Senior Director, Brand Architecture, Naming and Taxonomy

We help the world run better
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. 

Summary

SAP is seeking an exceptional brand architecture, naming and taxonomy expert with AI fluency to head its Brand Architecture and Naming Team which has an outstanding reputation as subject matter experts and trusted advisors within SAP.

This is a rare opportunity to lead a team that plays a critical role in SAP’s success: enabling customers, prospects and partners to easily understand, navigate and evaluate SAP’s expansive and evolving portfolio – ultimately making it easier to consider and buy SAP solutions.

The ideal candidate brings deep brand architecture, naming and taxonomy subject matter expertise paired with AI literacy – including familiarity with how AI is shaping products, platforms, customer experiences and marketing. As SAP continues to embed AI across its products and solutions, this role will ensure that AI driven innovation is reflected clearly, consistently and intelligently within SAP’s brand architecture, naming systems and taxonomies.

This Role

This role sits within SAP Global Marketing which is responsible for translating SAP’s business strategy into marketing strategies to drive our business goals. And the Brand Architecture, Naming and Taxonomy Team sits within the Brand Strategy practice inside SAP’s Brand & Creative group that’s built SAP into one of the world’s most valuable global brands.

Specifically, the Brand Architecture, Naming and Taxonomy head will:

• Provide strategic leadership and counsel to senior stakeholders on brand architecture, naming and taxonomy across Global Marketing, product marketing, product management and beyond – ensuring clarity, scalability and future-readiness in a rapidly evolving AI-enabled portfolio
• Lead and develop the Naming Team, agency partners and contractors to leverage both human expertise and AI enabled tools to drive efficiency, rigor and consistency across naming and taxonomy deliverables
• Champion modern, data and AI informed approaches to brand architecture, naming, and taxonomy including the use of AI for portfolio analysis, linguistic validation, competitive intelligence and decision support
• Direct the team’s enablement assets, frameworks and governance models to empower teams across SAP to make smarter, faster decisions in an increasingly AI-driven environment
• Foster a highly collaborative, service-oriented approach acting as a trusted partner while maintaining the discipline and standards required to manage a global brand

Role Requirements

• Strong AI understanding, passion and experience with the ability to apply that understanding to brand architecture, naming and taxonomy challenges
• Deep subject matter expertise with 15+ years of experience in brand architecture, naming, taxonomy & brand strategy with a proven track-record of success and a highly analytic, rigorous approach
• Experience with large, B2B companies (tech preferred), with a vast and complex portfolio of products and services; consulting/agency experience a plus
• Executive-level skills to guide, influence and inspire senior level executives, including the ability to develop and articulate complex concepts clearly and succinctly
• Collaborative mindset and service-oriented manner a must

Location

• Open to candidates anywhere in the U.S. Our team is distributed across New York, San Francisco, and Seattle, with a hybrid model requiring 3 days per week in a nearby office.

Only the best need apply to lead this highly esteemed and top performing team at SAP.

Bring out your best
SAP innovations help more than four hundred thousand customers worldwide work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively. Originally known for leadership in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, SAP has evolved to become a market leader in end-to-end business application software and related services for database, analytics, intelligent technologies, and experience management. As a cloud company with two hundred million users and more than one hundred thousand employees worldwide, we are purpose-driven and future-focused, with a highly collaborative team ethic and commitment to personal development. Whether connecting global industries, people, or platforms, we help ensure every challenge gets the solution it deserves. At SAP, you can bring out your best.  

We win with inclusion
SAP’s culture of inclusion, focus on health and well-being, and flexible working models help ensure that everyone – regardless of background – feels included and can run at their best. At SAP, we believe we are made stronger by the unique capabilities and qualities that each person brings to our company, and we invest in our employees to inspire confidence and help everyone realize their full potential. We ultimately believe in unleashing all talent and creating a better world.

SAP is committed to the values of Equal Employment Opportunity and provides accessibility accommodations to applicants with physical and/or mental disabilities. If you are interested in applying for employment with SAP and are in need of accommodation or special assistance to navigate our website or to complete your application, please send an e-mail with your request to Recruiting Operations Team: Careers@sap.com.

For SAP employees: Only permanent roles are eligible for the SAP Employee Referral Program, according to the eligibility rules set in the SAP Referral Policy. Specific conditions may apply for roles in Vocational Training.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their age, race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, age, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, et al), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status, or disability.

Compensation Range Transparency: SAP believes the value of pay transparency contributes towards an honest and supportive culture and is a significant step toward demonstrating SAP’s commitment to pay equity. SAP provides the annualized compensation range inclusive of base salary and variable incentive target for the career level applicable to the posted role. The targeted combined range for this position is 168,800 - 385,500 USD. The actual amount to be offered to the successful candidate will be within that range, dependent upon the key aspects of each case which may include education, skills, experience, scope of the role, location, etc. as determined through the selection process. Any SAP variable incentive includes a targeted dollar amount and any actual payout amount is dependent on company and personal performance. Please reference this link for a summary of SAP benefits and eligibility requirements: SAP North America Benefits.

AI Usage in the Recruitment Process

For information on the responsible use of AI in our recruitment process, please refer to our Guidelines for Ethical Usage of AI in the Recruiting Process.

Please note that any violation of these guidelines may result in disqualification from the hiring process.

Requisition ID: 445025  | Work Area: Marketing  | Expected Travel: 0 - 10%  | Career Status: Professional  | Employment Type: Regular Full Time   | Additional Locations:  #LI-Hybrid