Global Business Process Manager - Order to Invoice

Job Purpose

The Global Business Process Manager (BPM) – Customer Operations is responsible for setting the global strategic direction, design principles and performance expectations for Customer Operations processes across AkzoNobel. This includes the end‑to‑end Order-to-Invoice and Order Fulfilment domain. This role will also act as Global Process Owner (GPO).

This role provides strategic leadership, cross-functional orchestration, and governance over how Customer Operations processes are executed globally across BUs, regions, and shared services. It is accountable for driving process harmonization, standardization, and transformation across multiple ERP landscapes, working closely with Commercial, Pricing, Invoice‑to‑Cash, Supply Chain, Finance and Digital/IT.

The GPO leads a multi-year transformation agenda using Advanced Process Mining, Automation, workflow digitization and simplification—shaping the future operating model of Customer Operations. This role sets global standards, defines the global template, ensures controls, leads process maturity improvements, and drives measurable business outcomes such as OTIF, service level adherence, order accuracy, digital adoption, and cycle-time reduction.

Key Accountabilities

Strategic Process Leadership

• Own the global process vision, target operating model and end-to-end design for Customer Operations (Order-to-Invoice, Order Fulfilment).
• Define global process standards, KPIs, controls, and performance baselines.
• Champion process excellence and harmonization across 8 BUs and multi-region implementations, especially across multiple ERP landscapes
• Lead the long-term Customer Operations transformation agenda, aligned with Commercial, Pricing, and Invoice-to-Cash GPOs.

Cross-Functional Orchestration

• Collaborate deeply with peer GPOs across Commercial, Pricing, Order-to-Cash, and Invoice-to-Cash to ensure a cohesive, integrated process ecosystem.
• Drive alignment with BU/Regional leaders and functional heads to embed global processes into local ways of working.
• Partner with Digital, IT/IM and Enterprise Architecture to align process priorities with technology strategy—including HANA migration, ERP transformations, and digital platforms.

Digital Enablement & Advanced Technologies

• Drive adoption of Process Mining (Celonis or equivalent) to identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and compliance gaps.
• Lead automation initiatives (workflow automation, RPA, intelligent document processing, exception management).
• Sponsor AI/ML use cases for forecasting, order behavior prediction, SLA risk alerts, ATP intelligence, and service-level optimization.
• Oversee digital adoption for Customer Operations analytics, dashboards, and performance management tools. (OTIF, Backorders, SLA automation, etc.)

Global Template Ownership & Governance

• Own and evolve the Global Customer Operations Process Template (L1/L2), ensuring consistency across markets and alignment with archetypes
• Govern ERP-related process decisions and support the retrofit strategy, configuration choices, and deviation management across systems.
• Lead global design authority forums to evaluate change requests, approve new processes, and align cross-functional decisions.

Program & Change Leadership

• Lead team of BPO and Development Managers in Global Customer Operations
• Lead global process improvement and harmonization programs; oversee rollout strategy across regions.
• Build capability in Customer Operations through training, coaching, talent development, and internal communities of practice.

Experience

• 15–20+ years of experience in Order-to-Cash, Customer Service, Supply Chain, or process excellence roles—including global or regional leadership responsibilities.
• Experience leading major global transformation programs involving ERP standardization, digital enablement, or process harmonization.
• Strong understanding of end-to-end OTC, Customer Operations, and cross-functional interdependencies (Commercial, Pricing, Finance, I2C).

Technical Competencies

• Deep experience with SAP OTC processes (operational + design level), including template governance and major ERP migrations.
• Knowledge of process mining (Celonis or similar), automation technologies, workflow platforms, and AI/advanced analytics opportunities.
• Familiarity with analytics frameworks for OTIF, Backorders, SLA management, cost-to-serve.

Leadership & Change Skills

• Strong program and project leadership experience—able to lead large-scale global transformations.
• Proven ability to drive cultural change and build a process-driven culture.
• Strong stakeholder management with the ability to influence without authority across diverse global teams.
• Demonstrated leadership in coaching, mentoring, and capability building.

Behavioural Skills

• Strategic thinker with strong business acumen and ability to connect process improvements to business outcomes.
• Excellent communicator and facilitator, capable of aligning senior leaders, BUs, and cross-functional teams.
• Strong problem-solving, analytical, and decision-making skills.