About the RoleThe Local Process Owner, Commercial serves as the North American owner of commercial process design across the business. Reporting to the Vice President of Operations, this role is responsible for how commercial processes are defined, executed, improved, and governed across systems and functions. They act as the named North American process owner for the commercial area and maintain a direct working relationship with corresponding global process owners at headquarters.
This role is defined by process ownership rather than by any single platform. It leads the business design and continuous improvement of cross-functional commercial systems and workflows, including SAP, Salesforce, Electronic Data Interchange, dealer systems, and the contact center. The role also partners closely with designated key users across operating departments to translate business needs into practical process and system requirements, support adoption, and ensure decisions are carried back into the organization.
A major focus of the role is balancing near-term commercial commitments in the RISE North America plan with longer-term process design work ahead of the S/4HANA program. This includes resolving North American commercial blueprint decisions in advance of implementation and representing regional requirements within global process discussions.
Core Responsibilities- Own North American commercial process design, related master data rules, and business process changes within headquarters guardrails
- Serve as the named local process owner for the commercial area and maintain strong alignment with corresponding global process owners
- Own the end-to-end order-to-cash process, including order entry, delivery, billing, returns, pricing, availability, and handoffs to Materials Management and Finance
- Partner with designated commercial key users to capture business needs, translate them into process and system requirements, and support adoption across departments
- Define business requirements for system solutions and evaluate delivered solutions against those requirements
- Document current-state and future-state commercial processes to a standard that supports implementation, governance, and ongoing improvement
- Lead North American commercial blueprint decisions ahead of the S/4HANA project, including pricing, bonus, promotions, new product introduction, dealer structures, and EDI requirements
- Own commercial data stewardship, including data standards, data quality monitoring, and business rules for customer, dealer, and pricing data
- Define commercial requirements for EDI, dealer onboarding, trading partner processes, dealer portal governance, dealer locator content, and contact center business configuration
- Lead user acceptance testing, readiness planning, training, process compliance, and adoption efforts for new implementations, upgrades, and enhancements
- Serve as the primary escalation point for commercial process questions and coordinate resolution with Information Technology and software vendors when needed
- Develop reporting, dashboards, and performance metrics that provide visibility into process performance, dealer activity, customer engagement, operational effectiveness, and initiative progress
- Represent North American commercial process requirements to the global process organization and coordinate cross-functional dependencies with supply chain, finance, operations, and information technology
- Support system evaluations, requests for proposal, and vendor selection in partnership with Information Technology and headquarters stakeholders
Required Skills & Abilities- Ability to take ownership of complex cross-functional process decisions and move work forward with a high degree of initiative
- Strong relationship-building skills and confidence working across Sales, Customer Experience, Marketing, Finance, Operations, Information Technology, and global stakeholders
- Comfort operating in a fast-moving environment with multiple priorities, evolving requirements, and parallel workstreams
- Ability to translate business needs into clear process definitions, system requirements, and practical implementation decisions
- Strong judgment in evaluating business process issues, distinguishing them from technical defects, and coordinating the right path to resolution
- Clear verbal, written, and presentation skills for communicating with operating teams, executive leadership, vendors, and headquarters partners
- Ability to influence decisions across organizational boundaries and maintain momentum on strategic initiatives
- Working knowledge of commercial systems and order-to-cash processes from a business process perspective
- Strong focus on adoption, usability, and business readiness when introducing process or system changes
Other Requirements- Bachelor's degree in Business, Information Systems, Sales, Marketing, or a related field; equivalent combinations of education and relevant experience will be considered
- Five or more years of experience in sales operations, commercial operations, business process ownership, or a related commercial function
- Demonstrated experience owning business process design in a commercial environment, including documenting current state, defining future state, and carrying change into operating departments
- Working knowledge of SAP Sales and Distribution and order-to-cash processes from a business process perspective
- Experience defining business requirements and evaluating delivered system solutions against those requirements
- Experience supporting and improving a CRM platform, preferably Salesforce, from a business user or administrator perspective
- Experience driving user adoption, training, change management, and continuous process improvement
- Experience working within an international or matrixed organization and securing decisions across organizational boundaries
- Willingness to travel domestically and internationally approximately 10 to 15 percent, including travel to headquarters in Germany
Preferred qualifications:- Participation in an ERP implementation or rollout project, ideally as a process owner or key user
- Experience with EDI, dealer or distributor business models, or B2B order management
- Experience with pricing, promotions, bonus, or rebate processes
- Salesforce administration experience or certification
- Experience designing or improving sales and customer-facing business processes
- Familiarity with scaled agile delivery methods used on large digitalization program
