SAP Cutover Manager (with Project & Stakeholder Management Expertise)

We are seeking an experienced SAP Cutover Manager (with Project & Stakeholder Management Expertise) to join a large-scale SAP transformation programme within the Financial Services sector. The primary responsibility of this role is to own, govern, coordinate, and successfully execute all cutover activities associated with an SAP ECC to S/4HANA transformation running within a SAP RISE Private Cloud environment. In addition to Cutover Management responsibilities, the successful candidate will work closely with the SAP Programme Manager to support programme governance, stakeholder engagement, delivery planning, execution oversight, risk management, issue resolution, and client communications. This role requires a senior SAP professional who understands the criticality of a successful go-live and can confidently guide project teams and client stakeholders through the planning, rehearsal, execution, and stabilization phases of the programme. The successful candidate will be a trusted advisor to the Programme Manager and client leadership team, demonstrating strong communication skills, exceptional stakeholder management capabilities, sound project management discipline, and the ability to remain composed during highly pressured delivery and go-live periods.

Key Responsibilities

SAP Cutover Management

• Own the end-to-end SAP Cutover Strategy and Cutover Plan.

• Develop and maintain detailed cutover plans, schedules, runbooks, and

execution trackers.

• Define and manage all cutover activities across project workstreams.

• Coordinate business, functional, technical, infrastructure, security, data

migration, and testing teams.

• Identify and manage cutover dependencies and critical path activities.

• Ensure all cutover tasks are planned, assigned, monitored, and completed on

time.

• Drive cutover readiness across all project streams.

• Establish cutover governance structures and reporting mechanisms.

• Define and monitor go-live readiness criteria.

• Manage Go/No-Go decision processes.

• Lead cutover command centre and war-room activities during deployment.

• Manage transition activities into Hypercare and Business-As-Usual support.

Cutover Planning & Execution

• Develop comprehensive cutover schedules aligned to programme milestones.

• Coordinate and facilitate cutover planning workshops.

• Conduct regular cutover review sessions with project stakeholders.

• Manage integrated cutover plans across multiple teams.

• Validate timing estimates and resource requirements.

• Ensure execution sequencing is accurate and achievable.

• Manage deployment plans and production release coordination.

• Oversee contingency planning and rollback strategies where necessary.

Rehearsals & Go-Live Readiness

• Plan and execute mock cutovers and dress rehearsals.

• Validate timing assumptions and deployment activities.

• Document lessons learned and improvement opportunities.

• Conduct readiness assessments and readiness reporting.

• Coordinate business and technical sign-offs.

• Ensure all deployment risks are addressed prior to go-live.

• Facilitate readiness review meetings with client leadership and programme

governance structures.

Programme Management Support

Working collaboratively with the SAP Programme Manager:

• Support overall programme planning and execution activities.

• Assist with programme governance and reporting.

• Track programme risks, assumptions, issues, and dependencies.

• Prepare programme status reports and executive updates.

• Support Steering Committee preparation and reporting.

• Assist with resource planning and coordination.

• Escalate critical delivery issues where required.

• Drive accountability across project workstreams.

• Contribute to programme decision-making and risk mitigation strategies.

Stakeholder Management

The successful candidate must demonstrate exceptional stakeholder management

capabilities and the ability to engage confidently across all organisational levels.

Responsibilities include:

• Building trusted relationships with client stakeholders.

• Managing relationships across business and IT teams.

• Facilitating workshops and planning sessions.

• Supporting executive decision-making processes.

• Engaging confidently with Programme Sponsors and Executive Stakeholders.

• Managing stakeholder expectations throughout the project lifecycle.

• Driving alignment across multiple workstreams.

• Resolving conflicts and competing priorities.

• Providing clear and proactive communication at all times.

Risk & Issue Management

• Identify and proactively manage cutover-related risks.

• Develop mitigation and contingency plans.

• Track and manage project issues affecting deployment readiness.

• Escalate major risks and issues appropriately.

• Drive resolution of blockers and critical dependencies.

• Ensure risk management processes are consistently followed.

Governance & Reporting

• Maintain complete visibility of cutover progress and readiness.

• Produce regular cutover reports and dashboards.

• Report progress to Programme Management and Steering Committees.

• Track execution performance against agreed timelines.

• Manage decision logs, action registers, risk registers, and dependency trackers.

