Principal Chapter Lead, SAP Finance, Ariba & Concur
About Astellas:
At Astellas we are a progressive health partner, delivering value and outcomes where needed.
We pursue innovative science, focussing initially on the areas of greatest potential and then developing solutions where patient need is high, often in rare or under-served disease areas and in life-threatening or life-limiting diseases and conditions.
We work directly with patients, doctors and health care professionals on the front line to ensure patient and clinical needs are guiding our development activities at every stage.
Our global vision for Patient Centricity is to support the development of innovative health solutions through a deep understanding of the patient experience. At Astellas, Patient Centricity isn’t a buzzword - it’s a guiding principle for action. We believe all staff have a role to play in creating a patient-centric culture and integrating an awareness of the patient into our everyday working practices, regardless of our role, team or division.
We work closely with regulatory authorities and payers to find new ways to ensure access to new therapies. We deliver the latest insights and real-world evidence to inform the best decisions for patients and their caregivers, to ensure the medicines we develop continue to provide meaningful outcomes.
Beyond medicines, we support our stakeholder communities to drive initiatives that improve awareness, education, access and ultimately standards of care.
The Opportunity:
As the Principal Chapter Lead for SAP Finance, Ariba & Concur, you will provide strategic leadership, technical oversight, and talent development across multiple chapters within a specialized area of digital expertise. You will lead multiple Chapter Leads and their teams, ensuring alignment with the organization's enterprise platform strategy while fostering a culture of innovation, continuous learning, and operational excellence. Our agile operating model is structured into two key components:
- Digital Execution – Aligns multiple missions with business goals, facilitates large-scale collaboration, and ensures seamless product development.
- Digital Capability – Focuses on the growth and development of individuals within specific technical disciplines, ensuring the continuous enhancement of expertise and leadership.
As the Principal Chapter Lead, you will be responsible for developing enterprise-wide capabilities, standardizing best practices, and mentoring Chapter Leads to drive efficiency, resilience, and agility in our digital platforms.
Your primary focus, as the specialized group lead, will be to enhance our digital capabilities, contributing to strategic goals, and nurturing the team of talented professionals.
Hybrid Working:
At Astellas we recognise the importance of balancing your work and home life, so we offer a hybrid working solution allowing time to connect with colleagues in person at the office alongside the flexibility to work from home; optimising the most productive work environment for you to succeed and deliver.
Key Activities for this role:
1. Strategic Leadership & Platform Vision
- Define and evolve technical and process standards for SAP Finance (FI/CO, FSCM), Ariba, Concur, and FP&A solutions (SAP BPC, SAP Analytics Cloud for Planning, Group Reporting), ensuring seamless integration across the enterprise ERP and financial landscape.
- Provide architecture guidance for designing scalable, secure, and future-ready financial, procurement, travel & expense, and planning solutions.
- Continuously evaluate new SAP releases, S/4HANA Finance, SAC Planning innovations, and BPC upgrades, recommending adoption strategies to deliver measurable business value.
2. People Leadership & Capability Development
- Lead and mentor Chapter Leads and Members specializing in SAP Finance, Ariba, Concur, and FP&A, fostering a culture of deep functional expertise and technical excellence.
- Establish career pathways, learning journeys, and certification programs in Finance, Procurement, and Planning technologies to strengthen enterprise-wide capability.
- Build a robust talent pipeline by attracting and retaining top SAP talent and investing in upskilling on S/4HANA Finance, SAC Planning, AI/ML for FP&A, and intelligent spend management.
3. Collaboration & Cross-functional Influence
- Act as the connector between execution-focused product teams and capability-focused chapters, ensuring balance between project delivery and capability growth.
- Partner with Finance, FP&A, Procurement, and Travel stakeholders to co-create digital solutions that simplify processes, ensure compliance, and improve planning accuracy and transparency.
- Collaborate with Enterprise Architecture, Cybersecurity, and Infrastructure teams to ensure secure, compliant, and integrated SAP Finance and Planning solutions.
- Drive cross-enterprise initiatives such as global template design for Finance, Source-to-Pay process harmonization, integrated FP&A forecasting, and intelligent expense automation.
