Job Summary
Job Description – Senior SAP SuccessFactors ECP (Payroll) Lead
SAP Application Management Services (AMS) | Defense Customer | United Arab Emirates
Position Summary
We are seeking a Senior SAP Lead with deep expertise in SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll (ECP) to lead functional delivery and production support within a complex SAP AMS engagement for a defense-sector customer in the UAE. The role owns payroll service stability, regulatory compliance, solution quality, stakeholder engagement, and continuous improvement across the ECP landscape. The successful candidate will combine 15–18 years of SAP HCM/payroll experience with hands-on ECP leadership, disciplined AMS governance, and the ability to operate in a security-sensitive environment.
Key Responsibilities
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Provide functional and service leadership for SAP SuccessFactors ECP within the AMS operating model, including incident, problem, change, request, release, and knowledge management.
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Own end-to-end payroll support, monthly payroll cycles, off-cycle processing, retroactive calculations, year-end activities, reconciliations, statutory reporting, and production validation.
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Lead solution analysis, configuration, and troubleshooting across payroll schemas, personnel calculation rules, wage types, features, functions, infotypes, payroll calendars, and posting controls.
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Drive stabilization and optimization of Payroll Control Center, payroll validation rules, alerts, monitoring, exception handling, and operational dashboards.
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Manage Employee Central-to-ECP replication and integrations with time management, finance, banking/payment files, benefits, identity/access systems, payslips, and approved third-party platforms.
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Ensure payroll-to-finance integration, account determination, posting, reconciliation, and audit traceability are reliable and controlled.
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Translate business and regulatory requirements into scalable functional specifications, solution designs, configuration changes, test scenarios, deployment plans, and support documentation.
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Coordinate regression testing, system integration testing, user acceptance testing, parallel payroll validation, cutover, hypercare, and release readiness.
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Lead major-incident resolution, root-cause analysis, corrective and preventive actions, backlog prioritization, and service-improvement plans while meeting agreed SLAs and KPIs.
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Partner with HR, Payroll, Finance, IT, Security, Basis, ABAP, integration, and vendor teams; provide clear updates to customer leadership and governance forums.
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Mentor functional consultants, review deliverables and transports, enforce quality standards, and maintain effective knowledge transfer and succession coverage.
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Support audit, risk, compliance, data-retention, access-control, segregation-of-duties, and business-continuity requirements applicable to a defense-sector environment.
Key Responsibilities
Required Experience and Qualifications
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15–18 years of overall SAP experience, with substantial hands-on delivery in SAP HCM Payroll and SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll.
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Proven experience as an ECP functional lead or solution lead in large, business-critical production environments.
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Multiple end-to-end payroll implementations, migrations, rollouts, or major enhancement programs, including post-production AMS ownership.
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Strong knowledge of UAE payroll practices and statutory considerations; experience supporting GCC or Middle East payroll landscapes is highly desirable.
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Demonstrated expertise in ECP configuration, Payroll Control Center, EC-to-ECP replication, payroll-to-FI posting, interfaces, reconciliations, and reporting.
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Strong understanding of SAP HCM Personnel Administration, Organizational Management, Time Management, and integration dependencies affecting payroll.
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Experience with SAP Cloud Integration or other approved middleware, APIs, file-based interfaces, and integration monitoring is desirable.
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Working knowledge of ITIL-aligned AMS processes, SLA management, service reporting, release governance, and tools such as SAP Cloud ALM, SAP Solution Manager, or equivalent ITSM platforms.
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Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, Human Resources, Business Administration, or a related discipline.
Preferred Certifications
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Current SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll certification.
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SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central certification or relevant SAP HCM Payroll certification.
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ITIL Foundation or higher certification.
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Project management, service management, or information-security certification is an advantage.
Leadership and Behavioral Competencies
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Strong ownership, analytical thinking, and calm decision-making during payroll-critical incidents.
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Excellent customer-facing communication, stakeholder management, and executive reporting skills.
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Ability to lead distributed teams, coordinate multiple vendors, and deliver within strict timelines and controls.
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High attention to payroll accuracy, confidentiality, documentation, and operational discipline.
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Ability to balance service continuity with innovation, automation, and measurable continuous improvement.
Defense-Sector and UAE Requirements
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Willingness and eligibility to work in the UAE and provide onsite support as required by the engagement.
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Ability to comply with customer-specific security vetting, confidentiality obligations, restricted-access procedures, data-residency requirements, and background verification.
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Experience operating within highly regulated, government, aerospace, defense, or similarly security-sensitive environments is strongly preferred.
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Professional fluency in English; Arabic language capability is an advantage.
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Flexibility to support critical payroll windows, planned releases, and priority production incidents outside standard business hours when required.
Key Success Measures
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Accurate and timely payroll completion with minimal business disruption.
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Achievement of incident, request, change, and problem-management SLAs.
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Reduction in recurring defects, manual interventions, and payroll exceptions.
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Strong audit outcomes, documentation quality, access compliance, and control effectiveness.
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Customer satisfaction, predictable release delivery, and demonstrable service improvements.