• Ensure governance standards are maintained throughout the programme

lifecycle.

Required Skills

SAP Skills

• Advanced SAP Cutover Management expertise.

• Strong understanding of SAP programme delivery methodologies.

• Deep understanding of SAP ECC environments.

• Strong knowledge of SAP S/4HANA implementations and upgrades.

• Experience with ECC to S/4HANA transformation programmes.

• Understanding of SAP RISE Private Cloud environments.

• Experience coordinating SAP Basis, Functional, Integration, Security,

Infrastructure, and Data Migration teams.

• Familiarity with SAP Activate methodology.

• Understanding of SAP landscape management and deployment processes.

• Experience managing SAP go-live and stabilization activities.

Project Management Skills

• Project planning and scheduling.

• Programme coordination.

• Risk and issue management.

• Dependency management.

• Governance and reporting.

• RAID management.

• Executive reporting.

• Resource coordination.

• Delivery assurance.

• Change control processes.

Stakeholder Management Skills

• Executive stakeholder engagement.

• Client relationship management.

• Workshop facilitation.

• Negotiation and influencing skills.

• Conflict resolution.

• Strong verbal and written communication skills.

• Presentation and facilitation skills.

• Ability to build trust and credibility quickly.

Experience Required

Essential

• Minimum 10 years of SAP project delivery experience.

• Minimum 5 years of dedicated SAP Cutover Management experience.

• Proven experience managing SAP ECC to S/4HANA transformation programmes.

• Financial Services industry experience.

• Experience managing enterprise-scale SAP implementation or upgrade

programmes.

• Experience supporting Programme Management functions.

• Experience managing multiple stakeholders across business and technical

teams.

• Experience managing mock cutovers and production deployments.

• Experience driving successful SAP go-live activities.

Highly Desirable

• SAP RISE Private Cloud project experience.

• Brownfield SAP ECC to S/4HANA conversion experience.

• SAP Cloud ALM experience.

• SAP Activate experience.

• Experience within regulated Financial Services environments.

• Experience working with SI partners and multiple delivery vendors.

• Experience managing complex enterprise transformation programmes.

Qualifications & Certifications

Required

• SAP Activate Certification.

• SAP S/4HANA Certification.

• PMP Certification.

• PRINCE2 Practitioner.

• Agile Certification.

• Scrum Master Certification.

• Programme Management Certification.

Personal Attributes

We are looking for a candidate who is:

Leadership Focused

• Demonstrates strong ownership and accountability.

• Leads confidently through influence and collaboration.

• Remains calm under pressure.

• Drives teams toward successful outcomes.

Team Oriented

• Strong team player.

• Collaborative and approachable.

• Builds strong relationships across project teams.

• Supports colleagues and broader programme objectives.

• Willing to roll up their sleeves and assist where required.

Flexible & Adaptable

• Able to work in fast-paced project environments.

• Comfortable managing changing priorities.

• Solutions-focused and proactive.

• Resilient during demanding project phases.

Strong Communicator

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

• Comfortable interacting with executives and project teams.

• Able to simplify complex concepts for business audiences.

• Proactive, transparent, and professional in communication.

Client Focused

• Builds credibility and trust with clients.

• Demonstrates professionalism and maturity.

• Acts as a trusted advisor.

• Maintains a delivery-first mindset.

Success Measures

The successful candidate will be measured against:

• Successful ownership and execution of the Cutover Strategy and Plan.

• Completion of all cutover milestones within agreed timelines.

• Successful execution of mock cutovers and dress rehearsals.

• Go-live readiness across all project workstreams.

• Successful SAP deployment with minimal business disruption.

• Effective management of project risks and dependencies.

• Positive stakeholder and client feedback.

• Strong programme governance and reporting.

• Smooth transition into Hypercare support.

• Achievement of agreed programme outcomes and go-live objectives.

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is an experienced SAP Cutover Manager first and foremost, with

the project management discipline and stakeholder management maturity required to

operate as a key member of the Programme Leadership team.

This individual can confidently own the entire cutover lifecycle while supporting the SAP

Programme Manager in driving programme success. They are equally comfortable

working with technical teams, project managers, business leaders, executive sponsors,

and client stakeholders.

They possess proven ECC to S/4HANA transformation experience, understand the SAP

RISE Private Cloud landscape, have worked within Financial Services environments,