Job Description: SAP S/4HANA Controlling (CO) – Quality Assurance Consultant
Job Title: SAP S/4HANA Controlling (CO) – Quality Assurance Consultant
Location: Saudi Arabia (Onsite – Phase-wise Deployment)
Industry: Oil & Gas / Midstream / Downstream / Petrochemical / Energy
Engagement Type: Independent Quality Assurance (QA) Consulting
Project Duration: Approximately 24 Months (Phase-wise Engagement)
SAP Module: SAP S/4HANA Controlling (CO)
Experience Required: 10+ Years in SAP Consulting
Job SummaryWe are seeking a highly experienced SAP S/4HANA Controlling (CO) Quality Assurance Consultant to support a large-scale SAP S/4HANA implementation program for a leading Oil & Gas organization in Saudi Arabia.
The successful candidate will be part of an Independent Quality Assurance (QA) team responsible for evaluating the quality, completeness, compliance, and effectiveness of SAP solutions and implementation deliverables developed by the System Integrator (SI).
The role requires strong functional expertise in SAP Controlling (CO), particularly in cost management, cost allocation, profitability analysis, and financial integration within Oil & Gas operations.
The consultant will independently assess solution designs, identify implementation risks, validate business process alignment, review testing and deployment readiness, and provide recommendations to ensure a successful SAP S/4HANA implementation.
The engagement will follow a phase-wise deployment model across an approximately 24-month implementation program, requiring onsite participation in Saudi Arabia during designated project phases.
Key Responsibilities
- SAP S/4HANA Controlling Solution Assurance
- Independently review and evaluate SAP S/4HANA Controlling (CO) solution designs and configurations.
- Assess controlling area structures, cost center hierarchies, cost objects, internal orders, and overhead allocation methodologies.
- Review cost allocation, distribution, assessment cycles, and cost settlement processes.
- Evaluate product costing and cost management processes where applicable to Oil & Gas operations.
- Validate the alignment of Controlling solutions with organizational cost management, financial reporting, and operational requirements.
- Identify functional gaps, design inconsistencies, and deviations from SAP S/4HANA leading practices.
- Recommend improvements to enhance cost transparency, financial control, and operational efficiency.
- Profitability and Margin Analysis
- Review SAP S/4HANA Margin Analysis and Profitability Analysis designs.
- Validate profitability characteristics, derivation rules, reporting dimensions, and allocation methodologies.
- Assess margin reporting structures across business units, products, facilities, and operational segments.
- Evaluate the effectiveness of profitability reporting for management decision-making.
- Ensure proper integration of profitability reporting with Financial Accounting and relevant operational modules.
- Identify potential inconsistencies in margin calculations, cost allocations, and reporting outputs.
- Cross-Module Integration Assurance
- Assess integration between SAP Controlling (CO) and other SAP modules, including:
- Financial Accounting (FI)
- Materials Management (MM)
- Sales and Distribution (SD)
- Plant Maintenance (PM)
- Project Systems (PS)
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Production Planning (PP), where applicable
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Review end-to-end business process integration and related financial postings.
- Evaluate the accuracy and completeness of cost flows between operational and financial systems.
- Identify integration gaps affecting financial reporting, cost allocation, profitability, or operational performance.
- Solution Design and Documentation Review
- Conduct independent reviews of Solution Design Documents (SDDs), functional specifications, and configuration documentation.
- Validate solution designs against business requirements and approved process designs.
- Assess alignment with SAP S/4HANA standard capabilities and fit-to-standard principles.
- Review business process flows, integration points, functional dependencies, and identified gaps.
- Challenge proposed customizations and recommend standard SAP functionality wherever appropriate.
- Document findings, risks, and recommendations for review by project stakeholders.
- Design Assurance and Quality Gate Reviews
- Participate in formal design assurance reviews throughout the implementation lifecycle.
- Evaluate deliverable completeness, quality, and readiness at key project milestones.
- Support project Quality Gate assessments and provide independent recommendations.
- Review outstanding functional issues, project dependencies, and implementation risks.
- Verify that critical QA observations have been appropriately addressed before milestone approvals.
- Provide objective assessments to project management and governance committees.
- System Integration Testing (SIT) and User Acceptance Testing (UAT)
- Review SIT strategies, test plans, scenarios, scripts, and expected outcomes.
- Validate test coverage for SAP Controlling processes, profitability reporting, and cross-module integration.
- Assess the adequacy of positive, negative, exception, and end-to-end business process testing.
- Review SIT execution results, defect severity, resolution progress, and retesting evidence.
- Assess UAT readiness, including business participation, scenario completeness, and acceptance criteria.
- Validate business sign-off processes and testing exit criteria.
- Identify testing gaps and recommend corrective actions before deployment.
- Data Migration and Reconciliation Assurance
- Review data migration strategies and approaches relevant to SAP Controlling.
- Assess migration mapping, transformation rules, data cleansing activities, and load procedures.
