SAP Validation Governance Lead

The SAP Validation Governance Lead will be responsible for establishing and governing the enterprise validation strategy, framework, standards, and compliance oversight for SAP S/4HANA programs within a regulated GxP environment. This role provides leadership across Computer System Validation (CSV), risk-based validation methodologies, defect governance, release readiness, and quality compliance to ensure successful delivery of SAP implementations, upgrades, integrations, and data migration initiatives. The individual will drive validation excellence, standardization, and governance maturity while partnering with business, quality, compliance, and technology stakeholders across large-scale SAP transformation programs., As an SAP Validation Governance Lead , you will serve as the enterprise authority for validation governance across SAP S/4HANA initiatives, ensuring validation processes, methodologies, and controls are consistently applied throughout the system lifecycle. You will define validation strategies, establish governance frameworks, and oversee risk-based validation activities to support regulatory compliance, data integrity, and organizational quality objectives.

In this role, you will provide leadership for validation planning, execution oversight, defect governance, compliance reviews, KPI reporting, release readiness assessments, and audit preparedness. You will work closely with business stakeholders, quality teams, IT organizations, system integrators, and external partners to ensure validation activities are executed in accordance with GxP regulations, CSV requirements, and company standards.

The ideal candidate is a seasoned SAP validation leader with extensive experience governing enterprise-scale SAP S/4HANA programs, driving compliance initiatives, and implementing validation best practices across complex business processes and integrated technology landscapes. This individual will play a key role in advancing validation governance, mentoring validation teams, and supporting the successful delivery of critical business transformation initiatives.

In This Role, You Will

· Define and maintain the enterprise SAP S/4HANA validation strategy and governance framework.

· Support establishing validation standards, procedures, templates, and best practices aligned with regulatory requirements and company SOPs.

· Lead risk-based validation assessments for projects, enhancements, releases, interfaces, reports, and data migrations.

· Establish and govern the Validation approach, methodology, Validation planning and standards.

· Govern validation lifecycle execution from requirements through release approval.

· Drive standardization of validation methodologies across SAP functional streams and integrated systems.

· Ensure compliance with GxP regulations, computerized system validation requirements, data integrity principles, and corporate quality policies.

· Ensure appropriate documentation, traceability, and validation evidence are maintained.

· Define and govern defect lifecycle, logging, classification, severity and priority, triage, aging, service-level expectations, root cause analysis, duplicate and invalid handling, and deferral controls.

· Facilitate governance-level defect reviews and escalate quality risks, unresolved critical defects, overdue actions, and decision gaps.

· Ensure defect trends and risk exposure are visible to accountable stakeholders and appropriately considered in readiness decisions.

· Define and maintain Validation metrics, KPIs, dashboards, and report standards for execution progress, coverage, defects, aging, trends, automation, risks, and readiness.

· Review validation documentation for completeness, accuracy, and compliance.

· Ensure end-to-end requirements traceability from requirements through testing and defect resolution.

· Ensure appropriate defect management, triage, remediation, and closure criteria are achieved.

· Support implementation of quality gates and entry/exit criteria across validation phases.

· Participate in SAP Change Control and CAB reviews.

· Ensure validation activities are integrated into release and deployment plans.

· Provide release readiness recommendations and validation sign-off.

· Facilitate governance reviews, steering meetings, risk assessments, and compliance reviews.

· Mentor Validation engineers and project validation resources.

· Support SAP team for Audit and inspection readiness activities.

· Support continuous improvement initiatives for S4 HANA validation processes, automation, and governance maturity.

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, Life Sciences, or related discipline.

• 18+ Years overall experience including 10+ years of Computer System Validation (CSV) experience.

• Strong Experience supporting regulated GxP environment and applying Risk-Based Validation Methodologies

• 5+ years leading end-end validation programs for ERP platforms.

• Strong experience with SAP S/4HANA implementations, upgrades, and releases.

• Experience with SAP RISE, Clean Core methodology and framework

• SME level understanding of Test Management (ALM), Document and Change Management systems (Veeva).

• Experience managing SAP OTC, STS, PTD, RTR end-end business processes Validation

• Strong experience with Test Management and Defect Management

• Experience with End to End Data Migration Qualification activities

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience governing large scale SAP transformation enterprise platforms with complex integrations and end-to-end business processes.

• Experience working within complex delivery models involving internal teams, system integrators, managed service providers, and external partners.

• Relevant testing, quality, agile, project management, SAP certifications.

• Experience coordinating business-led testing activities across multiple stakeholders is a nice to have.

The annual salary for this position is between $95,850 to $150,000 depending on experience and other qualifications of the successful candidate.

This position is also eligible for Cognizant’s discretionary annual incentive program, based on performance and subject to the terms of Cognizant’s applicable plans.

Benefits : Cognizant offers the following benefits for this position, subject to applicable eligibility requirements:

• Medical/Dental/Vision/Life Insurance
• Paid holidays plus Paid Time Off
• 401(k) plan and contributions
• Long-term/Short-term Disability
• Paid Parental Leave
• Employee Stock Purchase Plan

Disclaimer: The salary, other compensation, and benefits information is accurate as of the date of this posting. Cognizant reserves the right to modify this information at any time, subject to applicable law.

We believe hybrid work is the way forward as we strive to provide flexibility wherever possible. Based on this role’s business requirements, this is a hybrid position requiring 3 days a week in a client or Cognizant office in Foster, CA. Regardless of your working arrangement, we are here to support a healthy work-life balance though our various wellbeing programs.