Corporate IT Manager - Group ERP Implementation

About the role

The Corporate IT Manager leads IT across a group of pharmaceutical companies. The role balances two priorities: keeping day-to-day IT operations stable, secure and cost-effective, and leading the group-wide ERP implementation. The manager is a strategic partner to the business, aligns IT with business objectives and applies a strong financial focus (cost-effectiveness, ROI and TCO) to every initiative.

Key responsibilities

• Own the ERP implementation end to end: business case, roadmap, budget, timeline and go-live for each company, manage the implementation partner, run fit-gap analysis, harmonize processes and lead data migration, testing, cutover, hypercare and change management.
• Define the group IT strategy, policies, standards and architecture, and set up an IT governance framework and steering committee.
• Partner with business leaders, validate requirements, select and implement business applications and MIS, and integrate the ERP with HRMS, quality, warehouse and plant systems.
• Align with the Compliance department on data protection and security, and prepare IT for internal, external, regulatory and customer audits.
• Run daily IT operations (infrastructure, networks, helpdesk, applications) with SLAs per company, and supervise internal and vendor teams.
• Lead the information security program, including access control, monitoring, incident response and the Information Security Committee.
• Set up disaster recovery and business continuity plans and test them regularly.
• Build the group IT budget, negotiate contracts and licenses, and manage vendor delivery.
• Lead, develop and coach the IT team across entities, and identify training needs.
• Assess emerging technologies and lead the company's AI roadmap.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Information Systems or Engineering.
• 15+ years of overall IT experience, including 5+ years leading IT teams across infrastructure, business applications and support.
• At least one full-cycle ERP implementation, including as project lead, with hands-on ERP modules in finance, procurement, inventory, sales and distribution and HRMS integration.
• Background in pharma, life sciences, FMCG, chemicals or other regulated manufacturing; understanding of IT general controls and data integrity.
• Fluent in English and Arabic.
• Preferred: MBA or Master's in Information Systems or Business, finance background, group or regional IT experience, multi-entity ERP rollouts, multiple ERP platforms, ISO 27001, and certifications such as PMP/PRINCE2, ITIL, CISM/CISSP or ISACA.