Business Analyst (SAP FICO & Applications)

Role Summary Our client is looking for an experienced SAP FICO Business Analyst / Consultant to support the organization in managing SAP and other applications-related incidents, delivering projects, and driving continuous improvements across business processes and systems. The ideal candidate will have strong hands-on experience in SAP Financial Accounting (FI) — with particular depth in General Ledger (GL), Accounts Payable (AP), Accounts Receivable (AR), Bank Accounting, and Asset Accounting (Fixed Assets) — combined with proven capabilities in incident management, project management, process optimization, and stakeholder management. This role requires a hands-on and adaptable IT professional who is willing to work beyond a single application or functional area. While the primary focus will be SAP FICO, the successful candidate will have the opportunity to gain exposure to the wider application environment and take ownership of additional operational responsibilities, including application support, account maintenance, and cross-application initiatives. This is primarily a BAU (Business-As-Usual) support role, with the successful candidate also expected to lead and support project delivery and system enhancement initiatives as they arise — the candidate should therefore be comfortable moving between business analysis, incident management, project delivery, process improvement and operational support depending on business priorities. Main Responsibilities Incident & Problem Management • Act as a key point of contact for SAP FICO incidents and production issues. • Analyze incidents, identify root causes and coordinate resolution with internal teams, SAP support partners and vendors. • Ensure incidents are prioritized, tracked and resolved within agreed service levels. • Identify recurring issues and drive problem management and permanent fixes, rather than relying on workarounds. • Conduct root cause analysis and recommend preventive measures. • Monitor incident trends and identify opportunities to improve system stability and support quality. • Ensure proper documentation of incidents, resolutions, known errors, and support procedures. • Continuously improve the incident management and SAP support processes. SAP FICO Business Analysis • Provide functional expertise across SAP FI processes, particularly GL, AP, AR, Bank Accounting and Asset Accounting. • Understand business requirements and translate/package them to development teams. • Analyze existing financial processes, identify gaps and recommend system or process improvements. • Work with business users (Finance, Controlling, Accounting teams) to understand pain points and opportunities for automation. • Prepare business requirements, functional specifications, process flows and solution documentation. • Support configuration, testing and implementation of SAP FICO solutions. • Evaluate the impact of proposed changes across integrated business processes. • Ensure solutions are scalable, maintainable, and aligned with business objectives. Project Management & Delivery • Lead or support SAP-related projects and system enhancement initiatives from requirements through implementation (approximately 60% of role scope, in line with a similar split to the SAP Logistics BA role). • Define project scope, deliverables, milestones and dependencies. • Coordinate business users, IT teams, vendors and other stakeholders. • Track project progress, risks, issues and dependencies. • Facilitate workshops, requirements gathering, solution discussions and user acceptance testing. • Coordinate testing activities, defect resolution and deployment. • Support change management, user communication and post-implementation stabilization. • Ensure projects deliver measurable business and operational benefits. System & Process Improvement • Proactively identify opportunities to improve SAP FICO functionality, business processes and operational efficiency. • Review existing processes and challenge manual, duplicated or inefficient activities. • Identify opportunities for automation, standardization and process simplification (e.g., invoice processing, bank reconciliation, period-end close activities). • Work with Finance business teams to redesign processes where appropriate. • Develop business cases and recommendations for system enhancements and automation. • Measure and communicate the benefits achieved through improvements. • Maintain a continuous improvement roadmap for SAP FICO processes. Stakeholder & Vendor Management • Build strong working relationships with Finance business stakeholders, IT teams and external vendors. • Act as the bridge between business requirements and technical teams. • Manage vendors to ensure timely and quality delivery of support and project outcomes. • Challenge vendors constructively on recurring incidents, solution quality and delivery timelines. • Facilitate discussions between stakeholders to reach practical and sustainable solutions. • Communicate complex SAP FICO issues in a clear and business-friendly manner. Governance & Documentation • Maintain appropriate SAP FICO functional and process documentation. • Support SAP release, enhancement and deployment activities. • Maintain knowledge bases, standard operating procedures and support documentation. • Ensure appropriate controls are in place for system changes and business processes, including financial controls relevant to GL/AP/AR/Fixed Assets. Cross-Application Support & Business Analysis • Provide business analysis and functional support for applications beyond SAP FICO, as required by the business. • Develop an understanding of the organisation's wider application landscape and how different systems integrate with SAP FICO. • Support incident investigation where issues involve multiple applications or system interfaces (e.g., FI-MM and FI-SD integration points). • Work with application owners, technical teams and…