As part of the Source-to-Pay GPL team, the Functional Product Owner (FPO) for Vendor Master Data plays a critical role in driving the strategic direction, design, and implementation of vendor master data processes, policies, controls and technology. This role bridges the gap between business stakeholders and technical teams, ensuring business requirements related to vendor master data are translated into system features and improvements. The FPO also assumes end-to-end process ownership with accountability for defining, managing, and continuously improving vendor master data processes. A key part of the role involves identifying operational risks and implementing control mitigations to ensure compliance, data integrity, and regulatory adherence.
Key Responsibilities:
Leadership and Strategic Influence:
-
Lead cross-functional teams and guide decision-making with clear, data-driven insights.
-
Act as a strategic advisor to senior stakeholders, aligning vendor master data goals with enterprise priorities.
-
Mentor and champion a high-performance collaborative culture; inspire and influence change across regions, functions, and themes to adopt new processes and technology.
Product Ownership and Strategy:
-
Serve as the primary business representative in agile scrum teams, driving the vendor master data product roadmap in alignment with strategic goals.
-
Define, prioritize, and manage product backlogs; write clear user stories and acceptance criteria.
-
Lead stakeholder workshops to capture business requirements and translate them into actionable product features.
Process Ownership:
-
Own and manage end-to-end vendor master data processes (eg, vendor onboarding, amendments, and maintece).
-
Define process workflows, standard operating procedures, RACI matrices, and performance standards.
-
Monitor process performance using KPIs and implement improvements to optimize efficiency and accuracy.
Control Mitigation and Compliance:
-
Identify process-level risks, including data quality, system control gaps, and compliance risks.
-
Design and implement internal controls to mitigate operational and compliance risks.
-
Partner with audit, risk, and compliance teams to ensure vendor master data processes meet regulatory and policy requirements.
-
Monitor control effectiveness and drive corrective actions as needed.
Stakeholder Management:
-
Collaborate with business units, tech, data goverce, compliance, and operations teams across regions.
-
Act as a change agent to promote vendor master data process and system adoption across global teams.
-
Deliver training, communications, and onboarding materials for new vendor master data processes and tools.
Data Goverce and Quality:
-
Partner with data stewards and goverce teams to ensure high-quality, consistent, and governed vendor master data.
-
Define business rules and validation criteria to ensure accurate and reliable vendor data.
-
Participate in root cause analysis and continuous improvement initiatives related to vendor master data quality.
Qualifications:
-
bachelors degree in business, Engineering, Information Systems, or related field; Masters preferred.
-
8+ years of experience in product ownership, business process management, or functional leadership.
-
Demonstrated experience in vendor master data process ownership, control implementation, and cross-functional project leadership.
-
Strong understanding of ERP systems (eg, SAP S/4HANA, SAP MDG), workflow tools, and master data concepts.
-
Working knowledge of SOX, internal controls, or regulatory compliance preferred.
-
Excellent communication, analytical thinking, and stakeholder management skills.
Key Competencies:
-
Leadership and team development
-
Strategic thinking and execution
-
Process orientation and ownership
-
Risk awareness and control mindset
-
Agile product management
-
Change management and communication
-
Cross-functional collaboration
-
Data-driven decision making