ERP Systems Lead / Administrator (Business Central)
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Full timeOn-site
Job description
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Job Title
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ERP Systems Lead / Administrator – Microsoft D365 Business Central
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Department
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Group Information Technology
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Reports To
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Group IT Manager (line management), with dotted-line coordination to Group Finance for financial-process, access-review and month-end matters
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Location
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Baghdad, Iraq
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Employment Type
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Full-Time
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System Status
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Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Online (SaaS), live across multiple group entities
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Job Purpose
The ERP Systems Lead / Administrator will act as the primary internal owner and administrator of Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central Online across the Group. The role will bring routine first- and second-line functional support and SaaS administration in-house while coordinating the existing Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) partner for complex technical support, development and specialist work.
The position is responsible for Business Central support, environment administration, user access and security, reporting, integrations, system governance, vendor coordination and continuous improvement. It will work closely with Finance, Procurement, Inventory, Sales, Operations and IT to keep Business Central stable, secure, well controlled and aligned with the needs of all group entities.
Key Responsibilities
Business Central Support and Administration
• Act as the primary internal administrator and escalation point for Business Central Online, providing L1 and L2 functional support across all group entities.
• Investigate incidents, user issues, system errors and recurring problems, resolving them in-house where within scope.
• Maintain a register of incidents, service requests, enhancements and outstanding actions.
• Support month-end and year-end activities where ERP issues affect financial processing or reporting.
• Coordinate issues requiring the AMC partner and monitor their resolution through closure.
SaaS Environment Management
• Administer production and sandbox environments through the Business Central Administration Center, including controlled creation and refresh of sandboxes.
• Monitor Microsoft service health, release notifications, capacity and scheduled updates.
• Assess new releases and coordinate testing before production updates, covering extensions, integrations, reports and critical processes.
• Coordinate authorised environment restoration or data-export activities when required.
• Ensure production changes are tested, approved and documented.
Multi-Entity, User and Access Administration
• Support Business Central across all group entities and maintain consistent configurations, controls and processes where appropriate.
• Support intercompany transactions, dimensions, posting groups, number series and shared master data.
• Administer Business Central users, licences, permission sets and security roles in coordination with Microsoft 365 and Microsoft Entra administrators.
• Maintain accurate user and access records and coordinate access for new joiners, transfers and leavers.
• Conduct periodic user-access and segregation-of-duties reviews with Finance, HR, Internal Audit and business owners.
Process Improvement, Integrations and Change Control
• Work with departments to understand business requirements, system challenges and improvement opportunities.
• Translate approved requirements into functional specifications and determine whether needs are best met through standard functionality, configuration, extensions, Power Platform, reporting tools or process changes.
• Maintain and prioritise the Business Central improvement backlog, promoting standard functionality and minimising unnecessary customisation.
• Maintain a register of AppSource applications, per-tenant extensions, integrations and custom developments.
• Coordinate extension installation, testing, updating and removal, and assess the impact of Microsoft updates on extensions and integrations.
• Monitor integrations with banks, third-party applications, Microsoft services and reporting platforms, including relevant Iraqi banking or regulatory interfaces where applicable.
• Ensure changes are tested in sandbox, formally approved and supported by change records, testing evidence and release documentation.
Power BI and Reporting
• Work with Finance, Operations and management to define reporting and dashboard requirements.
• Develop and maintain reports using Power BI, Excel, Power Query and Business Central reporting tools, using partner or specialist support for advanced data modelling where required.
• Support entity-level, intercompany and consolidated Group reporting, including Power BI workspaces, semantic models, refresh schedules and report access.
• Ensure reports use validated data and approved business definitions, and investigate reporting differences and reconciliation issues.
• Maintain secure access to financial and operational reports and train authorised users in their effective use.
Vendor and AMC Management
• Act as the main liaison with the implementation partner and internal owner of the AMC relationship.
• Log, prioritise and manage support requests, technical investigations and enhancement proposals with the partner.
• Review vendor estimates, timelines, deliverables and commercial proposals, and monitor performance against agreed AMC service levels.
• Validate completed work before recommending acceptance or payment.
• Recommend AMC scope, renewal terms and separately quoted development or out-of-scope expenditure to the Group IT Manager, who retains approval authority.
• Escalate delays, unresolved issues and quality concerns to the Group IT Manager.
Testing, Training, Documentation and Governance
• Coordinate user acceptance testing for fixes, enhancements, extensions, integrations, reports and Microsoft updates, with test scenarios and results documented with business process owners.
• Confirm that critical defects are resolved before production release.
• Coordinate Business Central and reporting-tool training and establish departmental key users or super users.
• Maintain user guides, process instructions, system documentation and internal knowledge records.
• Ensure vendor documentation and knowledge transfer are completed and retained internally.
• Prepare regular reports covering incidents, usage, updates, vendor performance, improvements and risks; maintain ERP risk, issue, change and improvement registers.
• Coordinate ERP governance meetings, track agreed actions and recommend priorities based on business impact, urgency and risk.
Qualifications and Experience
• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Business Administration, Accounting, Finance or a related field; demonstrable finance-process literacy is essential.
• Minimum five years of relevant ERP experience, including at least three years of hands-on experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, preferably Business Central Online (SaaS) rather than solely legacy NAV.
• Strong hands-on experience administering and supporting Business Central Online across multiple entities or companies.
• Good functional knowledge of Finance, Purchasing, Sales, Inventory and intercompany processes.
• Experience with the Business Central Administration Center, production and sandbox environments, SaaS updates and extension management.
• Experience managing users, licences, permission sets, security roles and segregation-of-duties controls.
• Working-to-strong practical experience with Power BI, Excel, Power Query and Business Central reporting tools.
• Experience managing a support partner, AMC or similar vendor relationship.
• Experience with Business Central APIs, web services, Power Platform or third-party integrations is preferred; Business Central or Power BI certification is an advantage.
• Fluency in English is required; Arabic is strongly preferred.
Skills and Competencies
• Business Central Online functional administration and SaaS environment management.
• Strong financial and operational process understanding.
• Power BI reporting, data analysis and reconciliation.
• User access, security and governance administration.
• Extension, integration, change and release coordination.
• Troubleshooting, root-cause analysis and structured problem solving.
• Vendor, AMC and stakeholder management across multiple entities.
• Clear communication, documentation, training and prioritisation skills.
Key Performance Indicators
• Routine incidents and requests resolved in-house within agreed service levels, with a reduction in avoidable partner escalations against the AMC baseline.
• Reduction in recurring issues, manual workarounds and spreadsheet-based reporting.
• Stable Business Central operations and controlled adoption of Microsoft updates with minimal disruption.
• Accurate user, licence and permission records, with access and segregation-of-duties reviews completed on schedule.
• Reliable integrations and data flows, with accurate and useful Power BI reporting.
• User adoption and satisfaction across entities, and AMC partner performance against agreed service levels.
• Complete documentation and knowledge transfer, with approved improvements delivered within agreed scope, time and budget.