Head of Cloud Data Center and Infrastructure Lifecycle Services (m/f/d)

We help the world run better

At SAP, we enable you to bring out your best. Our company culture is focused on collaboration and a shared passion to help the world run better. How? We focus every day on building the foundation for tomorrow and creating a workplace that embraces differences, values flexibility, and is aligned to our purpose-driven and future-focused work. We offer a highly collaborative, caring team environment with a strong focus on learning and development, recognition for your individual contributions, and a variety of benefit options for you to choose from.

Within Global Cloud Infrastructure & Delivery, part of the Customer Service & Delivery Board Area, the Cloud Data Center and Infrastructure Lifecycle services unit (Cloud DLS) delivers critical data center-related infrastructure lifecycle services, before and after productive operations, while also being responsible for all sustainability aspects of SAP’s cloud infrastructure sourcing. The Head of Cloud DLS is fully accountable for the delivery and performance of the unit, which consists of ~150 employees structured by service area and by geography. It operates 24/7 36 data centers across 4 continents with a total of 60 MWs capactiy, 34 of them customer-facing. In 2024 it set up ~4.000 IT infrastructure devices (servers, storage, networks) in the data centers and decommissioned and re-marketed / recycled ~10.000.
 
What you'll do
 

• Lead and guide the unit to highly measurable effectiveness and efficiency 
• Ensure continuously high service delivery and operations quality and constantly meet operational KPIs, e.g. 100% data center uptime 
• Manage people managers as well as individual contributors 
• Foster collaboration and team thinking within the unit, within GCID and with other units in SAP like Facilities management, Security & Compliance, Procurement and Controlling 
• Develop the unit to answer future requirements, e.g. use of AI in DC operations and lifecycle management, robotics in data centers 
• Adjust supply chain models to navigate changing demand and geo-political supply constraints 
• Represent the unit within GCID Leadership team and tightly collaborate with peers in GCID, in particular a very close collaboration and partnership with SAP Cloud Infrastructure L2 unit  
• Sponsor, monitor and consult strategic programs on data center, HW lifecycle and sustainability topics 
• Represent the unit in Steering committees and executive meetings, e.g. SAP’s Net Zero program 
• Manage external service provider service and cost performance and represent SAP at executive levels with providers 
• Participate in 24/7 major incident management for GCID and proactively drive executive updates in case of data center-related outages 
• Be accountable for budget and HC compliance of the unit and continuously drive cost optimizations  
• Be accountable for data center related business cases and their execution  
• Represent SAP in external sustainability pacts and executive meetings with regulatory bodies 

 
What you bring
 
The successful candidate for this job will bring the following experience and attributes: 
 

• Directly led teams and units with >50m€ budget 
• Experience managing managers to drive continuous measurable success 
• Strong interest and focus on people and team development and performance 
• KPI-based cost optimized management of an operations unit  
• Experience running strategic programs to successful execution and measurable benefits  
• Technology orientation with strong interest in data center and infrastructure technology in a rapidly developing environment  
• Ability to translate data center and hardware technology and cost parameters for a cloud business  
• Change and turnaround mindset 
• Deep customer focus and orientation 
• Experience working in different regions and cultures and in leading virtual and geographically dispersed teams (the unit’s data centers sit in 4 different continents) 
• Strong understanding of supply chain management principles 

 
Additional stand-out elements in work experience: 
 

• Experience with data center and infrastructure hardware and software technology and operations / lifecycle management 
• Service provider management 
• Understanding of infrastructure hardware-specific supply chain management and market characteristics 
• Experience with environmental sustainability standards like greenhouse gas protocol and their applications to business 
• Knowledge in data center physical security and IT related certifications 

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 are ethical and compliant

Our leadership credo: Do what’s right. Make SAP better for generations to come. We believe that great leadership extends far beyond the mere pursuit of business goals. We value and foster leadership that is driven with purpose and integrity. Our leaders are role models who uphold SAP’s values and shape SAP’s culture of integrity, by demonstrating and championing ethical and compliant behavior towards all stakeholders.

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 and more equitable world.
 

SAP is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to the values of Equal Employment Opportunity and provide 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.

EOE AA M/F/Vet/Disability:

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.
Successful candidates might be required to undergo a background verification with an external vendor.

Requisition ID: 419521  | Work Area: Software-Design and Development  | Expected Travel: 0 - 10%  | Career Status: Executive  | Employment Type: Regular Full Time   | Additional Locations: St. Leon-Rot, Dresden, Berlin, Belfast, Sofia, Budapest, Bangalore, Pune, Shanghai, Singapore, Vancouver, NSQ, Palo Alto, Monterrey