Business Applications Technical Operations Lead

Topcon Positioning Group is headquartered in Livermore, California, USA (topconpositioning.com).

We design, manufacture and distribute productivity tools for developing a brighter future. Whether cultivating the earth or building upon it, Topcon brings innovation in workflow automation and seamless connectivity of data to construction, geopositioning and agriculture industries focused on developing a sustainable tomorrow.

Topcon is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, protected veteran status, disability, age, genetic information, or other legally protected status.

To  learn more about Topcon career opportunities go to  www.topconcareers.com.

Role Summary

The Business Applications Technical Operations Lead is a senior technical leader responsible for end-to-end ownership, governance, and operational excellence of SAP technical platforms delivered through an offshore delivery model. This role is not a pure hands-on developer role, but requires strong technical depth to effectively oversee, guide, review, and, when required, directly intervene to resolve complex production issues during US business hours.

The role provides technical leadership, governance, and maturity definition across SAP CPI/BTP integrations, SAP Basis / system administration, and SAP Technical (ABAP) services delivered by offshore consultants. The successful candidate will establish standards, define operating maturity, ensure accountability for outcomes, and act as the single onshore technical owner for SAP technical operations.

Key Objectives of the Role

• Own the technical health, reliability, and maturity of SAP technical operations
• Govern and lead an offshore SAP technical team across multiple disciplines
• Define and enforce policies, standards, and best practices
• Drive the offshore team from task execution to outcome-based delivery
• Act as the onshore escalation and resolution authority for critical SAP technical issues

Core Responsibilities

1. Technical Governance & Ownership

• Serve as the single onshore owner for SAP technical operations, including:
  • SAP CPI / BTP integrations
  • SAP Basis and system administration including SAP hosted environment on AWS
  • SAP Technical / ABAP development and support
• Define and maintain technical governance frameworks, including:
  • Operating standards
  • Design and coding standards
  • Integration patterns and naming conventions
  • System administration and security practices
• Establish KPIs, SLAs, and outcome-based metrics for offshore delivery
• Review and approve technical designs, integration approaches, and major changes
• Ensure compliance with internal IT policies, security controls, and audit requirements (SOX / ITGC)

2. Offshore Team Leadership & Delivery Management

• Provide day-to-day technical leadership to offshore consultants in India
• Set clear expectations for quality, timelines, documentation, and accountability
• Review offshore work products (designs, integrations, transports, code, configurations)
• Coach and mentor offshore leads to improve technical maturity and ownership
• Actively drive continuous improvement across delivery, reliability, and automation

3. SAP CPI / Integration Leadership

• Own the architecture, reliability, and performance of SAP CPI-based integrations
• Define integration standards for error handling, monitoring, retry, and alerting
• Oversee integration lifecycle management including:
  • Design and build reviews
  • Transport and release governance
  • Monitoring and incident response
• Ensure integrations are robust, supportable, and aligned with enterprise architecture

4. SAP Basis & System Administration Oversight

• Govern SAP Basis operations across ECC, SAP S/4 Public Cloud and related SAP landscapes like Solution Manager and SAP Cloud Application Lifecycle Management (CALM) platforms
• Oversee:
  • System availability, performance, and capacity
  • Transports, upgrades, patches, and kernel updates
  • Security notes, certificates, and system connectivity
  • Backup, recovery, and disaster recovery readiness
  • Partner with Infrastructure, Security, and Hosting teams to ensure operational readiness

5. SAP Technical / ABAP Oversight

• Provide technical leadership for ABAP development and enhancements
• Review and guide complex ABAP developments, interfaces, and performance issues
• Ensure adherence to coding standards, performance best practices, and documentation
• Drive reduction of technical debt and promote reusability and standardization

6. Incident, Problem & Escalation Management

• Act as the onshore escalation point for critical SAP technical incidents
• Be prepared to hands-on troubleshoot and resolve issues during US business hours when required
• Lead root cause analysis (RCA) and ensure corrective and preventive actions are implemented
• Drive stability improvements and reduction in recurring incidents

7. Maturity, Process & Continuous Improvement

• Define and evolve the technical operating maturity model for SAP technical services
• Improve monitoring, automation, documentation, and knowledge transfer
• Transition the offshore team from reactive support to proactive operations
• Partner with IT leadership to align SAP technical operations with broader IT strategy

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or equivalent experience
• 8+ years of SAP technical experience, with depth across at least two of the following:
  • SAP CPI / SAP BTP integrations
  • SAP Basis / system administration
  • SAP Technical / ABAP development
• Proven experience working with and leading offshore delivery teams
• Strong understanding of SAP ECC landscapes and hybrid on-prem / cloud environments
• Demonstrated ability to own production systems and resolve high-severity issues
• Experience operating in SOX / ITGC-controlled enterprise environments
• Strong communication skills with the ability to influence without direct authority

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience with offshore delivery models
• Experience defining technical KPIs, SLAs, and outcome-based delivery metrics
• Exposure to SAP S/4HANA, BTP roadmap, or large SAP transformation programs
• Experience partnering with multiple SAP vendors and system integrators

What Success Looks Like

• Offshore SAP technical teams operate with clear ownership, accountability, and maturity
• SAP integrations and systems are stable, monitored, and resilient
• Issues are resolved quickly with minimal business impact
• Technical standards are consistently applied and enforced
• Leadership has confidence in SAP technical operations and offshore delivery

This role is ideal for a hands-on technical leader who has grown into governance and ownership, values outcomes over activity, and can balance strategic oversight with tactical execution when needed.

Base Pay

Expected Base Pay Range: $135,000 to $185,000 Annualized

The base pay range included is a projected hiring range for a position, level and potential work location(s) listed.  Topcon provides the compensation range that it in good faith believes it might pay and/or offer for this position. This compensation range is based on a full-time schedule.   

In addition to base pay, compensation for this position includes eligibility for certain Bonuses.

Benefits*:

Topcon offers a comprehensive benefit package for this position including medical, dental, vision, life insurance, disability insurance, tax saving spending accounts a 401(k) plan with employer match, tuition reimbursement in addition to other perks and benefits.  We also offer time off for our employees to recharge.  Our employees are eligible for paid company holidays, paid personal time off, and paid sick time that meets or exceeds state/local requirements. 

Topcon reserves the right to ultimately pay more or less than the posted range and offer additional benefits and other compensation; individual candidate compensation may be determined based on individual skills, experience, training, certifications, education, final work location and other factors not related to an applicant’s sex or other status protected by local, state, or federal law. Changes in the position level, location or other factors associated with the role may change the final determined compensation.  The recruiter can provide additional information during the hiring process.

*Topcon time off policies can vary as well as roles which are exempt or non-exempt.  For hourly (“non-exempt”) employees, we offer personal paid time off which accrues in accordance with local standards.  For salaried (“exempt”) employees, we offer a flexible paid time off policy giving you flexibility to take time when needed, while supporting business needs.  All paid time off policies are in accordance with or exceeding local law.  Employees working at least 30 hours per week are eligible for our Health and Welfare benefit package.