D365 Implementation Manager (India) (Contract)

This is a 9-12 month contract position, based in Chennai, with travel to our other India sites when required.

Purpose of the role: 

The Implementation Manager is accountable for successful deployments within our factories and selling entities within India. This role focuses on bridging the gap between programme delivery and site execution—developing detailed implementation and cutover plans, aligning functional teams, coordinating resources, and ensuring risks are proactively managed. While closely collaborating with project management and change teams, the Implementation Manager is specifically responsible for making the implementation happen on the ground—ensuring the site is ready, resilient, and supported through go-live and early adoption.

Key Responsibilities and Outcomes:

• Develop and maintain a detailed implementation plan for D365 deployments, based on a central programme template and tailored to site-specific operational needs.
• Lead and coordinate all site-level preparation activities for deployment, working across functional areas such as Production, Supply Chain, Engineering, Quality, Contracts, HR, and Finance.
• Own and execute the cutover planning process, including the development of cutover checklists, resource plans, and runbooks in alignment with central programme guidance.
• Ensure technical and operational readiness by defining, tracking, and closing readiness activities and dependencies across site functions.
• Act as the primary interface between the central programme and local site teams to ensure alignment of deployment timelines, issue resolution, and change requests.
• Collaborate with functional deployment leads and SMEs to define and validate business scenarios, test outcomes, and legacy system transition requirements.
• Identify, document, and manage site-specific risks, assumptions, issues, and dependencies (RAID) related to the implementation, escalating to programme leadership where necessary.
• Coordinate implementation governance routines, including readiness checkpoints, go/no-go decision inputs, Early Life Support (ELS) preparation, and post-go-live stabilisation planning.
• Apply structured change management techniques to support adoption—e.g., supporting communication rollouts, coordinating localised training efforts, and preparing knowledge transfer sessions (without assuming ownership of business readiness).
• Track and report against a clear set of implementation KPIs that are a blend of programme and operational measures, SLAs, and post-go-live support metrics.
• Contribute to site-level lessons learned sessions post-deployment and feed back into the central programme for continuous improvement.

Qualifications & Technical knowledge:

Essential

• Track record of delivering enterprise-wide business applications, including ERP implementation across an engineering, design and manufacturing organisation 
• PMI / Prince – Project management qualifications 
• Proven ability to manage large complex projects and multiple work streams. 
• Strong understanding and application of project management competencies including scope, time, costs, quality, HR, communications and risk management. 

Personal Specification:

Essential

• Highly motivated, self-starter with a personal commitment to delivery
• Able to ‘lead from the front’ by taking a hands-on approach to delivery.
• Demonstrated ability to influence and motivate teams across many functions