Program Head

At Thoucentric, we offer end-to-end consulting solutions designed to address the most pressing business challenges across industries. Leveraging deep domain expertise, cutting-edge technology, and a results-driven approach, we help organizations streamline operations, enhance decision-making, and accelerate growth. We are headquartered in Bangalore with presence across multiple locations in India, US, UK, Singapore & Australia Globally.

About Thoucentric:

Role Overview

Lead large-scale, Advanced Planning System (APS) transformation programs like Kinaxis, o9, SAP etc. for complex and large programs The role oversees end-to-end delivery across multiple workstreams—including APS functional implementation, enterprise integrations, data readiness, testing, cutover, change management, and business adoption.

This is a strategic leadership role responsible for program governance, multi-vendor orchestration, stakeholder alignment, and delivery excellence, ensuring the APS implementation delivers measurable business value and transforms planning processes across the enterprise.

Key Responsibilities

1. Program Leadership & Governance

• Provide overall leadership for the APS transformation, ensuring alignment with business objectives and long-term planning strategy.
  
• Establish and run a comprehensive program governance structure (SteerCos, PMO, RAID management, design authority, cross-stream syncs).
  
• Define program charter, scope, KPIs, milestones, and value realization framework.
  
• Lead planning, budgeting, and execution across global and regional teams.

2. Oversight of Multi-Stream Delivery

• Direct and coordinate all APS program workstreams, including:
  
• Planning functional design & configuration
  
• Integration with enterprise systems (ERP, WMS, MES, Data Lake, Reporting)
  
• Data and master data readiness
  
• Testing (SIT, UAT), cutover, and hypercare
  
• Business process harmonization
  
• Change management and planner adoption
  
• Manage dependencies and ensure seamless integration across functional and technical tracks.

3. Vendor & Partner Management

• Work with multiple vendor partners handling APS implementation, integrations, data engineering, infra, and change management.
  
• Drive joint planning, milestone alignment, contractual governance, and performance tracking.
  
• Ensure partners deliver high-quality outputs and adhere to timelines, budget, and scope.

4. Scope, Budget, and Risk Management

• Own and control program scope; run structured change-management processes for all new asks.
  
• Track and manage budgets, forecasts, invoicing, and financial health of the program.
  
• Identify risks early, formulate mitigation strategies, and drive issue resolution.
  
• Protect the program from scope creep, misalignment, and delivery slippage.

5. Stakeholder Engagement & Communication

• Act as the primary liaison between business leadership, supply chain teams, IT, and vendors.
  
• Engage with senior stakeholders to drive decisions, align priorities, and communicate progress transparently.
  
• Produce executive dashboards, governance reports, and program-level updates.
  
• Facilitate decision-making forums and steer planning councils.

6. Business Alignment & Change Adoption

• Ensure APS design aligns with business processes, planning cycles, and organizational KPIs.
  
• Lead process harmonization, SOP design, future-state mapping, and adoption strategy.
  
• Support training, onboarding, cutover readiness, and post go-live stabilization.
  
• Drive adoption metrics, planner engagement, and value realization tracking.

7. Quality Assurance & Delivery Control

• Implement structured review mechanisms for design, configuration, integration, and testing.
  
• Ensure program deliverables meet quality standards, architectural guidelines, and business acceptance criteria.
  
• Maintain reusable knowledge artifacts—program documents, templates, playbooks, and SOPs.

Required Skills & Experience

1. Functional Expertise

• Strong understanding of Advanced Planning Systems, supply chain planning processes, and APS implementation lifecycle.
  
• Experience with one or more platforms preferred: Kinaxis, o9, SAP IBP, Blue Yonder, etc.
  
• Solid knowledge of enterprise integration landscapes, data models, and planning algorithms.
  
• Ability to review functional designs, validate technical architecture, and guide functional/technical teams.

2. Program Management Excellence

• 12–18+ years of experience with at least 5–7 years leading large, global programs.
  
• Proven success running multi-stream, multi-vendor enterprise transformation programs in supply chain, IT, or planning domains.
  
• Strong command of program governance, RAID management, budgeting, and stakeholder management.
  
• Experience managing large cross-functional teams (40–100+ resources) across geographies.

3. Leadership & Interpersonal Skills

• Exceptional communication and senior stakeholder management experience.
  
• Ability to influence business leaders, IT architects, and global process owners.
  
• Strong decision-making in ambiguous or high-pressure environments.
  
• Highly structured, detail-oriented, and excellent at driving clarity and accountability.

Educational Background & Certifications

• Bachelor's/MBA from Tier 1; Tier 2 college
  
• Certifications such as PMP, PgMP, SAFe, CSM, CSPO, or equivalent are a strong advantage.
  
• APS-related certifications (Kinaxis/O9/IBP/Blue Yonder) preferred but not mandatory.

Personal Attributes

• Strategic thinker with strong ownership mindset.
  
• Resilient, calm under pressure, and able to work in complex stakeholder environments.
  
• Strong organizational and prioritization skills.
  
• Collaborative team player with an ability to motivate diverse teams.
  
• Pragmatic problem-solver with a business-outcome-first approach.

Requirements