Data Science Leader, HCM

We help the world run better At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we'll bring out the best in you. We're builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what's next. The work is challenging – but it matters. You'll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your wellbeing, and truly belong. What's in it for you? Constant learning, skill growth, great benefits, and a team that wants you to grow and succeed.

Data Scien ce Leader   ( Data Science Senior Manager)

The context engine that makes AI enterprise ready.

Anyone can build an AI agent. What makes SAP's agents different is accuracy grounded in the richest enterprise data and process context in the world. As part of our Data and Applied Science team, you'll build the context engine grounded in SAP’s Business ontology: the semantic infrastructure that transforms raw business data into the knowledge layer powering SAP's AI agents and assistants.

The Data and Applied Science team will build the semantic and contextual foundation of SAP's AI. While generic AI agents operate on surface-level patterns, SAP agents are accurate because they understand the real semantics of enterprise business master data, process flows, and domain relationships. Your team will build and scale the layer that makes that possible.

Leadership & Strategic Skills

10+ years p roven experience leading, mentoring, and growing high-performing teams of data scientists, machine learning engineers, and AI practitioners, with a strong track record of driving complex AI initiatives from concept to production across multiple teams and stakeholders.

Ability to define technical strategy, establish team priorities, and align AI investments with business objectives , product roadmaps, and customer outcomes.

Experience building a culture of technical excellence, operational rigor, and continuous learning.

Excellent stakeholder management and executive communication skills, with the ability to influence senior leadership and translate technical concepts into business value.

5+ years of people management experience leading data science and AI teams, with demonstrated success hiring, coaching, and retaining top AI talent.

Proven experience delivering large-scale AI programs across multiple teams and business units and partnering with senior executives to define AI strategy and investment priorities.

Desirable Skills

Experience leading globally distributed teams and cross-organizational AI initiatives, including managing budgets, hiring plans, vendor relationships, and strategic partnerships.

Experience defining AI adoption strategies, measuring business impact through KPIs, and establishing reusable enterprise AI platforms, governance frameworks, and shared services across multiple product areas.

Thought leadership demonstrated through patents, publications, conference presentations, open-source contributions, or industry recognition in AI, knowledge graphs, semantic technologies, or enterprise intelligence.

Knowledge of SAP’s domains, data models, metadata structures and core business processes end-to-end.

Experience with the SAP data and AI platform stack SAP Datasphere, SAP HANA Cloud Knowledge Graph Engine, SAP Business Data Cloud, SAP One Domain Model, SAP Graph API, and SAP Business Accelerator Hub.

AI Platform, Architecture & Governance

Experience defining AI/ML architecture, platform strategy, model governance, responsible AI practices, and operational frameworks for enterprise-scale deployments.

Ability to evaluate emerging AI technologies and establish best practices for ML Ops, LLM Ops, and model lifecycle management - making pragmatic build-versus-buy decisions across platform investments and technology roadmaps.

Knowledge Graphs, Ontologies & Enterprise Intelligence

Strong domain expertise in ontology