Senior SAP PPDS Functional Consultant

Location: Aachen, Germany
Working Model: Hybrid – on-site 3 days every 2 weeks
Contract: Fixed-term, 12–24 months, with the intention to transition to permanent
Salary: €90,000 per annum based on a 40-hour working week
Holiday: 30 days per year

About the Role

Saint-Gobain is looking for a Senior SAP PPDS Functional Consultant to support and manage the integration between SAP Production Planning and Detailed Scheduling (PPDS) and SAP Integrated Business Planning (IBP) in Aachen.

This is a fully functional consulting role, focused on business processes, SAP configuration/customising, workshops and ongoing support. The successful candidate will act as a key link between the technical SAP environment and business stakeholders, using strong consulting and communication skills to understand business requirements and translate them into effective SAP solutions.

The role is particularly suited to an experienced SAP PPDS consultant who has successfully delivered multiple PPDS implementations and is comfortable working directly with senior business users.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and support SAP PPDS functional activities, with secondary responsibility for SAP IBP integration and processes.

• Work closely with business stakeholders and key users to understand requirements and translate them into SAP solutions.

• Facilitate business process workshops and requirements-gathering sessions.

• Perform SAP PPDS configuration and customising.

• Support the integration and alignment of PPDS and IBP planning processes.

• Provide functional support and troubleshooting for existing planning processes.

• Advise the business on SAP PPDS best practices and potential process improvements.

• Support planning scenarios including:

  • Characteristic-based planning

  • Block planning

  • Campaign planning

  • Material forecast planning

• Act as a trusted functional advisor to business stakeholders throughout the engagement.

Essential Experience & Skills

SAP PPDS

• Strong hands-on experience with SAP PPDS is essential.

• Proven experience delivering at least two PPDS implementations.

• Strong understanding of PPDS planning and scheduling processes.

• Practical experience with characteristic-based planning, block planning, campaign planning and material forecast planning.

• Strong SAP functional configuration/customising experience.

SAP IBP

• Experience with SAP IBP, particularly in relation to planning processes and integration with PPDS, is highly desirable.

• PPDS should remain the candidate\'s primary area of expertise, with IBP as a secondary skillset.

Consulting Experience

• Senior-level consultant, ideally with 5+ years of SAP consulting experience.

• Demonstrable experience working directly with business stakeholders and key users.

• Strong workshop facilitation and requirements-gathering skills.

• Excellent communication and consultative abilities.

• Ability to operate independently and confidently in a stakeholder-facing environment.

Languages

Essential:

• English

Desirable:

• German

• French

• Spanish

Role Profile

This is a purely functional SAP consulting position.

The successful candidate should be experienced in:

• SAP configuration/customising

• Functional design

• Business process analysis

• Workshops

• Requirements gathering

• Stakeholder management

• Functional support

This is not a techno-functional or development role, and hands-on ABAP/development skills are not the primary requirement.

Location & Working Arrangements

The role is based in Aachen, Germany, with a hybrid working arrangement.

The consultant will be expected to work on site in Aachen for 3 days every 2 weeks, with the remaining time worked remotely.

Compensation & Benefits

• Salary: €90,000 per year

• Working week: 40 hours

• Holiday: 30 days

• Contract: Initial fixed-term contract of 12–24 months

• Long-term opportunity: Potential transition to a permanent position following the initial contract period

Recruitment Process

The recruitment process will consist of two stages:

1. Initial interview via Microsoft Teams

2. In-person interview in Aachen

There will be no formal assessment centre or presentation requirement.

Ideal Candidate

The ideal candidate will be a senior SAP PPDS functional consultant who combines strong technical knowledge of PPDS with excellent business-facing and consulting skills.

They will have a proven implementation background, be confident facilitating workshops and engaging with key stakeholders, and have sufficient SAP IBP knowledge to support the PPDS/IBP integration landscape.

Key priorities:
SAP PPDS expertise → PPDS implementation experience → Functional/customising capability → Strong stakeholder communication → SAP IBP knowledge