ERP Implementation Manager

This position is a time-limited position (5 years) aligned with planned ERP transformation project timeline.

GENERAL STATEMENT OF DUTIES

Strategic project leadership role responsible for coordinating the Guilford County's multi-year Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) transformation initiative. Serves as the internal owner and single point of accountability for ensuring successful implementation of the new ERP platform across Human Capital Management (HCM), Finance, and Budget domains. Coordinates activities among multiple external parties including the Journey Partner, System Integrator(s), ERP Vendor(s), and staff augmentation consultants while ensuring alignment with County priorities, timelines, and budget constraints. Reports to Deputy CIO and serves as primary liaison to the ERP Executive Steering Committee.

DISTINGUISHING FEATURES

The ERP Implementation Manager owns the County's interests throughout a 4+ year transformation journey, coordinating with external partners while ensuring internal stakeholder engagement, resource availability, and organizational readiness. This role requires exceptional multi-party coordination skills, as the incumbent will interface with project managers from 4-5 different organizations simultaneously while maintaining focus on the County's critical go-live deadlines.

DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Essential Duties and tasks include, but are not limited to:

Internal Coordination & Stakeholder Management

• Serve as primary internal liaison between IT, HR, Finance, Budget, and other County departments for all ERP implementation activities
• Ensure Subject Matter Expert (SME) availability for requirements gathering phase, design sessions, testing, and training activities
• Manage County staff resource commitments and workload balancing during implementation phases
• Facilitate internal decision-making processes, preparing decision packages for leadership review
• Coordinate with department directors to ensure business process owners are engaged and accountable
• Manage internal communication regarding project status, upcoming activities, and required participation
• Build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders at all levels of the organization
• Champion organizational change and adoption of new ERP processes and systems
• Ensure alignment between departmental priorities and project objectives
• Facilitate resolution of internal conflicts or competing priorities affecting the project

External Party Coordination & Multi-Vendor Management

• Serve as County's single point of contact for coordination among Journey Partner, System Integrator, ERP Vendor, and staff augmentation PMs
• Consolidate and reconcile project status reporting from multiple external parties
• Coordinate meeting schedules, joint sessions, and cross-party working sessions
• Identify and elevate inter-party conflicts, dependencies, or gaps in responsibility
• Ensure external parties have access to required County resources, data, and facilities
• Monitor external party performance against contractual commitments and SLAs
• Facilitate issue resolution between County departments and external implementation teams
• Coordinate handoffs between project phases and external party transitions
• Manage integrated project schedule dependencies across all parties
• Ensure consistent messaging and alignment of expectations among all stakeholders

Program Governance & Executive Reporting

• Support Executive Steering Committee meetings with agenda preparation, materials, and follow-up actions
• Prepare executive dashboards and status reports consolidating information from all project streams
• Track and report on critical milestones, go live deadlines.
• Maintain County-owned risk register, ensuring external parties address identified risks
• Escalate critical issues, blockers, and decisions requiring executive attention
• Track open decisions and action items, ensuring timely resolution
• Document key decisions, rationale, and outcomes for institutional knowledge
• Facilitate governance processes including change control, scope management, and issue escalation
• Ensure compliance with County procurement, legal, and policy requirements throughout the project
• Coordinate audit and compliance activities related to the ERP implementation

Budget & Contract Oversight

• Track project expenditures against approved budget across all external contracts
• Review and validate invoices from Journey Partner, System Integrator, and other vendors
• Flag budget variances and recommend corrective actions
• Monitor contract compliance and deliverable acceptance
• Coordinate with Purchasing and County Attorney's office on contract modifications
• Track and manage project contingency utilization
• Prepare budget status reports for Steering Committee and County leadership
• Ensure cost transparency and accountability across all project expenditures
• Support contract negotiations and Statement of Work (SOW) development
• Manage purchase orders and procurement processes for project-related acquisitions

Go-Live Readiness & Cutover Coordination

• Own the County's internal go-live readiness checklist and assessment process
• Coordinate internal cutover activities including data validation, parallel operations, and fallback procedures
• Ensure departmental readiness for system transition (training completed, processes documented, support identified)
• Manage internal communication plan for go-live activities
• Coordinate County staff scheduling during cutover periods
• Facilitate mock cutover rehearsals from the County's perspective
• Ensure business continuity plans are in place for critical County operations
• Manage parallel payroll and additional processing periods and reconciliation activities
• Coordinate post-go-livehyper-care support from County resources
• Document lessons learned and transition knowledge to ongoing support teams

Organizational Change Management Support

• Partner with Journey Partner's OCM lead to ensure effective change management execution
• Champion ERP transformation internally, building enthusiasm and reducing resistance
• Ensure County staff engagement in training programs and adoption activities
• Monitor adoption metrics and address barriers to user acceptance
• Facilitate super-user and power-user programs within County departments
• Support communication campaigns targeting County employees
• Identify and address cultural or organizational barriers to successful implementation
• Ensure training materials and documentation meet County needs
• Coordinate knowledge transfer from external parties to County staff
• Build internal capability for ongoing system support post-implementation

