SAP Security Control Specialist - Outside IR35 - Hybrid (Manchester)

Role Overview

An experienced SAP Security Control Specialist is required for an initial 6-month engagement, joining a major UK retail organisation as it reshapes its Digital, Technology and Data function. Sitting within the Enterprise Platforms team, this role is responsible for designing, implementing and continuously improving security controls across a complex SAP landscape spanning Finance, Retail, Commercial and Supply Chain. You'll work closely with engineers, architects, product teams and security specialists to embed security-by-design principles and strengthen access governance across a critical technology estate.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, implement and maintain security controls across SAP platforms to support secure and compliant operations.
• Manage and improve SAP roles, authorisations and role-based access controls, ensuring least-privilege access.
• Assess and monitor segregation of duties (SoD) risks, identifying and addressing control weaknesses.
• Work with engineering, architecture, product and platform teams to embed security-by-design principles into system changes and delivery.
• Support risk, audit and compliance activities, evidencing control effectiveness against regulatory and internal requirements.
• Investigate and resolve SAP security and access-related issues, minimising risk and operational impact.
• Review the effectiveness of existing controls and drive continuous improvement across the SAP environment.
• Act as a trusted advisor to stakeholders on SAP security risks, controls and best practice.

Key Skills & Experience

• Strong experience with SAP security, including roles, authorisations and role-based access control (RBAC) models.
• Good understanding of segregation of duties (SoD), access risk management and SAP security governance.
• Hands-on experience with SAP GRC, access governance solutions and related control frameworks.
• Knowledge of identity and access management principles, including privileged access, provisioning and least-privilege models.
• Experience supporting security risk, audit and compliance activities within complex enterprise SAP environments.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to assess risk and implement practical solutions.
• Excellent communication skills, able to translate technical security concepts for business stakeholders.
• Immediately available or on a short notice period (beneficial).