Enterprise Applications & Integration Manager

About the role

The Manager of Enterprise Applications and Integration leads the vision, delivery, and optimisation of KAUST’s core institutional platforms. This strategic and operational leader works across a complex higher‑education ecosystem to ensure systems such as SAP ERP, the Student Information System, Learning Management System and CRM are secure, modern, and tightly integrated.

Key responsibilities

• Define and execute the enterprise application roadmap, transitioning legacy on‑premise systems to agile SaaS solutions.
• Manage complex vendor relationships, negotiate SLAs and oversee system integrators for platforms like Ellucian, SAP, Microsoft and Blackboard.
• Champion data democratisation by breaking down silos between academic, financial and student affairs.
• Shift delivery from waterfall to product‑led, agile and DevOps methodologies.
• Enforce robust application lifecycle management, including automated testing, release management and maintenance aligned with the academic calendar.
• Partner with CISO and Enterprise Architecture to secure sensitive data and ensure compliance with PDPL, NCA directives and internal governance.
• Lead, mentor and develop a diverse team of specialists, analysts, developers and DBAs.
• Drive upskilling initiatives toward cloud‑based administration, SAP integrations and Microsoft cloud architectures.

Required profile

• Proven senior leader with experience managing enterprise‑wide applications in a higher‑education or large‑institution setting.
• Strong partnership skills with senior business owners such as Registrars, CFOs and Vice‑Presidents.
• Demonstrated ability to modernise delivery frameworks and foster a culture of continuous improvement.
• Excellent people‑leadership capabilities, including mentoring and team development.

Required skills

• SAP ERP
• Ellucian platforms
• Microsoft Azure/cloud services
• Blackboard LMS
• Agile and DevOps methodologies
• Automated testing and release management tools
• Enterprise integration engineering