Functional Architect, Syspro

Innovative Chemical Products Group (ICP Group) is a leading formulator and manufacturer of specialty coatings, adhesives, and sealants serving the construction and industrial end markets. ICP Group is comprised of leading brands known for innovation, quality, and performance. Founded in 2015 and supported by a lean corporate team, ICP Group has scaled rapidly through organic and acquisition growth into one of the largest coatings, adhesives, and sealants companies in North America. ICP Group is headquartered in Andover, MA and has manufacturing and distribution sites throughout North America, Latin America, UK, Europe and the Asia Pacific region.

ICP Group is seeking a Functional Architect to serve as our senior SYSPRO expert . This role owns the system improvement and optimization backlog for the live SYSPRO environment, so that the implementation team stays focused on projects and deep platform knowledge sits in more than one place. Reporting to the Director of ERP/WMS Service Delivery, the Functional Architect holds the pen on the SYSPRO functional blueprint that both the service delivery and implementation teams work to. The standards in that blueprint are set jointly with implementation leadership rather than imposed on them, and once agreed, the Architect maintains them and applies them consistently across both teams. This is a hands-on senior role. The right person is the one other people go to when a process does not fit the system, who can explain the answer in language the business understands, and who can hold a design line without turning it into a territorial argument. 

The ideal candidate will reside in Tampa, FL or Andover, MA

In this role you will be responsible for the following:

Functional Architecture: Shared Standards, Single Pen

• Hold the pen on the SYSPRO functional blueprint and platform version standard, covering finance, inventory, manufacturing, supply chain, and sales order processing. The TransLution WMS functional blueprint is owned by the TransLution WMS functional owner; the two are kept aligned at the SYSPRO and TransLution boundary. One standard applies across live and in-flight companies, because they share one configuration. The CIO ratifies it, and neither director changes it alone.
• Serve both the service delivery and implementation teams equally. Although this role reports into service delivery, its blueprint remit is chartered to serve both teams, and it is not an instrument of either director.
• Set functional design standards, configuration conventions, naming, and documentation requirements with both directors consulted. Standards are agreed across the teams, ratified by the CIO, then maintained and applied by the Architect.
• Recommend how business requirements should be met in the system, favoring standard functionality over customization and documenting the reasoning whenever customization is justified.
• Maintain a coherent blueprint across operating companies, so that local needs are met without fragmenting the platform.
• Review proposed changes from both teams for design integrity, risk, and downstream impact, raising concerns early rather than blocking late.
• Escalate unresolved design disagreements to both directors and, where they cannot agree, to the CIO, with the options and the trade-offs written down, rather than settling them by seniority or by stalling.

Optimization Backlog Ownership

• Own the system improvement and optimization backlog for live SYSPRO functionality, from intake through delivery and benefit confirmation.
• Work with business leaders to surface inefficiencies, then translate them into prioritized, scoped improvements.
• Deliver configuration changes hands-on where appropriate, and direct others where the work is better placed with an analyst or partner.
• Ensure every change is tested against a written test plan and released without disruption to daily operations.
• Retire technical and functional debt deliberately, including redundant customizations and unused configuration.

Knowledge Depth and Currency

• Serve as the deepest internal source of SYSPRO functional knowledge, and deliberately reduce single-person dependency by transferring that knowledge.
• Stay current on the newer SYSPRO version, including new functionality that could replace customization or manual process.
• Assess new SYSPRO modules and capabilities against ICP requirements, and make clear recommendations.
• Maintain a functional knowledge base that outlives any individual, covering configuration decisions, process design, and known issues.

Business Partnership and Process Design

• Engage directly with operations, supply chain, manufacturing, and finance to understand how work is actually done, not only how it is documented.
• Lead process design and redesign sessions, challenging workarounds and bringing process back toward the standard where it makes sense.
• Translate between business language and system capability in both directions, so that neither side is guessing.
• Support month-end, inventory, and production cycles as the escalation point for complex functional issues.

Training Delivery and Mentoring

• Own delivery of role-based SYSPRO training for business users, under the training accountability held by the Director of ERP/WMS Service Delivery.
• Build and maintain training material, quick reference guides, and job aids that reflect the live configuration.
• Mentor business analysts and functional leads toward independent ownership of their domains.
• Upskill the wider team on the newer SYSPRO version, reducing reliance on external consultants.

Project and Partner Support

• Provide functional design input to implementation projects, go-lives, and cutovers as a partner to the implementation team, without taking on project delivery ownership.
• Review partner and consultant deliverables for functional quality and fit with the agreed ICP blueprint.
• Contribute to the definition of done that the CIO owns and that governs handover from implementation to service delivery.
• Perform additional duties aligned with business needs and individual capabilities.

Requirements:

 

• Bachelor's degree in Information Systems, Business Administration, Supply Chain, Accounting, or a related field.
• 7 or more years of hands-on SYSPRO experience, including configuration ownership across multiple functional modules.
• Experience in a manufacturing or distribution environment, with real understanding of production, inventory, and costing.
• Track record of owning an optimization backlog or equivalent continuous improvement function for a live ERP.
• Deep SYSPRO functional knowledge across finance, inventory, manufacturing, supply chain, and sales order processing.
• Familiarity with SYSPRO 8 and the newer release stream, including functionality that can replace legacy customization.
• Proficiency with SQL for investigation, validation, and reporting.
• Understanding of how SYSPRO integrates with warehouse management, electronic data interchange, and reporting platforms.
• Ability to explain system constraints and trade-offs to non-technical leaders without condescension.
• Ability to hold a design standard across two teams by building agreement, not by asserting authority.
• Credibility on the plant floor and in the finance close, earned through practical help.
• Demonstrated ability to mentor analysts and raise the capability of a team.
• Clear written documentation habits, including design decisions and the reasoning behind them.
• SYSPRO certification or formal implementation training, preferred.
• Exposure to TransLution WMS or a comparable warehouse management platform, preferred.
• Experience in a multi-company or multi-site SYSPRO environment, preferred.
• Chemical, coatings, or building products industry background, preferred.

Our compensation is more than a paycheck; it’s an investment in your future. Along with a competitive pay range, we offer a comprehensive benefits package designed to support your financial well-being, and personal health.

• Compensation: $85,000.00-$110,000.00 a year.  Actual pay is dependent on candidates’ overall skills for the role
• Annual bonus eligible
• Progressive paid time off policy that empowers you to take the time you need to recharge
• 401K Employer contribution plan, with eligibility the first of the month following 90 days of employment
• Excellent health, dental and vision insurance packages to fit your needs
• A values-driven culture with colleagues that rally around People, Accountability, Trust and Execution

ICP Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) employer and welcomes all qualified applicants. Applicants will receive fair and impartial consideration without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic data, or religion or other legally protected status.