SAP Solution Architect Lead

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About the Role:

About the Role

Wiley is seeking an experienced SAP Solution Architect to serve as a technical and functional authority across our enterprise SAP landscape. Spanning Finance & Controlling (FI/CO), Order-to-Cash (OTC), Revenue Accounting & Reporting (RAR), Warehouse Management (WM), Production Planning (PP), and adjacent modules, this role is central to designing, governing, and guiding end-to-end SAP solutions in alignment with enterprise standards, SAP best practices, and Wiley’s broader digital transformation objectives.

The SAP Solution Architect acts as the design authority across the SAP ecosystem - integrating SAP ECC (and/or S/4HANA), BTP, Ariba, Concur, SuccessFactors, finance, supply chain, and third-party systems - while championing a Clean Core approach and enabling Wiley’s strategic roadmap. Working at the intersection of Business, Product, Technology, and Delivery teams, this role translates complex business requirements into well-structured, scalable SAP solutions and produces clear design artifacts that empower delivery teams to execute with confidence.

The successful candidate brings deep functional and technical SAP expertise across multiple modules, strong command of integration and architecture patterns, proven experience leading complex transformation programs, and the ability to act as a trusted advisor and thought leader across business and technology functions.

Key Responsibilities

1. Architecture & Solution Design

• Lead and architect end-to-end SAP solutions with a strong focus on ECC (and/or S/4HANA), across diverse business domains and enterprise-wide programs.

• Define comprehensive solution architectures for the full SAP ecosystem, including technical blueprints, integration architectures, cost models, and staffing strategies for significant initiatives.

• Design scalable, secure, and resilient solution approaches that balance functional requirements, technical soundness, long-term maintainability, and Wiley’s enterprise technology roadmap.

• Assess and recommend SAP deployment options (ECC, S/4HANA, PCE, RISE with SAP, BTP extensions) for assigned business domains, applying recognized solution architecture methodologies and frameworks.

• Drive build vs. configure vs. extend vs. integrate decisions to maximize ROI, minimize technical debt, and preserve Clean Core integrity.

• Evaluate and ensure the scalability, reliability, and performance of SAP solutions, defining non-functional requirements and validating that implemented solutions meet them.

• Drive solutioning for complex proposals, transformation business cases, and competitive initiatives, clearly articulating value through compelling storytelling and executive-level communication.

• Leverage AI, intelligent tooling, and automation to create innovative and efficient solution architectures, continuously raising the quality and speed of delivery.

2. Clean Core & SAP Best Practices

• Champion and enforce Clean Core principles across all SAP programs, minimizing customizations and ensuring solutions leverage standard SAP capabilities wherever possible.

• Architect integrations using standard SAP APIs, events, and SAP Integration Suite (CPI), establishing extension patterns for requirements not met by standard functionality.

• Oversee the configuration and customization of SAP modules, ensuring all changes are governed, documented, and aligned with enterprise architectural standards.

• Ensure data consistency and integrity across procurement, finance, reporting, and downstream platforms.

• Maintain expertise in SAP S/4HANA innovations, BTP services, Clean Core evolution, and RISE/GROW offerings, proactively identifying adoption opportunities.

• Support SAP Document and Reporting Compliance (DRC) requirements across relevant business and financial processes.

3. Documentation & Design Artefacts

• Produce and maintain comprehensive, clear, and actionable design artefacts including Solution Architecture Documents, Functional Design Documents (FDDs), Technical Design Documents (TDDs), Interface/API Design Specs, and Data Migration blueprints.

• Create architecture and process flow diagrams that are consumable by both technical and non-technical stakeholders, using tools such as SAP Signavio, LeanIX, or equivalent enterprise process and architecture modelling platforms.

• Contribute to and maintain the architecture decision logs, capturing rationale, trade-offs, and constraints for key design choices.

• Ensure all documentation is current, accessible, and serves as a reliable reference for delivery teams, auditors, and governance bodies throughout the project lifecycle.

• Develop clear technical specifications and integration plans that bridge business requirements and engineering execution without ambiguity.

4. Cross-Functional Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement

• Act as the primary architecture liaison between IT, Finance, Operations, Procurement, and external partners - ensuring alignment, transparency, and confidence across all stakeholders.

• Partner with Product Owners, Business Analysts, and executive stakeholders to assess capability requests, validate requirements, estimate effort and feasibility, and contribute to roadmap and investment decisions.

