VP of Global ERP Modernisation in London

Location: This is a hybrid role, offering a combination of being able to work remotely and from our London and Corby offices – there will be significant travel involved across our global business.

Overview: RS Group is embarking on one of the most significant technology transformations in our history — a multi‑year global modernisation of our core ERP landscape. To lead this strategic initiative, we are seeking an exceptional Vice President of Global ERP Modernisation to guide the transition from multiple legacy SAP ECC systems to a single global instance of SAP S/4HANA. This is a career‑defining opportunity to shape the digital backbone of a £3bn global industrial business, serving 1.1 million customers across 35+ countries, with a purpose to make amazing happen for a better world.

As VP of Global ERP Modernisation, you will be accountable for the entire end‑to‑end transformation — from strategy and architecture through to build, testing, deployment, adoption, and value realisation. You will lead a large‑scale, multi‑wave programme that is critical to our future growth, resilience, and operational excellence. This includes full ownership of the relationship with our System Integrator and close partnership with our business change organisation to ensure global adoption of new processes and ways of working.

What You Will Be Doing

• Transformation Strategy & Leadership: Define the vision and roadmap for our 5+ year global ERP modernisation. Lead a multi‑wave SAP S/4HANA deployment across regions, functions, and business units. Establish robust governance, decision‑making forums, and executive steering.
• Programme Delivery & Technical Excellence: Direct the System Integrator partnership: scope, delivery, quality, performance, and commercial management. Ensure design integrity, build quality, and rigorous testing across SIT, UAT, performance and cutover. Oversee stabilisation and support for both new S/4HANA environments and legacy ECC systems during transition.
• Business Change & Global Adoption: Partner with our Business Integration/Change teams to ensure process redesign, role readiness, training, and stakeholder engagement. Align change journeys with technical milestones to ensure smooth regional deployments.
• Rollout & Deployment Execution: Build a detailed global rollout roadmap that considers localisation, operational rhythms, and regulatory needs. Lead cutover strategy, mock cutovers, go/no‑go, and business continuity planning.
• Process, Data & Operating Model Transformation: Drive standardisation and optimisation of complex distribution‑focused processes (pricing, inventory, warehousing, transportation, trade compliance, finance, etc.). Own data strategy for migration, governance, quality, and harmonisation.
• Financial, Risk & Value Management: Lead a large‑scale multi‑year transformation budget (CapEx/OpEx). Track KPIs across cost, schedule, quality, adoption, and business value. Ensure the programme delivers measurable operational improvements and efficiencies.
• People & Organisational Leadership: Build and inspire a high‑performing global transformation team. Foster a culture of accountability, transparency, and disciplined execution.

What You’ll Bring

• Essential experience: 15+ years leading major global ERP or enterprise transformation programmes. Significant experience delivering SAP ECC to S/4HANA transformations (greenfield, brownfield, or selective). Expertise in complex operational environments such as industrial distribution, manufacturing, or supply chain‑intensive sectors. Proven leadership of large System Integrator partnerships. Strong commercial, governance, risk, and financial management skills. Experience balancing global standardisation with regional localisation.
• Valuable additional experience: Deep knowledge of SAP modules used in distribution (SD, MM, WM/EWM, FI/CO, pricing, credit, trade compliance). Familiarity with SAP Activate, agile/hybrid delivery models, and release management. Experience in data governance, MDM, enterprise integrations, and cloud security models.
• Personal attributes: Able to lead change at scale in high‑pressure, high‑stakes environments. A collaborative, relationship‑driven leader who builds trust across borders. Strong judgement combined with calm, decisive leadership. Passion for building high‑performing teams and developing talent.

We Are RS: We’ve been solving industry problems for over 80 years. We turn the ‘what ifs’ into the ‘why nots’, the impossible into the possible. Our purpose? Making amazing happen for a better world. We offer service and product solutions to over 1.2 million customers globally, shipping a parcel every 2 seconds to over 130 countries. With over 800,000 stocked and 3 million unstocked products, we’re a trusted partner to the world’s leading industries. We’re looking for curious, driven, and empathetic professionals to join our journey. People who think differently, act with purpose, and want to make a real impact.

Rewards: Our Reward Strategy Philosophy is designed to offer market competitive base salaries and provide all of our people the opportunity to participate in a short-term incentive, enabling them to share in the success of the Company. Our total reward package is more than just the cash; our recognition and benefit offering provide the opportunity for us to recognise, reward and enable the wellbeing of our people at all stages of their journey with RS. Our rewards and benefits vary by country, but include: Financial - pension/retirement; life assurance; salary finance (payroll deduction loan scheme) Wellbeing - medical plans; health screening; critical illness; disability insurance; holiday / paid time off; employee assistance programme; discounted gym/health club membership Lifestyle - transportation assistance schemes (e.g., cycle to work, travel loans, car leasing); onsite catering/lunch vouchers; retail discounts. Spotlight – our global recognition programme provides a platform to highlight and recognise people role modelling our values.

Ready to Make Amazing Happen? Join c. 9,000 colleagues and help us shape the future of our industry. Whoever you are, wherever you are — it all starts here. Apply now and make RS a part of your journey.