Role Objective :

To design and execute the Performance Engineering and Testing strategy for SAP S/4HANA and its integrated ecosystem

The Performance Test Architect & Lead will ensure scalability, reliability, and resilience of enterprise systems through robust performance frameworks, optimized workloads, and CoE-led governance.

This role blends technical depth, delivery oversight, and cross-functional leadership to enable production-ready performance across all SAP and non-SAP layers.

Key Responsibilities :

Performance Architecture & Strategy :

- Define and own the end-to-end Performance Test Architecture across SAP S/4HANA,and integrated systems.

- Translate NFRs into measurable KPIs for UI, API, database, and infrastructure layers.

- Develop Day-in-the-Life workload models simulating concurrent users across business flows.

- Establish a unified Performance Governance Framework that integrates SAP, middleware (OData, Kafka), and GCP observability layers.

- Ensure alignment of performance objectives with business SLAs and release timelines.

Test Planning, Tooling, and Environment Setup :

- Develop comprehensive Performance Test Plans, workload distributions, and concurrency models based on system architecture.

- Lead scripting and test data setup using LoadRunner (SAP GUI, Web HTTP), JMeter (OData APIs, Kafka), and SAP GUI Scripting.

- Integrate APM and monitoring tools (Dynatrace, Grafana, SAP ST03/ST12/STAD) to enable end-to-end traceability.

- Validate environment readiness, work process configuration, and GCP resource allocation before load execution.

- Establish tool governance for version control, logging, and performance data archiving.

Test Execution & Analysis :

- Lead Load, Stress, Endurance, and Failover tests across UI, API, batch, and infrastructure layers.

- Validate transaction throughput, response times, queue latency, and resource utilization across SAP and middleware.

- Measure and report on performance of critical business flows in retail such as Goods Issue, Goods Receipt , and ASN Processing.

- Analyze trends using Dynatrace dashboards, SAP work process logs, and GCP metrics to identify bottlenecks.

- Present performance summaries with actionable insights for tuning and Go-Live readiness.

Performance Engineering & Optimization :

- Conduct in-depth root cause analysis across SAP application, database, and network layers.

- Working with development team to Optimize custom Z-programs, RFC calls, and long-running queries using SAP HANA Studio and SQL Plan Analyzer.

- Recommend improvements in work process allocation, buffering, and thread utilization.

- Collaborate with Basis and Infra teams to fine-tune autoscaling policies, load balancing, and caching strategies on GCP.

- Maintain a repository of performance tuning playbooks and reusable diagnostics templates.

Leadership, Governance & Stakeholder Management :

- Lead a cross-functional team of performance engineers, ensuring adherence to NFRs and test governance standards.

- Run Performance CoE governance cadences, reviews, and retrospectives to ensure delivery maturity.

- Serve as the performance liaison with SAP Basis, Integration, Infra, and Functional teams.

- Provide executive-level reporting on system scalability, SLA compliance, and risk areas.

- Drive continuous improvement through metrics-based decision-making and lessons-learned documentation.

Required Technical Skills :

Category :

Tools / Technologies / Expertise :

Performance Testing Tools :

- LoadRunner (SAP GUI + Web HTTP), Apache JMeter (REST, Kafka), SAP GUI Scripting

Monitoring & Analysis :

- Dynatrace, Grafana, GCP StackDriver, SAP ST03/ST12/STAD, HANA Studio

SAP Ecosystem :

- SAP S/4HANA (MM, SD, WM, FI), CMS, SIM, ISM, ROCS

Integrations :

- OData APIs, IDoc MBGMCR04, Kafka, Java Adapters, OpenText

Database :

- SAP HANA Query Optimization, Z-table Indexing, SQL Plan Tuning

Infrastructure :

- GCP Compute Engine, Load Balancing, Autoscaling, HA/Failover Testing

Scripting & Reporting :

- Python, SQL, Swagger, Power BI, Excel-based KPI Dashboards

Experience & Qualifications :

- 10+ years in Performance Testing and Engineering, with at least 5+ years in SAP S/4HANA and HANA DB ecosystems.

- Proven experience with API and middleware performance validation (OData, Kafka, IDoc).

- Strong understanding of SAP Basis tuning, work process management, and HANA query optimization.

- Experience leading performance test teams and establishing Performance CoE frameworks.

- Bachelor- ?- 's /Master- ?- 's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field.

Preferred certifications :

- Micro Focus LoadRunner Professional

- SAP Certified Technology Associate (S/4HANA)

- Google Cloud Performance Engineering or Infrastructure Optimization

Success Metrics :

- % Execution of Performance Testing Roadmap Milestones

- SLA Adherence Rate for critical business flows

- Number of bottlenecks identified and resolved per cycle

- Reusable Framework Adoption Rate across projects

- Performance Improvement (Response Time Reduction %)

- Team Skill Index and Training Completion KPIs