4. Operational Excellence & Technical Governance
- Define and enforce best practices, architectural standards, and governance frameworks for SAP Finance, Ariba, Concur, and FP&A platforms.
- Ensure platforms are compliant with financial regulations, cost-effective, and aligned with audit and risk management requirements.
- Lead enterprise-wide initiatives in areas such as SAP S/4HANA adoption, automation in Procure-to-Pay, Order-to-Cash, and Plan-to-Perform processes, and AI-enabled FP&A operations.
- Drive continuous optimization to support financial transparency, forecasting accuracy, procurement agility, and employee experience in travel and expense management.
Essential Knowledge & Experience:
- Substantial years of progressive experience in enterprise ERP and financial platforms, with proven expertise in SAP Finance (FI/CO, FSCM), Ariba, Concur, and FP&A solutions. Demonstrated leadership in S/4HANA Finance transformation, intelligent spend management, and enterprise planning & consolidation initiatives.
- Must have had several full cycle SAP Global Implementations experience in the role of leading the Finance SAP implementation team, as part of enterprise transformation programs.
- Strong Intercompany knowledge with integration with other modules is needed
- Strong knowledge of global tax requirements and solutions is preferred
- Knowledge and Integration experience with Bolt-on applications such as Thompson Reuters Tax Engine, OPENTEXT, SWIFTNET and BLACKLINE
- Agile Expertise: Deep knowledge of Agile principles and frameworks, with hands-on experience leading Agile/Lean transformations in ERP and Finance platform environments. Professional certifications (e.g., SAFe Agilist, Certified Scrum Master) highly desirable.
- Leadership & Team Development: Strong track record of building, mentoring, and leading high-performing ERP and Finance capability teams. Proven coaching and facilitation skills to develop talent and foster collaboration across global chapters.
- Strategic Thinking: Ability to define and execute strategic roadmaps for Finance, Procurement, Travel & Expense, and FP&A platforms. Skilled at aligning SAP capabilities with business objectives to simplify processes, ensure compliance, enhance planning accuracy, and drive innovation.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Advanced expertise in SAP Finance (S/4HANA FI/CO Including Treasury and Material ledger, FSCM), Ariba (Source-to-Pay), Concur (Travel & Expense), and FP&A/Planning solutions (SAP Analytics Cloud for Planning, SAP Group Reporting, BPC, and Consolidation tools).
- Strong knowledge of SAP Cloud Platform (BTP), Fiori, and SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) for financial planning, budgeting, forecasting, and advanced reporting.
- Strong Intercompany knowledge with integration with other modules is needed
- Strong knowledge of tax is preferred
- Bolt-on applications such as Thompson Reuters Tax Engine, OPENTEXT, SWIFTNET and BLACKLINE
- Familiarity with integration tools and middleware (SAP CPI, PI/PO, or equivalent) and exposure to automation solutions (RPA, AI/ML in Finance and FP&A use cases).
- Understanding financial regulations (SOX, IFRS, GAAP), risk management, and audit compliance requirements.
- Collaboration & Influence: Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence senior Finance, Procurement, and FP&A leaders. Adept at bridging financial strategy, business requirements, and technology enablement across global organizations.
Education/Qualification:
- Advanced degree in Finance, Accounting, Information Systems, Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent.
Additional information:
- This is a permanent role based in our Global Capability Centre in Warsaw, Poland and hybrid working with the expectation for some office presence. Flexibility may be required in line with business need. Candidates must be located within a commutable distance of the office
Astellas’ Global Capability Centres – Overview
Astellas’ Global Capability Centre’s (GCCs) are strategically located sites that give Astellas the ability to access talent across various functions in the value chain and to co-locate core capabilities that are currently dispersed. Our three GCCs are located in India, Poland and Mexico.
The GCCs will enhance our operational efficiency, resilience and innovation potential, enabling a timely response to changing business demands.
Our GCCs are an integral part of Astellas, guided by our shared values and behaviors, and are critical enablers of the company’s strategic priorities, sustainable growth, and commitment to turn innovative science into VALUE for patients.
We are an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
We are an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, colour, religion, sex, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
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