RECRUITMENT STANDARDS

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

Required:

• Strong understanding of ERP systems and implementation methodologies (Finance, HR, Payroll, Budget domains)
• Experience working with external consultants, system integrators, and software vendors
• Strong stakeholder management skills across diverse groups with competing priorities
• Understanding of public sector operations, procurement processes, and compliance requirements
• Excellent project coordination skills managing complex, multi-party initiatives
• Exceptional communication skills for executive presentations, status reporting, and cross-functional coordination
• Budget tracking and financial oversight experience for large-scale projects
• Risk identification, assessment, and mitigation planning skills
• Meeting facilitation skills for work groups that include executives and technical staff
• Skills and experience leading groups through decision making processes
• Proficiency with project management tools (Adobe Workfront, MS Project, Smartsheet, or similar)
• Strong analytical skills for consolidating information from multiple sources
• Ability to translate between technical and business language for diverse audiences
• Ability to build consensus and drive decisions without direct authority over all parties
• Ability to coordinate and influence key stakeholders across organizational boundaries
• Ability to manage vendor relationships and hold external parties accountable.
• Ability to elevate and resolve complex issues
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross functional teams
• Conflict resolution skills for managing inter-party disputes
• Knowledge of organizational change management principles

Highly Desired:

• Experience with HCM/HRIS implementations (payroll, benefits, recruitment, time & attendance)
• Experience with financial system implementations (general ledger, accounts payable, budgeting)
• Prior experience coordinating multi-vendor ERP implementations
• Public sector government experience, preferably county or municipal
• PMP, PgMP, or equivalent project/program management certification
• Experience with agile and waterfall project methodologies
• Knowledge of North Carolina local government operations and regulations
• Experience with HR statutory compliance
• Familiarity with ERP platforms (Workday, Oracle, SAP, Infor, Tyler or similar)
• Change management certification (Prosci, CCMP, or equivalent)
• Experience supporting executive steering committees
• Contract management and vendor negotiation experience
• Understanding of data migration and conversion processes
• Knowledge of system integration patterns (APIs, ETL, middleware)

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Bachelor’s degree in business administration, Public Administration, Information Systems, Project Management, or related field AND eight (8) years of progressive experience in project management, program coordination, or related roles. Experience should include 5+ years working with enterprise system implementations or large-scale IT projects and 3+ years coordinating with external vendors, consultants, or system integrators.

Substitution: Relevant professional certifications (PMP, PgMP) combined with substantial progressive experience (listed above) may substitute for degree and experience requirement on a year-for-year basis

Preferred Qualifications

Master's degree (MBA, MPA, MIS), PMP certification, or public administration credentials and 10+ years project/program management experience, ERP implementations (HCM and Finance modules). Prefer public sector / local government experience.

WORKING CONDITIONS & PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

• Work Environment: Hybrid environment with significant on-site presence required, particularly during:
• Requirements gathering workshops
• Vendor demonstrations and evaluations
• Integration testing and User acceptance testing phases
• Go-live and cutover periods
• Steering Committee and executive meetings
• Travel: Minimal travel may be required for:
• Site visits to reference customers
• Schedule Flexibility: Must be available for extended hours during critical project phases, particularly around go-live cutover periods
• Communication: Frequent interaction with executives, department directors, external consultants, and technical staff requiring adaptable communication style

Physical Demands and Work Conditions

Must be able to physically perform the basic life operational functions of standing, walking, pushing, pulling, lifting, fingering, grasping, talking, and hearing. Must be able to perform light work exerting up to 20 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 10 pounds of force frequently, and/or a negligible amount of force constantly to move objects. Must possess the visual acuity to prepare data and statistics, operate a computer terminal and audio-visual equipment, and do extensive reading. Some positions in this class require the operation of a motor vehicle to go to various agency sites and locations.

May Require Driving

This position may require driving whether driving a County owned or personal vehicle to conduct County business such as but not limited to attending conferences, meetings, or any other County related functions. Motor vehicle reports may be verified for valid driver’s license and that the driving record is compatible with the County’s driving criteria. If a personal vehicle is operated for County business, proper insurance is maintained as per Guilford County’s vehicle use policy.

Special Note -

This generic class description gives an overview of the job class, its essential job functions, and recommended job requirements. However, for each individual position assigned to this class, there is available a completed job description with a physical abilities checklist which can give further details about that one specific position. Those documents should be reviewed before initiating a selection process. They can provide additional detailed information on which to base various personnel actions and can assist management in making legal defensible personnel decisions.

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