Senior Solution Manager
Job Summary
BlackLine's Product Management group drives product design and strategy across BlackLine's entire suite of solutions, manages the product backlog and roadmap, and leverages deep product, market, and competitive knowledge in support of other teams throughout BlackLine. The Solution Management team, which is part of the Product group, is responsible for representing Product externally to the rest of BlackLine as well as to customers: outbound to support communication of BlackLine solutions to go-to-market teams and to customers, and inbound to understand, prioritize and communicate the needs of SAP customers back to the Product team to influence the product roadmap and strategy. The SAP Solution Manager in this group will lead solution positioning and strategy by working closely with our internal team of Product Managers, customers, partners, SAP itself and customer/partner-facing teams to define and build solutions. This role is responsible for defining the customer/market unmet needs, leading market and customer research, conducting competitive analysis, and driving action throughout the organization.
Roles and Responsibility
- Serve as a subject matter expert for the organization on SAP's accounting solutions and how they should interact directly with BlackLine to form an integrated and complete solution. This includes what use cases/solutions our products provide in the context of SAP, their capabilities, and their potential impact in the market.
- Partner with other internal teams focused on SAP solutions and develop a vision for the optimal integration of SAP and BlackLine in the eyes of BlackLine's current and future users using on-premise or cloud-based SAP accounting and finance systems.
- Interface with SAP as part of our Solution Extension relationship to enable our SAP product strategy
- Effectively communicate and advocate the SAP solution strategy and vision, as well as goals and objectives for specific initiatives to all levels of the organization, including executive leadership
- Craft effective go-to-market & product strategies; work closely with pre-and post-sales
- Assess markets and competition to develop and position our products as solutions for disruption of legacy competitors with differentiated new products
- Create and manage supporting collateral including strategic plans, business cases, marketing plans, and appropriate functional support plans
- Plan and carry out effective, timely product launches, migrations, and/or sunsets
- Manage the market performance of products and portfolios
- Translate information from across the organization, partners, and customers into cohesive decisions
- Provide leadership in customer events and workshops, such as user conference, best practice summits, partner advisory boards, and customer advisory boards
- Partner with various teams such as Product Marketing, Product Management, Product Design, Implementations, Support, Customer Success, Accounting Innovation, Sales, Architecture, and Customer Experience to lead discovery and innovation processes that surface unmet customer needs
- Define initiative success criteria and business metrics to measure results, including reporting results and making future recommendations based on those results
- Perform other duties as needed
Required Qualifications
- 8+ years of experience working with SAP FI and/or CO modules
- 8+ years of experience working as a Senior Manager in Accounting/Controller, Product Manager, and/or Solution Manager or similar roles for SaaS companies
- Deep understanding of accounting & finance workflows, and a deep understanding of the software market for accounting and finance
- Master's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration or related field is preferred
Technical/Specialized Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:
COMPETENCIES
- Deep understanding of SAP FI and CO modules
- Advanced work management skills
- Strong analytical and quantitative skills to leverage research/data to support sound decisions
- Ability to work under pressure, meet deadlines and prioritize multiple projects simultaneously
- Strong interpersonal skills with the ability to resolve tension, motivate a team, and mentor teammates
- Strong leadership qualities and the ability to influence without authority
- Segmenting markets, identifying target customers, and uncovering customer needs
- Deep understanding of product management methodologies, best-practices, and processes preferred
- Experience with Outcome Driven Innovation and JTBD is a plus
- Knowledge of modern web application architecture and engineering patterns and practices Experience with Agile/Scrum, Kanban, and Waterfall methodologies Familiarity with market and organizational elements of both SaaS and Enterprise-scale Software
Preferred Qualifications
- Knowledge of modern web application architecture and engineering patterns and practices
- Experience with Agile/Scrum, Kanban, and Waterfall methodologies
- Familiarity with market and organizational elements of both SaaS and Enterprise-scale Software