SAP Change Manager

Organizational Change Manager (OCM) - Local Lead

Location: Tokyo, Japan

Department: SAP Transformation Program

Reporting To: Program and OCM Lead

Employment Type: Full-time

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Organizational Change Manager (Local Lead) to play a critical role in a large-scale SAP transformation program. The successful candidate will provide change leadership, governance, strategy, and execution support across multiple workstreams, ensuring successful adoption of new business processes, systems, and ways of working.

As the local OCM lead, you will act as a strategic partner between the SAP program team and business stakeholders, driving organizational readiness, stakeholder engagement, communications, training, and leadership alignment to ensure sustainable business outcomes.

Key Responsibilities

Change Strategy & Planning

• Develop and execute comprehensive organizational change management strategies aligned with overall program objectives.
• Establish and maintain change management plans covering communications, stakeholder engagement, organizational alignment, transition activities, and capability transfer.
• Ensure change activities are effectively integrated across all program workstreams.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Build strong partnerships with business leaders, process owners, and project teams.
• Drive stakeholder analysis and engagement activities to support adoption and minimize resistance.
• Manage relationships with key business stakeholders and secure approvals and sign-offs where required.

Communications & Change Readiness

• Lead communication planning and execution to ensure consistent and effective messaging throughout the transformation journey.
• Assess organizational readiness and develop mitigation strategies for change impacts and risks.
• Support leadership teams in communicating program goals, benefits, and expectations.

Training & Capability Development

• Partner with training teams to support learning and capability-building initiatives.
• Ensure employees are equipped with the skills and knowledge required to successfully adopt new processes and systems.
• Guide and coach change champions and local change networks.

Leadership Alignment & Governance

• Assess leadership alignment and develop engagement plans to strengthen sponsorship and commitment.
• Identify and escalate change-related risks and issues in a timely manner.
• Monitor change management deliverables, progress, and effectiveness against agreed objectives.

Program Support

• Contribute to achieving program milestones and business transformation objectives.
• Support continuous improvement activities and promote best practices in change management.
• Ensure all activities are conducted in compliance with company values, policies, and safety requirements.

Required Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent professional qualification required.

Experience

• Proven experience leading organizational change initiatives within large-scale business or technology transformation programs.
• Experience supporting ERP, SAP, or enterprise-wide system implementations.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and execute change management strategies in complex, global environments.
• Strong experience managing stakeholder engagement across multiple organizational levels.
• Track record of driving adoption and delivering measurable business outcomes through effective change management.

Key Skills & Competencies

• Organizational Change Management (OCM)
• Stakeholder Management
• Change Impact Assessment
• Communication Planning & Execution
• Leadership Engagement
• Training & Capability Development
• Business Readiness Assessment
• Risk & Issue Management
• Project & Program Management
• Influencing and Negotiation Skills
• Strong Written and Verbal Communication Skills
• Relationship Building and Collaboration
• Strategic Thinking with Strong Execution Focus

Preferred Experience

• Experience working in multinational organizations.
• Familiarity with SAP transformation programs and business process change.
• Experience working with geographically dispersed teams and global stakeholders.
• Change management certification (Prosci, APMG, or similar) is advantageous.