Forward Deployed Engineering Manager

At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we'll bring out the best in you. We're builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what's next. The work is challenging – but it matters. You'll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your wellbeing, and truly belong. What's in it for you? Constant learning, skill growth, great benefits, and a team that wants you to grow and succeed.

In This Role, You Will

• Lead, coach, and develop a team of senior engineers and AI practitioners, fostering a high-performance culture grounded in accountability, collaboration, and continuous growth.
• Own team performance, including goal setting, feedback cycles, career development, and talent planning.
• Drive delivery excellence across multiple forward-deployed customer engagements, ensuring outcomes align with agreed success.
  

What You'll Build

• In this role, you lead and grow a team of senior engineers, data scientists, and AI practitioners embedded directly within SAP's most strategic customer environments. As a Director-level people manager, you are accountable for the performance, development, and wellbeing of your team — while also owning the delivery outcomes, technical quality, and customer impact of forward-deployed engagements at scale. You operate at the intersection of people leadership, technical strategy, and customer excellence — translating organizational goals into team direction, and ensuring your team has the support, clarity, and environment to do their best work.
• Set technical direction and architectural guardrails for the team, in partnership with Chief Experts and technical leads.
• Act as a senior escalation point for delivery risks, team challenges, and customer concerns — resolving issues with clarity and decisiveness.
• Build strong relationships with senior customer stakeholders and SAP leadership, representing the team's work and advocating for the resources needed to succeed.
• Attract, hire, and onboard top engineering talent across AI, data, and software engineering disciplines.
• Partner with product, go-to-market, and regional leadership to align team capabilities with strategic priorities and customer demand.
• Champion engineering best practices, responsible AI principles, and a culture of learning and innovation within the team.
  

What You Bring

• Proven experience leading and managing senior engineering teams, with a track record of building high-performing, inclusive, and motivated engineering organizations.
• Strong technical background in AI, machine learning, data engineering, or software engineering — with the credibility to guide technical decisions and earn the trust of expert engineers.
• Deep understanding of forward-deployed or customer-embedded delivery models, and experience managing complex, high-stakes customer engagements.
• Strong problem-solving skills and design thinking approach; ability to balance strategic thinking with hands-on delivery accountability.
• Demonstrated ability to develop talent, navigate organizational complexity, and drive alignment across diverse, cross-functional stakeholders.
• Proven ability to work in an Agentic AI context — understanding and shaping how AI agents are applied within teams and customer environments.
• Experience hiring and scaling engineering teams across regions, with a strong instinct for talent and a commitment to diversity and inclusion.
• Excellent communication and influencing skills — able to engage effectively with engineers, executives, and customers alike.
• Familiarity with SAP AI technologies and enterprise AI deployment realities is a strong advantage.