SAP Basis / Technology Architect – SAP S/4HANA RISE (Utilities CIS Transformation)

Location: Columbus, Ohio (Hybrid / Travel Required)

Duration: Multi-Year Engagement

Travel Requirements: Candidates must be willing and able to travel based on client and project needs. A travel schedule will be provided in advance and may vary throughout the program lifecycle.

Overview

Our public utility client is undertaking a large-scale, multi-year Customer Information System (CIS) Transformation Program that will modernize core customer, billing, meter-to-cash, and operational business processes through the implementation of SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud Edition under SAP RISE.

We are seeking an experienced SAP Basis / Technology Architect to lead the design, provisioning, administration, optimization, and governance of the SAP technical landscape supporting this enterprise transformation initiative. The ideal candidate will possess deep expertise in SAP Basis administration, SAP HANA database administration, SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP), SAP Cloud ALM, SAP Cloud Connector, transport management, system performance optimization, disaster recovery planning, and SAP RISE operations within complex utility environments.

This role will serve as the primary technical authority for SAP platform architecture, collaborating closely with SAP, hyperscaler providers, implementation partners, infrastructure teams, security teams, and business stakeholders to ensure a secure, scalable, and high-performing SAP ecosystem.

Key Responsibilities

SAP Architecture & Technical Leadership

• Define and govern the SAP technical architecture supporting SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud Edition under SAP RISE.
• Lead SAP Basis strategy, environment planning, system landscape design, and technical governance activities.
• Provide technical leadership across development, testing, training, staging, and production environments.
• Establish SAP platform standards, operational procedures, monitoring practices, and technical controls.

SAP Basis Administration

• Provision, configure, administer, and support SAP S/4HANA PCE environments.
• Perform system installations, upgrades, patching, kernel updates, and support package implementation.
• Manage SAP client administration, transport management, system copies, and environment refreshes.
• Monitor and optimize SAP application performance, system health, and operational stability.
• Troubleshoot complex SAP Basis issues and coordinate resolution with SAP and infrastructure providers.

SAP HANA Administration

• Administer SAP HANA databases supporting SAP S/4HANA environments.
• Perform database monitoring, tuning, backup management, recovery testing, and performance optimization.
• Support database upgrades, migrations, and lifecycle management activities.
• Analyze system performance and implement improvements to maximize scalability and reliability.

SAP BTP & Cloud Integration

• Configure and administer SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) global accounts, subaccounts, entitlements, and connectivity.
• Design and support integrations between SAP S/4HANA PCE and SAP BTP services.
• Configure and maintain SAP Cloud Connector environments.
• Support SAP Integration Suite, extensions, APIs, and cloud-based integration architectures.
• Collaborate with development teams on extension and side-by-side innovation strategies.

SAP Cloud ALM (CALM)

• Configure and administer SAP Cloud ALM for implementation and operations management.
• Establish monitoring dashboards, alerting, health checks, and operational reporting.
• Support project governance, testing management, deployment tracking, and operational readiness activities.
• Develop procedures for proactive monitoring and issue management.

High Availability & Disaster Recovery

• Design and support High Availability (HA) and Disaster Recovery (DR) strategies.
• Participate in disaster recovery planning, testing, validation, and execution exercises.
• Coordinate failover testing and recovery validation activities.
• Ensure compliance with utility business continuity and operational resiliency requirements.

Environment & Release Management

• Manage transport strategies, release management processes, and deployment coordination.
• Support environment refreshes, client copies, and landscape synchronization activities.
• Ensure proper segregation of duties and change management controls.
• Coordinate technical deployments across multiple project workstreams.

Vendor & Stakeholder Management

• Serve as the primary liaison between the client, SAP RISE, hyperscaler providers, and implementation partners.
• Collaborate with infrastructure, security, networking, and application teams.
• Participate in architecture reviews, governance boards, and executive-level status reporting.
• Provide technical guidance and mentorship to project teams and support organizations.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field.
• 8+ years of SAP Basis administration experience.
• 3+ years of experience supporting SAP S/4HANA Private Cloud Edition under SAP RISE.
• Experience supporting large-scale utility industry SAP environments.
• Hands-on experience with SAP HANA database administration.
• Experience administering SAP Cloud ALM (CALM).
• Experience configuring and supporting SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP).
• Experience configuring SAP Cloud Connector.
• Strong experience with SAP transport management and release management processes.
• Experience performing system upgrades, refreshes, migrations, and technical cutovers.
• Experience supporting High Availability and Disaster Recovery environments.
• Experience troubleshooting complex SAP technical issues across enterprise landscapes.
• Strong understanding of cloud architecture, security, networking, and infrastructure concepts.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting Customer Information System (CIS) transformation programs.
• Experience within electric, gas, water, or public utility organizations.
• Experience supporting SAP IS-U, SAP FICA, SAP Billing, Device Management, or Meter-to-Cash programs.
• Experience integrating SAP BTP services with SAP S/4HANA PCE environments.
• Experience working directly with SAP RISE operations teams and hyperscaler providers.
• Experience supporting utility modernization or digital transformation initiatives.
• Experience participating in disaster recovery exercises and production cutovers.
• SAP Technology, SAP Basis, SAP HANA, SAP Cloud ALM, or SAP BTP certifications.

Key Success Factors

The successful candidate will bring a combination of deep SAP technical expertise, utility industry experience, cloud architecture knowledge, and leadership capabilities necessary to support one of the client's most critical enterprise transformation initiatives. This individual must be comfortable operating in a highly visible role, collaborating across multiple stakeholders, and ensuring the long-term stability, scalability, and performance of the SAP landscape supporting the future-state CIS platform.