• Facilitate design workshops, architecture reviews, sprint planning, and transition sessions to ensure clarity before implementation begins and continuity through go-live and stabilization.

• Translate complex SAP architecture concepts into plain-language guidance for business audiences, and business requirements into precise technical specifications for engineering teams.

• Collaborate with external SAP partners, system integrators, and SAP advisory teams to leverage best practices, drive quality, and deliver outcomes within architectural guardrails.

• Provide architectural leadership and governance across system integrators and vendor delivery teams, ensuring solution consistency and accountability.

• Act as a thought leader and trusted advisor within the SAP community and broader technology landscape, representing Wiley’s architecture perspective in external forums where relevant.

• Mentor and coach functional and technical team members on SAP architecture principles, integration patterns, and best practices, helping to uplift capability across the SAP practice.

5. AI, Innovation & Forward-Thinking

• Identify and support opportunities to embed AI/ML capabilities - including SAP Joule, BTP AI Core, embedded analytics, and third-party AI integrations - into core SAP processes.

• Contribute to the assessment and piloting of generative AI use cases for SAP configuration assistance, test automation, intelligent document processing, and predictive operations.

• Leverage proficiency in AI tooling and intelligent automation to create more efficient, innovative solution architectures and accelerate delivery effectiveness.

• Support the introduction of modern integration paradigms - event-driven architecture, API-first design, SAP Integration Suite - to modernize Wiley’s SAP footprint.

• Stay current with SAP’s evolving product landscape and bring relevant adoption ideas to the team, contributing to internal knowledge-sharing, communities of practice, and technology discussions.

6. Governance & Delivery Oversight

• Serve as the design authority for SAP solutions across programs and releases - reviewing and approving functional designs, integrations, and configuration changes before implementation.

• Participate in Architecture Review Board (ARB) sessions to assess solution proposals against architectural standards and strategic fit.

• Identify architectural risks, technical debt, and integration dependencies early; develop and communicate mitigation strategies proactively.

• Support security, compliance, and audit requirements related to SAP systems (SOX, GDPR, data retention, SoD), ensuring solutions meet governance and regulatory obligations.

• Oversee technical assessments and code reviews to maintain solution quality and support system testing activities across program delivery phases.

7. Project Delivery & Operational Excellence

• Lead and manage SAP implementation projects from inception to completion, coordinating with cross-functional delivery teams to ensure successful, on-time, on-budget outcomes.

• Support the management of project timelines, budgets, and resource allocation in collaboration with Program and Project Managers.

• Provide training, guidance, and enablement support to end-users and IT team members on new SAP capabilities and architectural changes.

Required Qualifications & Experience

Education

• Bachelor’s or master’s degree in computer science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field.

Experience

• 10+ years of SAP experience with demonstrated expertise in architecture and solution design across multiple modules and business domains.

• Proven experience architecting SAP solutions in large, complex enterprise environments, including multi-system landscapes and global rollouts.

• Hands-on experience across three or more of the following domains: FI/CO, Order-to-Cash (SD/AR/Credit Management), Warehouse Management (WM/EWM), Production Planning (PP/MRP), RAR/Revenue Accounting.

• Experience integrating SAP products with SAP S/4HANA or ECC, and proven design and build of BTP applications or extensions.

• Participation in at least two full-cycle SAP implementations or significant transformation programs (e.g., S/4HANA migration, system consolidation, global rollouts).

• Demonstrated ability to produce enterprise-quality architecture and design documentation consumed by senior stakeholders and delivery teams alike.

• Experience operating within enterprise architecture governance frameworks and working across global, matrixed organizations.

• Prior exposure to working with system integrators or vendor technology partners in a program delivery context.

Technical & Functional Skills - SAP

• Deep working knowledge of SAP ECC (on-premise and/or PCE/RISE or S/4HANA) and key functional areas across FI/CO, SD/OTC, RAR, MM, WM/EWM, and PP.

• Strong expertise in SAP integration technologies: SAP Integration Suite (CPI/API Management), RFC/BAPI/IDoc, OData/REST/SOAP, and event-driven integration patterns.

• Solid command of Clean Core principles, the SAP extensibility model, side-by-side extensions, and S/4HANA migration tooling.

• Proficiency with SAP BTP services: Integration Suite, Business Application Studio (BAS), CAP framework, Fiori/UI5, Workflow Management, and BTP extension development.

