SAP Service Delivery Manager

Who we are and what we do

About Hachette UK

Hachette UK is a creative powerhouse and the UK's second largest book publishing group. Our mission is to make it easy for everyone to discover new worlds of ideas, learning, entertainment and opportunity.

We're made up of 11 autonomous publishing divisions and over 60 imprints with a rich and diverse history and an incredible range of authors. We're also the market leader in e-books and publish a range of bestsellers in audio format, the fastest growing part of our business.

Our award-winning adult publishing divisions are Orion, which won Publisher of the Year at the 2021 British Book Awards; Little, Brown; John Murray Press; Hodder & Stoughton; Headline; Quercus; Octopus, and Bookouture. They publish fiction and non-fiction in digital, audio and print format, from the world's best and most diverse authors, including Brit Bennett, Candice Carty-Williams, Martina Cole, Michael Connelly, John Grisham, Stephen King, Stieg Larsson, Nelson Mandela, Stephenie Meyer, Maggie O'Farrell, Delia Owens, Ian Rankin, J.K. Rowling, Colson Whitehead, and Malala Yousafzai. Hachette Children's Group publishes a wide and vibrant range of books for children across all age ranges, while Hachette Learning is a market leader in resources for both primary and secondary schools.

Hachette UK is part of Hachette Livre, the world's third largest trade and educational publisher. As well as our headquarters in Carmelite House, London, and our state-of-the-art book distribution centre in Didcot, Oxfordshire, we have recently opened five new offices in Manchester, Bristol, Sheffield, Newcastle, and Edinburgh. The UK region also includes offices in Australia, New Zealand, India, Singapore, the Caribbean, and Ireland.

It's an exciting time to join our business because the publishing market continues to grow and thrive. The UK remains the largest exporter of physical books in the world and book adaptations for film and TV are the foundation of the UK's creative industries.

What you'll be doing

• Design and deliver the operating model (people, processes and tools) required to provide a SAP technology platform which adapts to the changing needs of the IT Portfolio within the operational and financial constraints
• Lead, manage and develop their IT team (circa 6) and support the HUK four pillars (Understanding Consumers, Owner Mentality, Changing the Story & Growth Mindset)
• Develop and maintain effective working relationships with peers in the IT Management team, external stakeholders, IT Leadership Team and partners
• Effective Communicator – Clearly conveys expectations, feedback, and goals.
• Empathetic and Approachable – Listens actively and understands team members' perspectives.
• Provides Constructive Feedback – Offers timely, actionable input to support growth
• Sets Clear Goals and Expectations – Ensures alignment and clarity within the team

Who we are looking for

The SAP Service Delivery Manager is accountable for the ongoing service delivery of the SAP platform used to support mission critical services such as sales ordering, inventory management, core finances and customer services.

This role requires a personable leader who is passionate about cultivating an inclusive, positive, and productive culture—someone who thrives on building strong relationships and creating a supportive working climate. Your excellent communication skills and empathetic approach will ensure that service delivery remains aligned with business goals and that challenges are addressed proactively and collaboratively.

The SAP Service Delivery Manager will lead and develop a team of up to 6 SAP Support Analysts, fostering a collaborative and motivated environment. We are looking for a natural people person who excels at inspiring, coaching, and empowering their team to achieve excellence.

As a key member of the IT Management Team, the SAP Service Delivery Manager will actively contribute to executing the Group IT strategy and driving the division’s growth.

Skills/Knowledge/Personal Attributes:

• An experienced, personable IT leader, possessing the ability to motivate, re-energise and inspire teams
• Trustworthiness, integrity and honesty; Ability to accept feedback from others with humility
• Broad business and technical acumen; able to work out where an organisation will derive the most value from technology investment
• The ability to manage expectations at all levels and take pragmatic decisions where necessary
• The ability to deliver in a multicultural, multidivisional organisation
• Strong stakeholder management and influencing skills
• Competent SAP technician with demonstrable delivery across multiple projects, applications and/or stakeholders
• Competency with numbers

Experience:

• An experienced, personable and commercially focused IT leader
• Proven track record in an operational role within an organisation
• An understanding of all distribution functions including warehouse operations, customer services, credit control, budget management and forecasting, finance and HR
• Experience of SAP ECC and SAP HANA platform

What we offer

Our staff are our greatest asset, and our benefits reflect this:

• 28 annual leave days per year, increases to 29 days after 2 years' service and goes up to 30 days after 5 years' (+ bank holidays)
• Private medical insurance
• Dental insurance
• Generous pension schemes
• Rent deposit loans
• 2 community days per year
• Summer hours (finishing at 1pm on Fridays during the summer months)
• Retail discounts through Hachette rewards
• Cycle to Work scheme
• Eye care vouchers
• Wide-ranging training library
• Development programmes (including mentoring)
• Up to 70% off book purchases
• A charity bookshelf
• 12 Staff-led employee networks that are voluntary, including Gender Balance, Thrive, Pride, All Together, Wellbeing and religious networks
• Season ticket loans
• And much more!

The role will be based at our Didcot office, with a blend of in-office (3 days) and homeworking (2 days) per week.

Our commitment

Hachette employs people on the basis of their abilities. We aim to attract and develop talent from a base as broad as the world of readers we want to reach, with a wide and representative range of age, faith, disability, race, gender, sexuality and socio-economic, regional and cultural backgrounds.

If you are shortlisted and need us to make any adjustments to help you attend for interview, please let us know.

The Book Trade Charity offers financial support to people looking to enter the book trade but who may struggle to afford the costs of attending interviews and undertaking junior roles. For more information visit www.booktradeentrysupport.org