Valentino IT Business Applications Director

About Valentino

Founded in Rome in 1960 by Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti, Valentino is an Italian luxury house distinguished by its couture heritage, expressive elegance and exceptional craftsmanship. Spanning haute couture, ready-to-wear, leather goods and accessories, the Maison unites artisanal expertise with contemporary creative ambition. As an employer, Valentino offers a professional setting where design, atelier craftsmanship, merchandising, retail and corporate functions contribute to a globally recognised identity. Its teams translate a rich Roman legacy into collections and client experiences, making the house a compelling environment for professionals drawn to the interplay of cultural heritage, meticulous execution and evolving expressions of luxury.

Role & Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end delivery of a multi-project portfolio, from business requirements through stable operations.
• Translate business priorities into clear roadmaps, balancing transformation with business-as-usual.
• Govern scope, budget, resources, risks and cross-project dependencies.
• Provide transparent status reporting and escalate critical risks and decisions promptly.
• Own the stability, scalability and evolution of the applications in scope, with SAP at the core.
• Lead SAP migration and implementation programs, including post-implementation stabilization (S/4HANA, RISE).
• Govern corrective and evolutionary demand in line with architectural consistency and capacity.
• Ensure end-to-end integration across ERP, WMS, 3PL, planning, PLM, RFID and BW.
• Act as the technology partner to Logistics, Supply Chain, Operations and Sales leadership.
• Apply process expertise to redesign and simplify end-to-end workflows, not only systems.
• Ensure consistent processes and solutions across retail and wholesale channels and geographies.
• Govern system integrators, technology partners and AMS providers on delivery, quality and SLAs.
• Contribute to contracts and Statements of Work with Procurement.
• Build demanding partnerships with clear accountability for business outcomes.
• Lead and develop a large multidisciplinary organization of domain leads, managers and project managers.
• Set clear ownership and allocate resources across programs, projects and operations.
• Reduce key-person dependencies and build succession and resilience.
• Foster a culture of accountability, execution and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• 15+ years in IT, including significant senior business applications leadership in complex, international organizations.
• Proven record leading large multidisciplinary teams, including managers and domain leads.
• Deep SAP experience, including delivery of at least one large migration or implementation program end-to-end, ideally S/4HANA.
• Strong process expertise in Supply Chain, Logistics/WMS/3PL, Order Management and Sales across retail and wholesale.
• Outstanding program and portfolio management across concurrent, business-critical initiatives.
• Solid experience governing system integrators, technology partners and AMS.
• Fluent Italian and English.
• Fashion, luxury, retail or consumer goods experience is an advantage.
• Supply Chain Planning experience, including allocation and replenishment, is an advantage.
• Exposure to RFID solutions and SAP BW or operational reporting is an advantage.
• Experience with warehouse migrations or 3PL network changes in an international context is an advantage.
• Demonstrates execution, translating strategy into concrete plans, anticipating delivery issues and driving recovery.
• Shows business and process orientation, understanding how the business works beyond the technology.
• Influences stakeholders credibly with senior executives and constructively challenges business, IT and partners.
• Makes decisions by prioritizing under constrained resources and owning outcomes.
• Develops people by coaching managers and building internal capabilities.
• Combines strategic perspective with a hands-on approach, moving comfortably between vision and operational detail.

Skills

Experience

15+ years in IT, with significant senior business applications leadership experience; at least one large SAP migration or implementation program delivered end-to-end.

Benefits

Health insurance, smart working arrangements and meal vouchers, in addition to benefits provided under the applicable National Collective Labor Agreement (CCNL) and by law, subject to Company policies.

Culture

Valentino’s workplace culture is rooted in its Roman couture heritage, combining creative expression with exacting craftsmanship and meticulous attention to detail. Its professional environment brings together design, atelier and business expertise around a shared ambition to interpret the Maison’s distinctive identity through a contemporary vision of luxury.

About Cerulean

Cerulean is the definitive career portal for the global luxury industry. We match exceptional professionals with exclusive opportunities at the world's most prestigious brands. From haute couture and fine watchmaking to prestige beauty, hospitality, and boutique retail, Cerulean centralises luxury employment to help you find the career for which you were destined.