Head of Business Applications, IFS in Uddingston

The Head of Business Applications has strategic and operational ownership of the IFS ERP platform across March Group. Reporting to the IT Director, you will own the IFS roadmap, drive adoption and optimisation across finance, operations, and project management, and ensure the platform scales to support the group’s growth ambitions and active M&A programme. This is a senior leadership position within the IT Team, sitting as a peer alongside the Head of Cyber Security & Networks and Head of Data & Business Systems. You will be the single point of accountability for IFS across approximately 1,100 users and 16 UK locations, bridging the gap between business operations and technology. The role will partner closely with functional leaders, project teams, and external partners to deliver continuous improvement and transformational change across the enterprise, ensuring IFS supports business objectives, drives process excellence, and enables data-driven decision-making. This role will ideally be based out of our Glasgow or Burton office, with national travel to other sites. Hybrid working will be discussed as required.

Key Responsibilities

• IFS Strategy, Governance & Roadmap
  • Own and maintain the IFS ERP roadmap, aligned to business strategy and PE value creation priorities.
  • Lead the evaluation, planning, and delivery of the IFS Cloud upgrade/migration programme.
  • Establish and maintain governance frameworks, standards, and best practices for IFS usage, change management, and enhancements.
  • Identify and prioritise opportunities to extend IFS capabilities across the group, including new module deployments.
  • Define and oversee structured release, testing, and deployment processes for all IFS changes.
  • Build and present business cases for IFS investment, demonstrating clear ROI.
• ERP Operations & Optimisation
  • Act as the IFS design authority for March Group, governing solution decisions and ensuring architectural integrity across the platform.
  • Ensure the stability, performance, and availability of the IFS environment across all group sites.
  • Own functional configuration across finance, supply chain, project management, manufacturing, service management, and asset management modules.
  • Lead the design and rollout of new functionality, driving standardisation and leveraging native IFS capabilities wherever possible.
  • Establish and enforce master data governance standards, ensuring data quality and consistency.
  • Manage IFS user access, roles, and security in line with the group’s compliance requirements.
  • Oversee day-to-day application support, incident resolution, and user experience improvements.
  • Own the integration landscape between IFS and the wider technology estate, including M365, Freshservice, and third-party platforms.
  • Define and govern integration patterns (APIs, middleware, data flows) to ensure reliable, maintainable connections between systems.
  • Work with the Head of Data & Business Systems and Head of Cyber Security & Networks to ensure integrations meet security, data quality, and operational standards.
  • Support reporting and analytics needs, enabling insights for business performance monitoring.
  • Evaluate and recommend integration tooling and approaches as part of the IFS Cloud migration programme.
• M&A Integration
  • Lead ERP due diligence on acquisition targets, assessing current systems and migration complexity.
  • Develop and execute ERP integration/migration plans for newly acquired businesses.
  • Work with operational teams at acquired sites to onboard processes into IFS, standardising where appropriate.
  • Support IT Director in preparing ERP-related content for Investment Committee reporting.
• Business Process Management
  • Analyse, document, and continuously improve end-to-end business processes across finance, supply chain, manufacturing, projects, and service management.
  • Champion a best-practice approach, leveraging native IFS capabilities wherever possible and minimising customisations.
  • Lead process standardisation initiatives across the group, reducing variation between sites and departments.
  • Facilitate workshops and steering groups to drive alignment, prioritisation, and decision-making with business stakeholders.
  • Champion user adoption and continuous improvement, ensuring the business extracts maximum value from IFS.
  • Deliver training programmes and documentation to upskill end users and super users.
  • Ensure compliance with internal controls, audit requirements, and relevant industry standards.
  • Manage the relationship with IFS (or IFS partner/VAR), including support contracts, licensing, and escalations.
  • Manage vendor contract performance and hold third-party integrators and consultants accountable for delivery.
  • Build strong relationships with senior stakeholders across finance, operations, and the executive team.
  • Report on ERP performance, project status, and roadmap progress to IT Director and senior leadership.
  • Manage, mentor, and develop a team of functional analysts, technical specialists, and external consultants.
  • Build a team structure that scales with the group’s growth and M&A activity.
  • Facilitate knowledge sharing and foster a culture of ownership, continuous learning, and accountability.

Experience, Skills and Qualifications

• Significant hands‑on experience with IFS Applications (Apps 9/10) or IFS Cloud across multiple modules.
• Proven experience in ERP strategy, governance, and application ownership.
• Strong understanding of business processes across finance, supply chain, manufacturing, projects, service management, and asset management.
• Proven experience owning an ERP roadmap and delivering upgrades or migrations.
• Experience of ERP integration in an M&A or multi‑site environment.
• Ability to translate business requirements into ERP solutions and present to senior stakeholders.
• Experience owning or governing ERP integrations (APIs, data flows) across a multi‑system landscape.
• Experience managing vendor/partner relationships (support, licensing, projects).
• Experience managing multi‑disciplinary teams and third‑party partners.
• Strong communication, stakeholder management, and problem‑solving skills, comfortable engaging with board‑level and operational audiences.
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively in a fast‑paced, dynamic environment with competing priorities.
• Experience with IFS Cloud and cloud migration planning.
• Experience working in a PE‑backed or high‑growth environment.
• Familiarity with engineering services, manufacturing, or defence sectors.
• Knowledge of complementary platforms (e.g., Azure, Power Platform, BI tools).
• Experience with IFS Report Designer, Crystal Reports, or BI tooling.
• Understanding of ERP data structures, release management, and lifecycle planning.
• Understanding of ITIL or structured change management approaches.
• Experience with middleware platforms or integration‑as‑a‑service tooling.
• Good understanding of resource management and capacity planning.
• IFS certification or formal ERP training.

What We Offer

• A senior leadership role with genuine strategic influence and board‑level visibility.
• Opportunity to shape the ERP strategy for a growing, PE‑backed group.
• Involvement in M&A activity, with direct input to integration planning and Investment Committee reporting.
• A collaborative IT Team of 16, investing in modernisation and digital transformation.
• Competitive salary and benefits package.
• Flexible working arrangements across group locations.

About Us

We are MARCH®. The leading provider of critical engineering services. Supporting the industries we all rely on to improve their infrastructure, process, and digital environments. We work together with our customers to maintain business continuity, optimise output, and drive new standards in productivity, reliability, and sustainability. We help deliver operational resilience, increased performance, and better environmental outcomes, across the board.

Why March Progress is People. MARCH has ambitious plans and central to our future growth is attracting, developing and retaining the very best talent. Whether your role is onsite or office‑based, engineering or support, we offer opportunities for all our people to develop their careers and maximise their potential. MARCH is committed to building teams that reflect a wide range of backgrounds, perspectives, and experiences. We believe diverse thinking strengthens engineering, and we welcome applications from all backgrounds. If you need any adjustments during the recruitment process, just let the team know.