Senior D365 Finance & Operations Application Lead

About the Role

We are looking for a hands-on Senior D365 Finance & Operations Application Lead to own the functional operation, development roadmap, and continuous improvement of our Microsoft Dynamics 365 Finance & Operations environment.

You will be the primary IT partner for Finance, Procurement, Logistics, and Operations, combining business process expertise with technical capabilities, application governance, and delivery coordination.

Working closely with our Senior D365 Engineer in India, who leads technical architecture and development, you will drive the transition from external vendors to sustainable internal engineering and support capabilities.

This is a senior individual contributor role with end-to-end application ownership, without direct line management.

Key Responsibilities

Application Ownership & Business Partnership

• Own D365 Finance & Operations and its business-critical integrations, including connected expense, reporting, and integration services.
• Translate Finance, Procurement, and Logistics requirements into functional solutions, roadmaps, and prioritized backlogs.
• Provide expertise across GL, AP, AR, Fixed Assets, Procurement, Inventory, Tax, and related workflows.
• Ensure application reliability, business continuity, and readiness for financial closing periods.
• Define service expectations, escalation paths, and SLAs/OLAs with business and IT stakeholders.

Functional Engineering & Delivery

• Perform hands-on D365 configuration, troubleshooting, and selected enhancements.
• Read, debug, and review X++ code, contributing to development where appropriate.
• Define functional specifications, user stories, and acceptance criteria.
• Collaborate with the Senior D365 Engineer on solution design, technical feasibility, and delivery planning.
• Coordinate testing, UAT, releases, deployments, business acceptance, and documentation.

Internalization & Vendor Management

• Lead the transition of agreed development and support activities from external partners to internal teams.
• Coordinate knowledge transfer, source code, technical assets, documentation, and operational handovers.
• Establish clear responsibilities, support processes, and delivery capabilities across Switzerland and India.
• Manage vendor performance, service agreements, transition milestones, risks, and dependencies.
• Reduce external dependencies while maintaining service continuity and quality.

Operations, Governance & Budget

• Own application service quality, incident coordination, problem resolution, and continuous improvement.
• Oversee integrations, application security roles, access reviews, segregation of duties, and audit compliance.
• Ensure alignment with ITSM, security, change, and release management processes.
• Coordinate distributed engineering resources, delivery commitments, and stakeholder communication.
• Act as Cost Center Owner, managing application budgets, licensing, contracts, and external service costs.
• Identify opportunities for automation, standardization, and improved reliability.

What You Bring

• 8+ years in ERP, enterprise applications, consulting, or application management, ideally including 5+ years with D365 Finance & Operations.
• Strong functional knowledge of Finance, Procurement, and operational ERP processes.
• Hands-on D365 configuration, troubleshooting, and practical X++ development experience, including code analysis and debugging.
• Experience managing application roadmaps, requirements, delivery, integrations, testing, and production support.
• Proven ability to manage external ERP partners, knowledge transfer, and transitions to internal engineering teams.
• Experience collaborating with distributed teams and coordinating technical delivery without direct line authority.
• Understanding of application security, financial controls, audit requirements, and ITSM practices.
• Strong business partnering, problem-solving, communication, and organizational skills.
• Excellent English communication skills.
• Additional advantages: Advanced X++ development, Azure, Power Platform, Logic Apps, REST APIs, Power BI, Linux, automation, Jira Service Management, ServiceNow, ITIL, German language skills, and relevant Microsoft certifications.

What Success Looks Like

Within your first 12 months, you will have

• Established trusted functional ownership and a transparent D365 roadmap.
• Built an effective delivery partnership with our India-based engineering team.
• Transitioned agreed vendor activities into sustainable internal capabilities.
• Improved application reliability, support processes, and financial closing readiness.
• Delivered hands-on improvements while strengthening governance, documentation, and audit readiness.
• Reduced vendor dependency and improved budget transparency.

Your Mindset

• You combine business understanding, technical expertise, and strong ownership. You are equally comfortable working with Finance stakeholders and engineers, translating complex requirements into practical solutions.
• You communicate clearly, challenge existing processes constructively, and focus on reliable, maintainable solutions that deliver measurable business value.
• As our Global IT application portfolio evolves, additional business application responsibilities may be assigned.