Lead SAP S/4HANA Solution Architect, Mining/Mineral Processing (Contract)

Lead SAP S/4HANA Solution Architect, Mining/Mineral Processing (Contract)
Location: Toronto, ON 
Hybrid Role: 2-3X on site
This is a 6 month contract role with possibility of extension.

Role Overview 

We are seeking an experienced SAP S/4HANA Solution Architect to serve as the lead internal SAP resource for our organization. The role has dual responsibility for supporting and continuously improving our live SAP S/4HANA environment while providing solution leadership for the next phase of the SAP program. 

Acting as the primary interface between the business, internal IT, and our external SAP implementation and support partners, the Solution Architect will ensure that solutions align with enterprise architecture, operational requirements, and long-term business objectives. This is a hands-on leadership role focused on internal solution ownership, partner accountability, and sustainable delivery. 

Key Responsibilities 

SAP Solution Ownership 

• Act as the organization’s lead internal SAP S/4HANA resource and overall solution authority. 
• Develop and maintain a strong understanding of the current S/4HANA architecture, configuration, integrations, customizations, and supporting systems. 
• Ensure changes and enhancements align with the overall SAP architecture and avoid unnecessary complexity or technical debt. 
• Maintain architectural oversight across functional, technical, integration, security, data, and reporting domains. 

Live Environment and Support 

• Provide senior-level oversight of the production SAP S/4HANA environment and serve as the primary internal escalation point for complex issues. 
• Work closely with the external SAP support partner to prioritize, troubleshoot, and resolve incidents and problems. 
• Review proposed fixes, configuration changes, enhancements, and technical solutions before implementation. 
• Drive root-cause resolution of recurring issues rather than relying on tactical fixes. 
• Support release, change, testing, deployment, and production stabilization activities. 

Next-Phase Implementation 

• Represent the organization as the internal SAP solution lead during the next phase of the S/4HANA implementation. 
• Work directly with the implementation partner’s solution architects, functional consultants, developers, and project leadership. 
• Participate in solution design, requirements validation, fit-to-standard workshops, architecture reviews, and design decisions. 
• Challenge partner recommendations where appropriate and ensure proposed solutions are sustainable, supportable, and aligned with the organization’s long-term SAP strategy. 
• Ensure new functionality integrates effectively with the existing production environment. 
• Support testing, cutover, deployment, stabilization, and transition to operational support. 

Business and IT Partnership 

• Translate business requirements into appropriate SAP solutions while promoting standard S/4HANA functionality wherever practical. 
• Act as the bridge between business process owners, internal IT teams, and external SAP partners. 
• Provide guidance on solution options, dependencies, risks, effort, and architectural implications. 
• Help establish effective SAP governance, documentation, change management, and solution design practices. 
• Build internal knowledge and reduce long-term dependency on external implementation and support partners. 

Qualifications and Experience 

• Significant experience with SAP S/4HANA across both implementation and production environments. 
• Previous experience as an SAP Solution Architect, SAP Technical/Functional Lead, or comparable senior SAP role. 
• Demonstrated experience leading solution architecture and design within an S/4HANA implementation. 
• Strong understanding of SAP architecture spanning functional configuration, integrations, security, data, reporting, and development. 
• Experience overseeing external SAP implementation and Application Management Services (AMS) partners. 
• Strong understanding of SAP implementation methodologies, ideally including SAP Activate and fit-to-standard approaches. 
• Experience supporting production SAP environments, including incident, problem, change, release, and enhancement management. 
• Ability to identify unnecessary customization, technical debt, integration risks, and supportability concerns. 
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills across technical teams, business leaders, and delivery partners. 
• Demonstrated ability to operate independently and provide leadership without requiring a large internal SAP team. 

Preferred Experience 

• SAP BTP, SAP Integration Suite, SAP Fiori, and SAP Cloud ALM. 
• SAP SuccessFactors integrations. 
• Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365 enterprise environments. 
• Enterprise integration and API archi