SAP Functional Analyst

About the Role

The SAP S/4HANA Sales and Order to Cash Functional Analyst plays a key part in defining and optimizing KAUST's full cycle sales, contracting, fulfillment, billing, and revenue processes. Collaborating closely with various business process owners throughout the university, this position sets the functional vision for these operations, modernizes legacy workflows, and translates institutional requirements into scalable solutions within KAUST's SAP environment. The role drives a prioritized functional roadmap, emphasizes adherence to fit-to-standard methodologies and clean-core design, and coordinates with enterprise architecture and delivery teams concerning integration, data integrity, user experience, and change management. It also assesses SAP Fiori, workflow, analytics, SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP), and Business AI functionalities for proven business problem-solving capacity, while monitoring results through process performance metrics, user adoption rates, and control effectiveness.

Responsibilities

• Develop and manage the functional roadmap for Sales and Order to Cash processes, aligning objectives with KAUST's strategic goals, business units, enterprise architecture, and SAP platform initiatives.
• Lead comprehensive process design covering inquiries, quotes, contracts, sales orders, fulfillment, pricing, billing, receivables, and revenue recognition, tailoring standard features to support KAUST's research, education, and commercial activities when justified.
• Facilitate stakeholder decisions centered on fit-to-standard compliance by challenging redundant steps and customizations, documenting significant deviations, and recommending upgrade-compliant solutions aligned with clean-core principles.
• Formulate business requirements and functional specifications to enable integration with Finance, Materials Management, Grants Management, revenue accounting, credit management, point-of-sale, and other relevant non-SAP systems, adhering to KAUST’s architectural guidelines.
• Collaborate with data owners to enhance quality, ownership, controls, and reporting for customer, product, pricing, contract, and transaction data.
• Direct the design of role-specific SAP Fiori interfaces, approval workflows, and embedded analytics; involve users early in the process and evaluate if system updates simplify and improve task execution.
• Evaluate automation and SAP Business AI or Joule applications based on value, data protection policies, human oversight requirements, and platform readiness before endorsing implementation.
• Offer functional guidance throughout transformational projects, including solution assessments, delivery oversight, business acceptance, cutover preparation, and post-implementation benefit tracking; oversee specialized configuration and testing activities executed by delivery teams.
• Advise on controls, segregation of duties, and audit-related aspects within the order-to-cash processes, collaborating with Finance, Information Security, and risk management stakeholders.
• Foster and maintain constructive relationships with business leadership, SAP partners, and internal technology teams; communicate complex options clearly, assess trade-offs and costs, and ensure measurable results.
• Operate with general guidance but significant autonomy, managing a functional roadmap and prioritized outcomes while escalating strategic investment, architecture, and policy concerns via established governance.
• Build consensus across Finance, research, commercial, and technology stakeholders by influencing process owners and delivery agents without formal authority; explain decisions and advantages in accessible business language.
• Resolve intricate cross-functional process and integration challenges, balancing SAP standard capabilities, organization-specific requirements, controls, data accuracy, and long-term sustainability.
• Exhibit strong facilitation, analytical thinking, communication, and change leadership skills; define process performance metrics, author clear decision documentation, manage competing priorities, and mentor colleagues in contemporary SAP methodologies.

Qualifications

• Possess a bachelor’s degree in information systems, business, finance, or a related field, or demonstrate equivalent relevant professional experience.

Required Skills

• At least six years of relevant SAP functional experience, including significant involvement in SAP S/4HANA Sales and comprehensive Order to Cash transformation projects; comparable expertise may be considered.
• Proven track record of successfully leading process redesigns, stakeholder decision-making, and adoption in complex organizations; experience within a research-focused university or similarly multifaceted environment is advantageous.
• Deep understanding of integration with Finance, receivables, and revenue recognition modules, as well as familiarity with associated SAP and enterprise systems. Knowledge of SAP Fiori, clean-core methodologies, SAP BTP integration/extensibility, and SAP Cloud ALM is preferred.
• Capacity to assess automation, analytics, and SAP Business AI initiatives with respect to business value, governance standards, and data protection; certification in SAP S/4HANA Sales is a plus but not mandatory.