(RFP500598) Manager, Business Processes Transformation (Rome, Italy)

The Organization

The Alliance of Bioversity International & CIAT delivers research-based solutions that harness agricultural biodiversity and sustainably transform food systems to improve people’s lives. Alliance solutions address the global crises of malnutrition, climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation.

The Alliance works with local, national and multinational partners across Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and Africa, and with the public and private sectors. The Alliance is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future, dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources and ecosystem services.

About the position

The Alliance is at a significant moment in its institutional maturity. With the organizational merger of Bioversity International and CIAT now consolidated, the Alliance is ready to move beyond co-existence toward genuinely unified ways of working. This means redesigning its operational processes end-to-end - lean, simplified, and fit for purpose - and embedding them in a modern, integrated digital infrastructure. The Manager, Business  Processes  Transformation , will lead this transformation agenda over the coming years.

The first and most significant delivery will be the Alliance Corporate System (ACS) Single Client project - a strategic initiative to consolidate the Alliance’s two separate ERP clients into a single unified system, preserving legal entity separation for statutory reporting while delivering a single source of truth and a consistent user experience across the organization. At its core, this is a business process reengineering initiative: the Alliance will not replicate legacy processes but will use this as a deliberate opportunity to simplify, improve, and future-proof how it works. Beyond the ACS - Single Client project, the role will continue to support ongoing process improvement, ERP product evolution, and change adoption across the Alliance.

Based in Rome, Italy, the Manager, Business Processes  Transformation , will lead the end-to-end delivery and coordination of the program, acting as the central coordination point across all workstreams. The role liaises between the external implementation partner, the Systems Integration team, Data Management and Open Science team and the business stakeholder community, ensuring that design and delivery decisions reflect the Alliance’s institutional interests rather than those of any individual entity or vendor.

This is a program governance and coordination role, not a hands-on technical or configuration position. The Manager, Business  Processes  Transformation   reports directly to the Global Director, Digital Transformation, and is responsible for coordinating delivery, risk, scope, budget, and reporting throughout the project lifecycle.

Key duties and responsibilities

• Lead the implementation of the program vision, roadmap, and value case, aligning key milestones to institutional priorities and the Alliance’s 2026–2030 Strategy objective of Embody Institutional Excellence.
• Champion business process reengineering as the guiding principle of the project, ensuring that process improvement and simplification precede system configuration, and that the Alliance does not replicate legacy inefficiencies in the new environment.
• Lead the vendor selection and Request for Proposal process prior to mobilization; manage the external implementation partner throughout the project lifecycle, including performance monitoring, invoice validation, and coordination with the infrastructure team.
• Track and report on project budget and expenditure; monitor Business Owner time commitments against agreed allocations and flag risks promptly.
• Coordinate the six end-to-end process improvement threads - Opportunity to Impact (funding pipeline, grants and sub-grants, research outputs, and impact reporting), Procure to Pay (requisitioning through supplier payment, supplier master, approval matrix, and accounts payable), Hire to Retire (onboarding through separation, organization structure, position administration, and payroll), Plan to Deliver (multi-year budgeting, planning tool integration, budget execution, and fund checking), Record to Report (general ledger, cost accounting, period close, financial statements, and statutory and audit compliance), and Foundation (master data, chart of accounts, system configuration, access management, integrations, and reporting infrastructure) - across Business Owners and functional teams, ensuring cross-workstream coherence and timely sign-off at each phase gate.
• Oversee the data migration strategy in coordination with the Systems Integration and Data Management and Open Science teams and external partner, including master data deduplication, dry-run planning, and general ledger opening balance reconciliation.
• Connect with IT security and access management as a managed area throughout the project, with a mandatory security sign-off required before go-live.
• Liaise with the designated Change Management lead to ensure that stakeholder communications, change impact assessment, training coordination, and user adoption are effectively planned and executed across the organization.
• Work with the Global Director, Digital Transformation and Business Owners to baseline key performance indicators and define a benefits tracking framework prior to go-live; coordinate a post-implementation review to assess value realized.
• Manage program risks and scope changes through a formal change request process, with escalation to the Steering Committee as required.
• Provide regular executive-level progress reports to the Global Director, Digital Transformation and the Steering Committee, including risk assessments and lessons learned.
• Lead go-live preparation, cutover execution, and hypercare coordination; close the program and hand over to operations.

Requirements

Required qualifications and experience

• Master’s degree in Information Systems, Business Administration, Engineering, or a related field.
• Minimum 8 years of ERP program management experience in complex, multi-entity environments, with a strong emphasis on business process reengineering and operational improvement.
• Proven experience with Unit4 Business World or comparable ERP platforms (SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, Workday) at program governance level, with a focus on outcomes and delivery rather than hands-on configuration.
• Fluency in English; Spanish, Italian, or French as an added advantage.
• Background in business process optimization methodologies such as Lean or Six Sigma.
• Familiarity with CGIAR, international research, or non-profit environments is desirable.

Required competencies

• Proven experience with Unit4 Business World or comparable ERP platforms (SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, Workday) at program governance level, with a focus on outcomes and delivery rather than hands-on configuration.
• Demonstrated ability to facilitate end-to-end business process redesign across Finance, Procurement, Human Resources, and Research Operations, driving simplification and measurable improvement.
• Demonstrated vendor management and contract oversight capability with certified ERP implementation partners, including service level agreement management, scope control, and invoice validation.
• Strong track record in leading cross-functional teams, driving stakeholder engagement, and managing organizational change in distributed, international organizations.
• Experience with data migration planning, including master data deduplication, general ledger opening balance reconciliation, and dry-run management.
• Experience defining and tracking benefits realization frameworks and post-implementation key performance indicators.
  

Benefits

Terms of employment

This will be either an internationally recruited or nationally recruited position, based in Rome, Italy . This position is graded at BG10 level scale of BG02 to BG14 (BG14 being the highest level according to the Alliance job classification framework policy). The salary range will be established in accordance with the Alliance standards. The employment conditions and contract type should be reviewed when the nationality of the selected candidate is identified.

We offer a competitive salary and excellent benefits including but not limited to insurance, retirement plan, staff training and development, paid time off and flexible working arrangements.

The contract will be for a period of 2 years , subject to a probationary period of 6 months, and is renewable subject to performance, project needs and availability of funds.

The Alliance of Bioversity International & CIAT is committed to fair, safe, and inclusive workplaces. We believe that diversity powers our innovation, contributes to our excellence, and is critical for our mission. Recruiting and mentoring staff to create an inclusive organization that reflects our global character is a priority. We encourage applicants from all cultures, races, colors, religions, sexes, national or regional origins, ages, disability statuses, sexual orientations, marital status, and gender identities. Female candidates are strongly encouraged to apply.

Applications

Applicants are invited to visit to get full details of the position and to submit their applications. Applications MUST include reference number RFP500598 – Manager, Business Processes  Transformation as the position applied for. Cover letter and CV should be saved as one document using the candidate’s last name, first name for ease of sorting. The Alliance collects and process personal data in accordance with applicable data protection laws.

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Applications closing date: 9 September 2026

Please note that email applications will not be considered.

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