- Evaluate the completeness and accuracy of migrated controlling master data and relevant financial balances.
- Review reconciliation procedures between legacy systems and SAP S/4HANA.
- Validate migration testing results and exception handling.
- Identify data integrity risks and recommend corrective measures.
- Cutover, Go-Live and Post-Go-Live Assurance
- Review cutover plans, deployment strategies, and readiness assessments.
- Evaluate cutover rehearsals, dependencies, timelines, and business continuity arrangements.
- Assess contingency planning, rollback procedures, and risk mitigation strategies.
- Conduct independent Go-Live readiness reviews for SAP Controlling-related processes.
- Evaluate unresolved defects and operational risks before production deployment.
- Review hypercare arrangements, incident management, and post-Go-Live stabilization activities.
- Recommend improvements to ensure stable and effective business operations following deployment.
- Risk Management, Governance and Reporting
- Identify functional, integration, testing, migration, and deployment risks.
- Maintain structured QA findings, observations, risk registers, and recommendation logs.
- Track closure of critical findings and verify corrective actions.
- Prepare independent quality assurance reports and executive-level presentations.
- Present findings and recommendations to project leadership, business stakeholders, and governance committees.
- Collaborate professionally with the System Integrator while maintaining independence and objectivity in QA assessments.
- Escalate critical risks that may affect implementation quality, timelines, financial reporting, or business operations.
Mandatory Skills And ExperienceCandidates must meet the following requirements:
- 10+ years of SAP consulting experience, with extensive functional expertise in SAP Controlling (CO).
- Minimum 5 end-to-end SAP implementation projects, with significant involvement across the implementation lifecycle.
- At least 2 SAP implementations within the Oil & Gas, Midstream, Downstream, Petrochemical, or Energy sectors.
- Strong hands-on experience with SAP S/4HANA Controlling functionality.
- In-depth knowledge of:
- Cost Center Accounting
- Internal Orders
- Overhead Cost Controlling
- Cost Allocation and Settlement
- Product Costing, where applicable
- Profitability Analysis and SAP S/4HANA Margin Analysis
- Controlling Master Data and Organizational Structures
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Management Reporting and Cost Analysis
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Strong understanding of SAP S/4HANA architecture, business processes, and leading practices.
- Proven experience in independent quality assurance, solution assessments, design validation, or SAP implementation governance.
- Experience reviewing Solution Design Documents, functional specifications, and implementation deliverables.
- Demonstrated expertise in reviewing SIT, UAT, data migration, cutover, and Go-Live readiness.
- Strong knowledge of SAP CO integration with FI, MM, SD, PM, and PS.
- Ability to independently challenge solution designs and identify functional, technical, and business process risks.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, documentation, and stakeholder management capabilities.
- Excellent verbal and written English communication skills.
- Ability to prepare detailed QA findings and present recommendations to senior management.
- Willingness and availability to work onsite in Saudi Arabia according to project deployment requirements.
Preferred Qualifications
- * SAP S/4HANA certification in Management Accounting / Controlling or a relevant functional area.
- Previous experience working as an Independent QA Consultant, SAP Solution Assurance Consultant, or SAP Functional Quality Lead.
- Experience supporting large-scale SAP S/4HANA transformation programs in the GCC region.
- Strong understanding of SAP Activate methodology and implementation quality gates.
- Familiarity with SAP Signavio, SAP Solution Manager, or SAP Cloud ALM.
- Experience working with major System Integrators on enterprise SAP transformation programs.
- Knowledge of financial and operational reporting requirements within the Oil & Gas industry.
- Arabic language proficiency will be considered an advantage.
Expected Deliverables
The consultant will be expected to contribute to the following quality assurance deliverables:
- SAP CO Solution Design Review Reports
- Functional Gap and Risk Assessment Reports
- Design Assurance and Quality Gate Assessment Reports
- SIT and UAT Coverage and Readiness Assessments
- Data Migration and Reconciliation Review Reports
- Cutover and Go-Live Readiness Assessments
- QA Findings, Risk, and Issue Tracking Logs
- Post-Go-Live Stabilization and Hypercare Review Reports
- Executive-Level QA Status Reports and Recommendations
Ideal Candidate Profile
The ideal candidate is a senior SAP S/4HANA Controlling specialist with a strong combination of hands-on SAP implementation experience, Oil & Gas industry knowledge, and independent quality assurance expertise.
Candidates must possess the ability to critically evaluate solutions developed by System Integrators, challenge design decisions, identify implementation risks, and provide objective recommendations aligned with SAP leading practices.
The role is best suited to consultants who have participated in multiple large-scale SAP implementation programs and can provide independent functional assurance throughout the project lifecycle.
Important: This is primarily an Independent Quality Assurance and Solution Review role, rather than a conventional SAP CO configuration or implementation position. Candidates must demonstrate proven experience reviewing, assessing, and validating SAP implementation deliverables in addition to their functional consulting expertise.
