File · SRX-2614 / Netherlands (EMEA) · Open

Senior SAP IPD/PLM Consultant — SAP S/4HANA & Cloud

Integrated product development · SAP domain

A digital-thread architect, not a transaction configurator. This mandate is for the consultant who connects engineering to the enterprise and is credible in both rooms.

Discipline
Enterprise ERP
Seniority
Senior · 10+ years
Stage
Open
Work mode
Hybrid — Netherlands
Employment
Full-time · Contract or permanent
Listed
19 Aug 2026

How to approach this mandate

No application form. No CV portal. Read the position brief, then speak with Harald directly, under confidence.

The client is not named here. On an engaged mandate the client's hiring intent is commercially sensitive, so the organisation is identified to you under confidence in the first partner conversation — not published to their competitors.

The remit

Why this role exists now. And what it carries.

Dutch manufacturers — discrete and process — are digitalising product development from requirements capture through to production handover. Legacy PLM systems sit disconnected from the enterprise core, leaving silos between engineering, procurement and manufacturing that slow every launch.

Integrated Product Development is where that gap closes: requirements, collaborative product data management, BOM management, change control and manufacturing handover, delivered as a single traceable thread on S/4HANA Cloud. Doing it well requires SAP PLM depth and genuine engineering credibility — the ability to hold a room of CTOs, R&D directors and heads of engineering without translation loss.

The client is running an active S/4HANA Cloud programme and needs the IPD authority engineering and enterprise stakeholders both trust — through solution design, configuration, integration with CAD and MES, cutover and hypercare.

What the role carries

  • Lead the design of SAP IPD solutions connecting product development to the enterprise: requirements management, collaborative product data management, BOM management and change control.
  • Own the end-to-end digital thread — requirements to engineering BOM to manufacturing BOM to service BOM — with full traceability from concept to production.
  • Configure SAP IPD hands-on in S/4HANA Cloud environments, including variant configuration and product structure modelling.
  • Lead integration design between IPD, S/4HANA, CAD systems (Siemens Teamcenter, Dassault ENOVIA, PTC Windchill, Autodesk) and manufacturing execution systems.
  • Configure engineering change management, engineering change requests and audit trails to regulatory standard — CE, ISO, REACH, GMP as the sector requires.
  • Facilitate fit-gap and blueprint workshops with R&D, engineering, procurement and manufacturing, translating engineering language into enterprise process design.
  • Drive testing, cutover and hypercare, build reusable IPD accelerators, and guide junior consultants and cross-functional delivery teams.

The brief

The challenge, the mandate, and the impact.

The challenge

Engineering and the enterprise core run on separate systems, and the client's IPD scope has no owner who is credible on both sides. Change control, BOM lineage and CAD integration decisions are deferred. The constraint is a consultant with PLM configuration depth and real engineering standing.

The mandate

Reports into the lead SAP architect. Full functional ownership of the IPD scope — solution design, configuration, CAD and MES integration design, testing, cutover and hypercare — plus practice development and mentorship of junior consultants. No line management; the authority is technical and consultative.

The impact

30–90 days
Client S/4HANA Cloud landscape and existing IPD baseline mapped, blueprint workshops run with engineering and manufacturing leadership, and assigned scope configured and integration-tested.
6 months
Go-live delivered or final testing advanced, the digital thread traceable end to end under real data, and recognition as the IPD authority the client and delivery team reach for by name.

35

Median days to shortlist

Category norm: 84–120 days

8 in 10

12-month retention

Category norm: ~60% at 18 months

90 days

Replacement guarantee

With backfill

1

Partner, start to close

Never delegated

Index reading

The market reading behind the brief.

This mandate is not written from a job description. It is written from our own quarterly reading of how these roles are being eliminated, redefined and created in this corridor.

Where this mandate sits in the market

Current Q3 displacement intensity in the sectors that frame this search. Higher intensity means more leadership turnover and sharper talent scarcity.

  • Tech ConsultingDisplaced · 9/9
  • SaaS & CloudDisplaced · 9/9
  • WorkforceExposed · 7/9

Read the full Displacement Index — 7 sectors across APAC, EMEA and the GCC.

The profile

Who closes this. And on what terms.

Critical

  • SAP IPD in S/4HANA Cloud

    Delivered IPD in cloud environments, not only classic PLM on-premise.

  • Digital thread ownership

    Requirements to engineering BOM to manufacturing BOM to service BOM, with change control and traceability.

  • CAD and PLM integration

    Teamcenter, ENOVIA, Windchill or Autodesk integrated bidirectionally in production.

  • Engineering credibility

    Holds a room of CTOs, R&D directors and engineering heads without translation loss.

Differentiators

  • Recipe formulation and specification management in process industries.
  • Regulatory delivery against CE, ISO, REACH or GMP requirements.
  • SAP Cloud ALM and cloud integration pattern fluency.
  • Track record building reusable accelerators and mentoring delivery teams.

What the client offers

  • A senior seat on a live S/4HANA Cloud programme with architecture ownership of the digital thread.
  • Day rate or salary benchmarked to Netherlands market standards for senior SAP IPD/PLM consultants.
  • Contract or permanent engagement — the model is set in the scope conversation, before commitment.
  • Direct access to engineering, R&D and manufacturing leadership, plus a mandate to build reusable practice assets.
  • Hybrid working from the Netherlands, with Benelux ecosystem visibility.
Scope
Requirements, cPDM, BOM management, change control, manufacturing handover
Landscape
S/4HANA Cloud · CAD and MES integration · SAP Cloud ALM
Engagement
Contract or permanent · EUR day rate or salary
Reports to
Lead SAP Architect / programme lead

The approach

How this mandate runs. Partner-led, end to end.

01 · Day 0–1

Approach

You reach out — through this page, the partner's direct line, or a confidential booking. No application form, no CV upload to a portal. The first conversation is about fit, not paperwork.

02 · Days 2–7

Partner conversation

Harald Agterhuis, the partner who signed this mandate, speaks with you directly. The conversation establishes whether the role and your delivery record genuinely align before anyone invests further.

03 · Days 8–21

Client introduction

If the fit holds, Harald introduces you to the hiring client under confidence. The client sees a short, serious shortlist — not a pile of CVs. You meet the decision-makers and test the role against what you need.

04 · Days 22–35

Decision

The client decides. If it's a yes, Harald works the offer with you and the client to land it — including counter-offer defence. If it's a no, you get a direct debrief, not silence.

Your partner on this mandate

Harald H.R. Agterhuis
Harald H.R. Agterhuis

Founder · Amsterdam · Dubai

Works across all corridors. Thirty years placing technology executives across APAC and EMEA, personally, mandate by mandate.

Book a confidential call

Where this mandate connects

The full register