Global Integration Architect Lead - SAP Platforms - EY GDS

Global Integration Architect Lead – SAP Platforms

Role Summary

The Global Integration Architect Lead is the senior technical authority responsible for defining, governing, and evolving the enterprise integration architecture across the global SAP ecosystem. This role owns cross‑system integration strategy, API standards, and event‑driven patterns that connect SAP S/4HANA, SAP Ariba, SAP SuccessFactors, and non‑SAP platforms at scale.

Operating as a design authority and architectural leader, the role ensures integrations are secure, scalable, resilient, and Clean‑Core compliant, while enabling rapid business transformation and global process standardization. The Global Integration Architect Lead partners closely with Enterprise Architects, Solution Architects, Product Owners, and delivery partners to ensure integration decisions support long‑term enterprise outcomes—not just short‑term program delivery.

Key Responsibilities

1. Enterprise Integration Architecture Leadership

• Define and own the global integration architecture strategy for SAP and non‑SAP platforms across Finance, Procurement, Supply Chain, and HCM domains.
• Establish standard integration patterns (API‑led, event‑driven, batch, synchronous/asynchronous) aligned with enterprise architecture principles.
• Act as the final design authority for complex, cross‑domain integrations involving SAP S/4HANA, Ariba, SuccessFactors, and third‑party systems.
• Ensure integration designs support global business processes (O2C, P2P, R2R, H2R) and enterprise data models.

2. SAP Integration Suite & API Management Ownership

• Lead architectural usage of SAP Integration Suite (Cloud Integration, API Management, Event Mesh, Open Connectors where applicable).
• Define and enforce API standards, lifecycle management, versioning, security, throttling, and reuse strategies.
• Govern integration build quality to ensure consistency across internal teams, system integrators, and managed service providers.
• Drive adoption of event‑driven architectures using SAP standard events where available.

3. Clean Core & Extensibility Governance

• Enforce Clean Core principles, minimizing custom point‑to‑point integrations and fragile custom code.
• Define side‑by‑side extensibility patterns that protect SAP core stability while enabling innovation.
• Review and approve integration‑related exceptions, documenting rationale and technical debt implications.

4. Cross‑Program Design Authority & Risk Management

• Participate in architecture review boards and release governance forums as the integration authority.
• Identify integration risks, performance bottlenecks, security gaps, and data consistency issues early in the lifecycle.
• Partner with Security, GRC, and Identity teams to ensure integrations meet compliance and audit requirements.

5. Leadership, Mentorship & Vendor Oversight

• Lead and mentor regional and domain Integration Architects, setting technical direction and raising overall architecture maturity.
• Provide architectural oversight of SI partners and vendors, ensuring adherence to enterprise standards.
• Influence senior stakeholders by clearly articulating trade‑offs, risks, and long‑term impacts of integration decisions.

Required Skills & Experience

SAP & Integration Expertise

• 15 years of relevant experience 
• Deep hands‑on experience integrating SAP S/4HANA, SAP Ariba, and SAP SuccessFactors in large global landscapes.
• Strong expertise in SAP Integration Suite, including CPI and API Management.
• Proven experience designing API‑led and event‑driven architectures at enterprise scale.
• Strong understanding of SAP standard APIs, data objects, and integration best practices.

Technical & Architectural Skills

• Advanced knowledge of RESTful APIs, JSON/XML, OAuth2, SAML, certificate‑based security, and integration performance tuning.
• Experience with hybrid integration scenarios (SAP cloud, hyperscalers, on‑prem systems).
• Ability to translate business requirements into clear, durable integration architectures rather than one‑off solutions.

Leadership & Enterprise Skills

• Demonstrated ability to act as a global design authority, influencing without direct control.
• Strong stakeholder management skills across IT, business, and external partners.
• Experience working in large, matrixed, global organizations with multiple delivery teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in global SAP transformation programs (S/4HANA, RISE, Ariba, SuccessFactors).
• TOGAF or equivalent enterprise architecture certification.
• Exposure to AI‑assisted delivery, automation, or integration governance at scale.

Success Measures

• Reduction in point‑to‑point and non‑standard integrations.
• Increased reuse of APIs and integration patterns.
• Improved stability, performance, and auditability of integrations.
• Faster delivery enablement without erosion of architectural integrity.