Chief Architect ( SAP)

Leading at Cognizant

This is a leadership role at Cognizant. We believe how you lead is as important as what you deliver. Cognizant leaders at every level drive business strategy and inspire teams around our future, live leadership behaviors by leading themselves, others, and the business, uphold our values through role modeling in every action and decision, and nurture our people and culture by building strong, high‑performing teams and capabilities.
At Cognizant, leadership transcends titles and is embodied in actions and behaviors. Leaders are expected to drive business strategy, inspire teams, uphold values, and foster a strong culture of accountability, excellence, and continuous improvement.

About the role

As a SAP Chief Architect, you will make an impact by leading the end‑to‑end solution architecture and delivery for large, complex SAP S/4HANA programs with multi‑system landscapes. You will be a valued member of the SAP leadership team and work collaboratively with program delivery leaders, architecture teams, and multiple functional and technical stakeholders to ensure solution integrity, scalability, and successful business outcomes.

In this role, you will:

• Lead overall solution architecture for large‑scale SAP S/4HANA programs, ensuring seamless integration across SAP and non‑SAP systems with S/4HANA as the digital core

• Provide solution leadership and guidance to functional, technical, and stream leads, ensuring end‑to‑end business process alignment across multiple systems and domains

• Oversee solution design, build, and delivery, working closely with program teams, centers of excellence, and delivery leadership to ensure quality and consistency

• Drive pre‑sales and solution shaping activities, including RFP responses, solution differentiation, and pipeline development through innovative architectures and accelerators

• Act as a senior advisor for complex solution challenges, upgrades, conversions, and escalations, ensuring architectural integrity, scalability, reliability, and long‑term sustainability ²

Consistently demonstrate the Cognizant Way to Lead, operating with Personal Leadership (building trust, collaboration, and accountability), Organizational Leadership (driving vision, strategic direction, and enterprise thinking), and Business Leadership (demonstrating customer focus, managing ambiguity, and delivering measurable business outcomes).

What you need to have to be considered

• Engineering graduate with a master’s degree preferred, and extensive experience as an end‑to‑end SAP Solution Architect on large, complex programs

• Deep expertise in SAP S/4HANA architecture across multiple functional and technical domains, with strong understanding of system landscapes and integrations

• Proven experience leading multi‑stream programs as an overall solution, techno‑functional, or architecture lead

• Strong stakeholder management, communication, and presentation skills with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to senior business audiences

• Demonstrated leadership experience in solution delivery, pre‑sales, and strategic program execution ³

Embodiment of the Cognizant Way to Lead: Leading Self, Leading Others, and Leading the Business.
The embodiment of Cognizant’s Values of: Work as One, Dare to Innovate, Raise the Bar, Do the Right Thing, and Own It.

These will help you succeed

• Experience with industry‑specific SAP solutions, accelerators, and emerging technologies including AI‑enabled capabilities

• Strong understanding of SAP product roadmap, RISE, private cloud, and evolving deployment models

• Ability to analyze industry trends, competitive landscapes, and technology advancements to drive solution innovation

• Track record of mentoring senior architects and building high‑performing solution teams

• Commitment to continuous learning and staying current with SAP and enterprise technology advancements

At Cognizant, we strive to provide flexibility wherever possible and support a healthy work‑life balance through our wellbeing programs. Based on business requirements, this role will be working at the designated Cognizant office.

We're excited to meet people who share our mission and can make an impact in a variety of ways. Consider how your transferable experiences and unique skills can contribute to this leadership role.