Data Migration Lead (For independent contractors)

Data Migration Lead – S/4HANA Program (BTL on RISE)

Role overview

The Data Migration Lead is accountable for the end‑to‑end governance and execution oversight of all data migration activities required to move BTL from ECC to S/4HANA on RISE. While the System Integrator (SI) will execute most of the technical migration mechanics, this role ensures there is robust governance, controls, business ownership and data quality across all migration cycles.

They are responsible for making sure that all agreed data in scope is migrated, including master data and transactional data (e.g. open items, balances, in‑flight transactions), and that data is properly cleansed, mapped, validated and signed off by the relevant business owners.

Key responsibilities

1. Data migration strategy, scope & governance

• Own and maintain the overall data migration strategy and approach for the BTL on RISE programme, aligned with target architecture, MDG strategy and deployment plan.

  
  

• Define and manage data migration scope across master and transactional data (e.g. business partners, GL/CO, tax, assets, contracts, open AP/AR items, FI‑CA items, balances, historical data where agreed).

  
  

• Establish and run data migration governance: forums, roles and responsibilities, decision rights, sign‑off points and escalation paths.

2. Planning & coordination with SI and internal teams

• Build and maintain the data migration plan and calendar across all phases (mock loads, trial runs, cutover loads, post‑go‑live corrections) in close collaboration with the SI and Deployment Services Lead.

  
  

• Coordinate with SI data migration team on design, build and execution of migration objects and tools (e.g. SAP Migration Cockpit, BODS, custom loaders).

  
  

• Ensure alignment with Data Governance / MDG, Functional Workstreams, Integration, Test Management and Satellite Systems leads.

3. Business engagement, cleansing, mapping & ownership

• Define and drive a data ownership model: identify data owners and stewards for each domain (e.g. Finance, Tax, Treasury, O2C, P2P, Payments).

  
  

• Orchestrate business‑led cleansing and enrichment activities for ECC and upstream data, ensuring timelines and quality expectations are clear.

  
  

• Oversee mapping design and sign‑off from source to S/4HANA target (including MDG models), ensuring mappings are documented, reviewed and approved by process and data owners.

4. Build, mock cycles & quality controls

• Define data quality and reconciliation controls for each object and cycle (e.g. record counts, control totals, sample checks, exception handling).

  
  

• Plan and oversee mock migration cycles (e.g. Mock 0 / 1 / 2 / Dress Rehearsal), including scope, success criteria, execution, issue tracking and remediation.

  
  

• Ensure that defects and issues from mock runs are analysed, prioritised and resolved in time for next cycles and cutover.

5. Cutover & go‑live data migration

• Own the data migration workstream within the cutover plan: sequence of loads, freeze periods, dependencies (interfaces, jobs, manual steps), rollback options.

  
  

• Ensure all data loads executed during cutover are tracked and reconciled (e.g. open items, balances, master data, configuration‑dependent reference data).

  
  

• Provide a data‑migration‑focused readiness view into go/no‑go decisions (completeness, quality, residual issues, workarounds).

6. Post‑go‑live support & Hypercare

• Coordinate data‑related hypercare activities: post‑go‑live fixes, delta loads, corrections and small remediations as needed.

  
  

• Monitor and manage data‑related incidents and defects, working with SI, business and technical teams to ensure sustainable solutions.

  
  

• Ensure knowledge transfer, documentation and handover of data migration artefacts and controls into BAU (Finance, Data Governance, MDG, AMS).

7. Risk, compliance & documentation

• Maintain a data migration RAID log; proactively identify and mitigate risks (e.g. data quality, timeline, dependencies, legal / compliance).

  
  

• Ensure data migration activities comply with security, privacy and regulatory requirements (e.g. GDPR, retention policies, audit trail).

  
  

• Ensure all key artefacts are created and maintained (strategy, object inventory, mapping specifications, reconciliation reports, sign‑off records).

Experience & qualifications

Must‑have:

• 8+ years’ experience in data migration leadership on large ERP programmes, including at least one SAP S/4HANA or SAP ERP transformation.

  
  

• Proven track record of governing data migration where a System Integrator executed the technical work, with clear business ownership and sign‑off.

  
  

• Strong understanding of finance and revenue data (GL, CO, AP/AR, assets, tax, treasury, FI‑CA/BRIM, payments) and end‑to‑end data flows.

  
  

• Hands‑on experience with data migration tooling and approaches (e.g. SAP Migration Cockpit, BODS/ETL, LSMW, extract/transform/load frameworks).

Competencies

• Structured & detail‑oriented: Able to manage complex object lists, mappings, cycles and reconciliations without losing sight of the big picture.

  
  

• Business‑focused: Speaks the language of Finance and Operations; can bridge between technical migration teams and business data owners.

  
  

• Governance‑minded: Naturally sets up clear processes, controls and sign‑offs; comfortable with auditability and traceability.

  
  

• Stakeholder management: Strong at aligning many stakeholders (business, SI, tech teams) and driving decisions.

  
  

• Communication: Clear and concise; able to explain data migration risks and options to senior stakeholders.

  
  

• Problem solving & resilience: Handles pressure around cutover and timelines; pragmatic in finding safe, workable solutions.