SAP Planning Business Analyst

Position Description: The Planning & Process Improvement Leader is responsible for driving operational excellence across Planning, Supply Chain, and related business functions by identifying opportunities to improve processes, enhance system capabilities, and increase organizational effectiveness. This role serves as the strategic liaison between business stakeholders and IT, ensuring that processes, technology, and data work together to support current business objectives and future growth.

The position leads process improvement initiatives, evaluates and implements technology solutions, and promotes best practices across the organization. While maintaining strong expertise in SAP and related applications, the primary focus is on optimizing end-to-end business processes, improving performance metrics, and delivering sustainable business value.

This role collaborates closely with business leaders, global IT teams, and external partners to define strategic roadmaps, prioritize improvement initiatives, and successfully deliver projects. The Planning & Process Improvement Leader also provides leadership, mentoring, and development for analysts and support resources within the team.

Responsibilities

Process Improvement & Operational Excellence

• Identify opportunities to improve planning, supply chain, and business processes through analysis, stakeholder engagement, and continuous improvement methodologies.
• Lead process redesign initiatives to improve efficiency, service levels, quality, and cost performance.
• Develop and maintain process documentation, workflows, standard operating procedures, and business process maps.
• Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure process effectiveness and identify areas for optimization.
• Facilitate cross-functional workshops to align business requirements and drive organizational change.

Business Systems & Technology Enablement

• Partner with business leaders and global IT teams to evaluate current and future business needs.
• Define system requirements and recommend technology solutions that support business objectives.
• Lead the design, implementation, testing, and deployment of SAP and related business application enhancements.
• Ensure solutions align with enterprise architecture, business strategy, and operational requirements.
• Support innovation initiatives by identifying opportunities to leverage automation, analytics, AI, and emerging technologies.

Project & Change Leadership

• Lead business transformation, process improvement, and technology implementation projects.
• Develop project plans, timelines, resource requirements, and risk mitigation strategies.
• Coordinate activities among business stakeholders, IT teams, vendors, and external consultants.
• Manage organizational change activities, including communication, training, and adoption strategies.
• Ensure successful project delivery through effective governance, issue resolution, and stakeholder management.

Team Leadership & Support

• Provide leadership, coaching, and mentoring to analysts and support team members.
• Prioritize and manage workloads across support and project activities.
• Oversee application support processes and service delivery to ensure business continuity.
• Promote knowledge sharing, professional development, and continuous improvement within the team.
• Support escalation management and resolution of complex business and system issues.

Training, Documentation & Governance

• Develop and maintain user, process, and technical documentation.
• Deliver training programs and workshops to support user adoption and process consistency.
• Establish governance standards for business processes, system changes, and solution design.
• Ensure compliance with company policies, controls, and best practices.

• Strong leadership, communication, facilitation, and stakeholder management skills.
• Proven ability to analyze business processes and implement measurable improvements.
• Experience leading cross-functional projects and driving organizational change.
• Strong problem-solving, analytical, and decision-making capabilities.
• Ability to translate business requirements into practical technology solutions.
• Experience with SAP ERP and related business applications.
• Strong project management and organizational skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in Planning, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, or Logistics business processes.
• Knowledge of Lean, Six Sigma, Continuous Improvement, or Operational Excellence methodologies.
• Experience with business process mapping and process performance measurement.
• Knowledge of analytics, automation, reporting, and AI-enabled business solutions.
• Experience working in global, matrixed organizations.