Required Skills: Cutover Lead
Job Description
Job Title: Cutover Lead
Work Location & Reporting Address: Jacksonville FL 32202 (Hybrid, Candidates must be from the Jacksonville area, OR should be willing to travel to the client location every alternate week)
Contract duration: 6
Target Start Date: ASAP
Does this position require Visa independent candidates only? Yes
Job Details:
The SAP Cutover Lead will be responsible for end‑to‑end planning and execution of cutover activities for an SAP S/4HANA Greenfield Transformation. This role ensures smooth transition from legacy systems to SAP S/4HANA by coordinating activities across functional, technical, data migration, infrastructure, and business teams. The Cutover Lead acts as the central command point during mock cutovers and the go‑live event.
Key Responsibilities
Develop the cutover strategy, covering scope, timelines, dependencies, and execution plan.
Define roles & responsibilities (RACI) across IT, business, migration, and infra teams.
Prepare and maintain the Cutover Playbook and detailed cutover checklist.
Create cutover run‑books with sequencing of activities, validation points, cutover windows, and rollback plans.
Lead and manage all cutover activities during mock cycles and production go‑live.
Coordinate with functional consultants, BASIS, ABAP, business SMEs, data migration teams, and PMO.
Track hour‑by‑hour progress during cutover weekend and ensure timely escalation of risks/issues.
Ensure completion of technical cutover and functional cutover tasks.
Work closely with Data Migration Lead on load plans, sequencing, pre‑load checks, and post‑load validation.
Validate data load readiness and highlight dependencies that impact cutover.
Ensure mock migration learnings are incorporated into final cutover plan.
Align with BASIS & Infra teams for system refreshes, transport sequences, authorization updates, and interface readiness.
Coordinate smoke testing/SIT readiness immediately after cutover to ensure system stability.
Drive cutover readiness meetings, war‑room discussions, and stakeholder updates.
Align business teams on blackout periods, manual cutover tasks, and validation checkpoints.
Ensure closure of UAT and collection of business approvals before production cutover.
Identify cutover risks, maintain RAID logs, and prepare mitigation plans.
Ensure version control of runbooks and incorporation of changes from mock cycles.
Work with PMO to align cutover milestones with project governance.
Minimum Experience:
The candidate should have 15+ years of overall experience, including at least 8+ years as a Cutover Lead.
Relocation Consideration:
Same as above—local candidates preferred; otherwise, travel every alternate week is required.
Interview & Work Model: Virtual (Video Call)