large-scale, complex ERP implementations from global design through go-live. What sets strong candidates apart is not just knowing SAC mechanics but being able to take a messy, real-world planning requirement and turn it into a working model design. This person will work across a wide stakeholder group spanning FP&A, finance leadership, IT, Data, Projects, and the SI, so the ability to translate technical concepts clearly for non-technical audiences (in writing or in conversation) is just as important as the technical depth.
Key Responsibilities
- Partner with FP&A and technical stakeholders to translate planning processes and analytical requirements into coherent, scalable SAC Planning solution designs spanning budgeting, forecasting, and management reporting.
- Work alongside the System Integrator on global design of integrated SAC Planning models covering OM&A, Capital, Projects, Revenue, and Short-Term Planning, engaging business teams to surface requirements and pain points.
- Develop user stories and drive key design decisions that keep the SAC build aligned to FP&A business objectives and real operational processes.
- Design, build, and implement end-to-end SAC Planning models and validate SI-delivered reports, stories, input templates, and dashboards for usability, consistency, and quality.
- Provide hands-on SAC development as needed and lead review of work completed by SI resources and developers, including design direction, quality assurance, and knowledge transfer.
- Support data migration, SIT/UAT testing, defect resolution, cutover, post-go-live stabilization, and change management activities.
- Prepare and facilitate FP&A requirements-gathering workshops in Q1 2027, proposing realistic and deliverable SAC enhancements grounded in current planning processes.
- Identify AI-enabled planning use cases and contribute to their design and implementation as the program matures.
Required Skills & Experience
- Proven hands-on experience leading SAC Planning implementations in complex enterprise environments; this is a day-one requirement that cannot be substituted with SAC reporting or dashboard exposure alone
- Background on large-scale, complex ERP implementations across the full lifecycle: global design, build, and implementation
- Working depth in SAC Planning functionality: advanced formulas, allocations, versions, and scenarios, spanning both model build and output design (reports, stories, dashboards)
- Demonstrated ability to translate a live business planning process into a working SAC Planning model design, not just describe SAC functionality in the abstract
- Strong understanding of SAP S/4HANA and how planning integrates with core finance processes, with prior hands-on S/4HANA implementation experience
- Experience with data migration and SIT/UAT testing on a large ERP or planning transformation
- Strong communication skills across technical and non-technical audiences; strong written communication can offset a less polished verbal style where the technical and business-translation background is clearly present
- Eligible to work in Canada without employer sponsorship (or in the US if Houston-based)
Preferred Skills
- Seamless Planning experience
- SAP Datasphere, SAP BW, or equivalent enterprise data platform exposure
- Experience setting up SAP security roles and data access
- Prior experience partnering with FP&A stakeholders and working directly alongside a System Integrator
- Financial planning and analysis process background
- Change management experience on large ERP adoptions
- Exposure to AI-enabled planning use cases
- Experience in Oil and Gas, Energy Infrastructure, or Utilities (not a disqualifier if absent)