• Strong understanding of data, security, and authorization models in SAP landscapes, including roles, SoD, and compliance requirements.

• Experience with SAP Document and Reporting Compliance (DRC) in a multi-country or regulatory context.

• Understanding of SAP API Management, CDS views, and data modelling principles within S/4HANA.

• Proficiency in general Solution Architecture methodologies and frameworks (e.g., TOGAF, Zachman, or equivalent); able to apply structured design disciplines to complex enterprise landscapes.

• Working knowledge of Agile or SAFe delivery methodologies and how architecture governance fits within iterative delivery.

AI & Emerging Technology

• Working knowledge of AI/ML integration patterns in enterprise applications - intelligent automation, MCP, NLP-based document processing, predictive analytics, or LLM-augmented workflows.

• Proficiency in leveraging AI tooling to create innovative, efficient solution architectures and accelerate architectural decision-making.

• Familiarity with SAP BTP AI Core / AI Launchpad, SAP Joule, or comparable intelligent ERP capabilities.

• Exposure to evaluating or piloting AI tools within an SAP or ERP context (e.g., AI-assisted testing, intelligent data migration, process mining).

• Understanding of responsible AI principles, data privacy considerations, and governance frameworks as applied to enterprise systems.

Architecture & Leadership

• Ability to create and communicate compelling architecture diagrams, solution designs, and decision papers to audiences ranging from engineers to C-suite stakeholders.

• Strong communication and influencing skills, with the ability to build consensus and drive decisions across senior technical and business stakeholders.

• Demonstrated mentoring and coaching capability; able to uplift architecture practice maturity across functional and technical teams.

• Comfortable navigating ambiguity and shifting priorities in a complex, global, matrixed organization.

Preferred Qualifications

Additional SAP Domain Experience

• Experience with SAP ECC (and/or S/4 HANA), Ariba, Concur, or SuccessFactors in an enterprise integration or transformation context.

• Experience supporting SAP RISE or cloud-based SAP deployments (PCE, private cloud, hyperscale-hosted).

• Exposure to SAP Signavio, LeanIX, or enterprise process modelling tools for architecture and process landscape management.

• Experience with S/4HANA migration tooling (DMLT, Readiness Check, Transformation Navigator, CBMG).

Preferred Certifications

The following certifications are preferred. Candidates with equivalent demonstrated expertise will also be considered.

SAP Certifications

• SAP Certified Application Associate - SAP S/4HANA (any current release or domain)

• SAP Solution Architect Certification

• SAP Certified Associate - SAP OTC, S/4HANA Finance, or equivalent specialist modules

Architecture & Delivery Certifications

• TOGAF Foundation or Practitioner (The Open Group)

• SAFe Architect or SAFe Practitioner certification

• AWS / Azure / GCP Solutions Architect Associate (relevant where SAP runs on cloud infrastructure)

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For more than 200 years, we've transformed knowledge into discoveries that shape the world. Today, our global team of innovators, creators, and experts is driving what's next in science, education, and publishing-creating impact that reaches everywhere.

We're not just observers of progress. We're the ones accelerating scientific breakthroughs, advancing learning, and sparking innovation that redefines entire fields and improves lives.

Here, your talent matters. Your ideas have room to grow. And your work creates breakthroughs that can change everything.

Wiley is an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer. We evaluate all qualified applicants and treat all qualified applicants and employees without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, or based on any individual's status in any group or class protected by applicable federal, state or local laws. Wiley is also committed to providing reasonable accommodation to applicants and employees with disabilities. Applicants who require accommodation to participate in the job application process may contact [email protected] for assistance.

We are proud that our workplace promotes continual learning and internal mobility. We offer meeting-free Friday afternoons allowing more time for heads down work and professional development, and through a robust body of employee programing we facilitate a wide range of opportunities to foster community, learn, and grow.

We are committed to fair, transparent pay, and we strive to provide competitive compensation in addition to a comprehensive benefits package. The range below represents Wiley's good faith and reasonable estimate of the base pay for this role at the time of posting roles in the United Kingdom, Canada, USA, Austria, Czechia, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Romania, or Spain. It is anticipated that most qualified candidates will fall within the range, however the ultimate salary offered for this role may be higher or lower and will be set based on a variety of non-discriminatory factors, including but not limited to, geographic location, skills, and competencies.

When applying, please attach your resume/CV to be considered.

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