Senior SAP TM Functional Consultant S/4HANA Upgrade Specialist

Overview

This role serves as the primary resource for delivering the TCA system upgrade and supporting the SAP S/4HANA 2025 upgrade, with a specialized focus on Transportation Management (TM). The position is responsible for systematically assessing system impacts, validating logistics business processes, and ensuring uninterrupted daily shipping and logistics operations throughout the upgrade transition.

Key Responsibilities

• Assess the functional impacts of the SAP S/4HANA 2025 upgrade on TM processes using SAP Release Notes, Simplification Items, and relevant documentation.
• Validate end-to-end business process integrity and enable a smooth migration through hands-on testing, integration, and functional configuration (no coding required).
• Identify and resolve system defects through structured root cause analysis and continuous testing.
• Collaborate closely across Application Development, BPMA, TCA, integration, and testing teams to implement changes and coordinate with Change Management on all upgrade impacts.
• Maintain critical logistics operations, ensuring efficient freight planning, carrier selection, and safe shipment processes are not disrupted.
• Support system retrofits, deployment projects, and dual maintenance during steady-state and upgrade periods as needed.

What to Seek in Candidates

• SAP TM & S/4HANA Upgrade Mastery: Look for candidates with at least five years of hands-on SAP TM (Transportation Management) and S/4HANA upgrade experience ideally within international, mid- to large-scale environments.
• Technical Stack Familiarity: Prior background using SAP S/4HANA (2025, Private Cloud, On-Premise), SAP TM (embedded/decentralized), SAP EWM, MM/SD, as well as integration protocols such as SAP EDI, IDocs, ESR, CIF, and using tools like SAP Solution Manager, Readiness Check, and Focused Build.
• Upgrade Engineering & Impact Validation: Prioritize talent who can review and interpret SAP simplification notes, design and execute impact assessments, manage master data and configuration (vs. programming), and coordinate dual maintenance and environment management for upgrades.
• Quality Assurance Leadership: Seek those who have led design and execution of integration test scenarios, user acceptance testing, and rigorous end-to-end defect management, leveraging analytical troubleshooting and root cause resolution.
• Process Mapping Excellence: Candidates should demonstrate expertise mapping Order-to-Cash (O2C) and Procure-to-Pay (P2P) processes to TM modules, ideally with practical rather than purely academic credentials.
• Freight Execution Knowledge: Assess understanding of freight planning, charge management, tendering, and settlement to ensure relevant logistics exposure.
• Collaboration & Communication: Look for professional communicators who have served as cross-functional liaisons between technical integration, business process management, and change management. Ability to explain system changes, train users, and foster operational continuity is crucial.
• Practical Focus: Emphasize execution-driven, detail-oriented, and analytical profiles who can dive deeply into system validation and troubleshooting without needing coding experience. Certifications (e.g., SAP Certified Application Associate TM in S/4HANA) are a plus, but real-world validation skills take precedence.