SAP Development and Integration Manager

Purpose of the Role

• As a team player in the SGT SAP CoE team, you and your team will deliver development, integration, extension and automation services across Sanlam’s hybrid SAP estate, including S/4HANA Finance and GRC on RISE with SAP, SAP ECC HCM on-premise, SuccessFactors, SAP Data Services, Insurance Analyzer / PaPM transition activities, SAP Fiori and SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP).
• You will lead SAP development and integration specialists responsible for business-as-usual change, project delivery, cloud-operated SAP integration, clean-core compliant extensions, and fit-for-purpose automation. The role must guide solution choices between in-core configuration, released APIs, side-by-side BTP extensions and governed integration patterns.
• You will act as a subject matter expert on modern SAP development, integration and AI-enabled engineering practices, including RAP/CDS/OData, SAP Integration Suite, API-led and event-driven integration, SAP Cloud ALM, SAP Build, Business Application Studio, Joule for Developers and SAP Business AI enablement where appropriate.
• You will still undertake selected development and integration requests directly, while coaching the team to follow Sanlam SAP CoE governance, BTP governance, clean-core principles, secure-by-design integration and DevSecOps-aligned delivery practices.

Leadership & People Management

• Lead and manage the Development & Integration team.
• Set individual and team objectives aligned to the SAP CoE and IT strategy.
• Conduct performance management, goal setting, coaching, and development discussions.
• Manage employee engagement, wellbeing, and retention.
• Plan succession and talent development activities.
• Drive a culture of accountability, collaboration, continuous improvement, and innovation.
• Receive, assess, prioritise and allocate JIRA requests, ensuring appropriate separation between BAU, project, integration and technical debt work.
• Ensure periodic client and stakeholder cadences for alignment, prioritisation, escalation and capacity planning.
• Defining of and maintain development standards within the SAP CoE, adhering to best practice for this hybrid landscape
• Maintain resource levelling across support, project delivery, BTP, integration and AI enablement demand.
• Enforce Release, Incident, SAP Change Management, audit, security and SAP CoE governance procedures.
• Ensure development and integration decisions comply with BTP governance, clean-core principles, approved architecture patterns and formal design review requirements.
• Lead the modernization of custom code, integrations and extensions to support RISE with SAP, SAP BTP Cloud Foundry and hybrid landscape operations as well as SuccessFactors.
• Guide the transition from point-to-point integration to centrally governed Integration Suite, API-led and event-driven patterns.
• Troubleshoot technical defects across ABAP, BTP, integrations, Fiori, workflow and hybrid connectivity layers.
• Advise functional teams and business stakeholders on enhancement options, including standard SAP functionality, released APIs, side-by-side extensions, automation and embedded AI features.
• Provide uplift, mentoring and technical standards for internal resources.
• Undertake selected development and integration requests while ensuring knowledge transfer, documentation and operational handover.

Qualification

• Matric
• Bachelor’s degree or Diploma, preferably in Computer Science, Information Technology or a related field. 
• Relevant SAP certifications in SAP BTP, Integration Suite, ABAP development, SAP S/4HANA, SAP Cloud ALM, SAP Build and/or SAP Business AI will be advantageous

Knowledge Requirements

• Working technical knowledge of SAP S/4HANA Finance, GRC, ECC HCM, SuccessFactors, SAP Data Services, Master Data Governance, Insurance Analyzer and/or PaPM-related transition concepts.
• Strong knowledge of SAP BTP as Sanlam’s enterprise extension and integration platform.
• Knowledge of clean-core principles, side-by-side extensibility, released APIs, ABAP Cloud and upgrade-stable development practices.
• Knowledge of SAP Integration Suite, API Management, Cloud Connector, event-driven integration and secure hybrid integration patterns.
• Awareness of Joule for Developers, SAP Business AI, generative AI governance and responsible AI usage in SAP solution delivery will be advantageous.
• Knowledge of DevSecOps practices using SAP and enterprise tooling will be advantageous.
• Ability to interpret, interrogate and challenge written requirements, with a strong focus on fit-for-purpose architecture and operational sustainability.
• Ability to prioritise work based on operational risk, regulatory/audit impact, roadmap commitments and capacity constraints.
• Ability to deliver in accordance with strict deadlines while maintaining documentation, handover and support quality.

General Experience

• 7 years in SAP development and integration, including ABAP and modern SAP integration tooling.
• 3 years working with SAP S/4HANA and SAP BTP, preferably in a hybrid or RISE with SAP / Cloud ERP operating model.
• Practical experience with SAP Integration Suite / CPI-S, APIs, OData, IDoc/RFC integration and secure connectivity patterns.
• Leading or coordinating technical teams, backlog prioritisation, release/change governance and stakeholder engagement.
• SAP Cloud ALM, BTP Cloud Foundry migration, clean-core remediation, custom-code modernization, or AI-assisted development will be advantageous.
• Regulated financial services or similarly controlled enterprise environments will be advantageous.
• DevSecOps practices, source control, CI/CD and controlled transport/release governance will be advantageous.

Required Behavioural Competencies

• Highly responsible with ability to work independently and make pragmatic technical decisions.
• Strong thirst for knowledge and continuous learning across SAP cloud, AI, integration and security topics.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, including the ability to explain technical choices to functional teams and business stakeholders.
• Strong client focus and service ownership mindset.
• Excellent time management and prioritisation skills.
• Self-motivated with a strong focus on delivery, quality, documentation and operational handover.
• Strong analytical thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Able to work under pressure individually and as a member or leader of a team.
• Team player with a coaching mindset and commitment to building internal SAP CoE capability.
• Security-conscious, governance-aware and comfortable operating in a regulated financial services environment.