Head of Strategic Initiatives & Responsible Growth

We help the world run better
At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we'll bring out the best in you. We're builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what's next. The work is challenging – but it matters. You'll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your wellbeing, and truly belong. What's in it for you? Constant learning, skill growth, great benefits, and a team that wants you to grow and succeed.

What You'll Build

As Head of Strategic Initiatives & Responsible Growth, you will play a pivotal role in shaping SAP’s future approach to inclusion, social responsibility, and sustainable business impact.

Social Responsibility, Inclusion & Communities (SRI&C) is fundamental to how SAP builds a meaningful, trusted, future-ready workplace and business. Together, we create shared value for people, business, and society. We integrate inclusion and social responsibility into how SAP grows, operates, and innovates to ensure we remain a trusted, people‑centric technology leader.

In this role, you will leverage external market trends, best practices and benchmarks to modernize and improve SRI&C programs, drive innovation, and strengthen SAP’s position as a leader in inclusion and corporate social responsibility. You will provide clear senior leadership and accountability for turning AI, ESG, and regulatory developments into a focused company-wide portfolio of inclusion and social responsibility initiatives. Each initiative will have a clear business case, measurable goals, and defined ownership of risks. Through consistent, data-driven oversight, in this role you will help build investor confidence, improve employee engagement, and support SAP’s long-term success and competitiveness.

You will be responsible for defining and driving a clear portfolio of strategic initiatives while ensuring strong prioritization, governance, and measurable outcomes across the SRI&C landscape.

Key responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Define, prioritize, and drive global SRI&C strategic initiatives aligned with SAP’s business and societal priorities
• Shape SAP’s thought leadership on Ethical & Inclusive AI and responsible innovation
• Translate strategy into scalable programs, pilots, and enterprise-wide initiatives
• Identify emerging trends, external benchmarks, and evolving stakeholder expectations to inform future priorities
• Incubate and scale flagship initiatives with measurable impact
• Drive portfolio simplification, prioritization, and governance across strategic initiatives
• Define success metrics and establish impact measurement frameworks
• Build strong partnerships with business leaders, People & Culture, regions, governance boards, and external organizations
• Ensure strategic alignment across CSR, Inclusion, AI-related initiatives, and future growth opportunities
• Create the foundation for long-term impact through innovation, cross-functional collaboration, and operational excellence

What You Bring

We are looking for a visionary and strategic leader who combines innovation, business acumen, and a passion for social impact.

You bring:

• Demonstrated experience in strategy, transformation, consulting, innovation management, program leadership, or a comparable field
• Strong leadership and people development skills with experience leading teams, driving organizational change, developing talent, and enabling diverse teams to succeed
• Proven ability to lead through influence in a complex, matrixed environment and align diverse stakeholder groups around common objectives
• Demonstrated success leading complex, cross-functional initiatives in a global environment
• Strong understanding of emerging business trends, AI transformation, responsible technology, or regulatory developments
• Experience translating strategic priorities into scalable programs and measurable outcomes
• Exceptional stakeholder management skills and the ability to influence across all levels of an organization
• Strong analytical and conceptual thinking combined with a pragmatic execution mindset
• Proven ability to operate in ambiguity and drive clarity, focus, and alignment
• Excellent communication, storytelling, and executive presentation skills
• A passion for innovation, inclusion, social impact, and responsible growth
• Appreciation for diverse perspectives and the ability to foster inclusive collaboration across functions, regions, and stakeholder groups

Preferred qualifications:

• Experience in Ethical AI, Responsible AI, Sustainability, ESG, Inclusion, or Social Impact
• Consulting or corporate strategy background
• Experience working across global and regional organizations
• Demonstrated external engagement through partnerships, thought leadership, industry forums, or innovation networks

Where You Belong

The Strategic Initiatives & Responsible Growth team is the strategy and innovation engine of the Social Responsibility, Inclusion & Communities (SRI&C) organization. The team identifies future focus areas, develops high-impact initiatives, and drives thought leadership in responsible growth, inclusion, social impact, and Ethical & Inclusive AI. Working across business, technology, people, and societal impact, the team designs, prioritizes, incubates, and scales new initiatives that shape SAP’s future SRI&C portfolio.

Bring out your best
SAP innovations help more than four hundred thousand customers worldwide work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively. Originally known for leadership in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, SAP has evolved to become a market leader in end-to-end business application software and related services for database, analytics, intelligent technologies, and experience management. As a cloud company with two hundred million users and more than one hundred thousand employees worldwide, we are purpose-driven and future-focused, with a highly collaborative team ethic and commitment to personal development. Whether connecting global industries, people, or platforms, we help ensure every challenge gets the solution it deserves. At SAP, you can bring out your best.

We win with inclusion
SAP’s culture of inclusion, focus on health and well-being, and flexible working models help ensure that everyone – regardless of background – feels included and can run at their best. At SAP, we believe we are made stronger by the unique capabilities and qualities that each person brings to our company, and we invest in our employees to inspire confidence and help everyone realize their full potential. We ultimately believe in unleashing all talent and creating a better world.

SAP is committed to the values of Equal Employment Opportunity and provides accessibility accommodations to applicants with physical and/or mental disabilities. If you are interested in applying for employment with SAP and are in need of accommodation or special assistance to navigate our website or to complete your application, please send an e-mail with your request to Recruiting Operations Team: Careers@sap.com.

For SAP employees: Only permanent roles are eligible for the SAP Employee Referral Program, according to the eligibility rules set in the SAP Referral Policy. Specific conditions may apply for roles in Vocational Training.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their age, race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, et al), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status, or disability, in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local legal requirements.

Successful candidates might be required to undergo a background verification with an external vendor.

We are ethical and compliant
Our leadership credo: Do what’s right. Make SAP better for generations to come. We believe that great leadership extends far beyond the mere pursuit of business goals. We value and foster leadership that is driven with purpose and integrity. Our leaders are role models who uphold SAP’s values and shape SAP’s culture of integrity, by demonstrating and championing ethical and compliant behavior towards all stakeholders.

AI Usage in the Recruitment Process

For information on the responsible use of AI in our recruitment process, please refer to our Guidelines for Ethical Usage of AI in the Recruiting Process.

Please note that any violation of these guidelines may result in disqualification from the hiring process.

Requisition ID: 457715 | Work Area: Communication | Expected Travel: 0 - 10% | Career Status: Management | Employment Type: Regular Full Time | Additional Locations: Prague (Czech Republic)