VP - Government Affairs & Market Acceleration, APAC at SAP

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VP - Government Affairs & Market Acceleration, APAC (Base: Singapore)

Role Summary

1. Lead high-impact strategic engagements with governments, regulators, and state-owned enterprises across APAC to position SAP as the trusted enterprise technology partner powering the region’s competitiveness through autonomous enterprise.
2. Drive a structured engagement architecture that converts national digital agendas into market acceleration for sovereign cloud, AI adoption, government digitalization, SOE modernization, and SME digitalization.
3. Function as the senior bridge between APAC governments and SAP’s commercial organization translating government affairs activities into tangible business outcomes across public sector, SOEs, corporate, and SME accounts.

The individual will be responsible for:

• Strategic Government & executive engagement

• Design and lead a multi-country engagement strategy covering political and government stakeholders across priority APAC markets.
• Build and steward long-term trusted advisor relationships with decision makers shaping each market’s digital, economic, and industrial agenda.
• Orchestrate SAP executive engagement programs ensuring advancement of defined commercial or strategic objectives.
• Represent SAP at the bilateral dialogues, multilateral forums, and flagship industry events and policymaker roundtables on emerging technology themes.

• Market acceleration & business activation

• Own a measurable contribution to business pipeline by converting government relationships, national programs, and SOE transformation agendas into qualified business outcomes for public sector, SOE, corporate, and SME segments.
• Partner deeply with regional Sales, Customer Success, and Lines of business to translate strategic engagements into business velocity and support procurement pathways.
• Provide firsthand strategic support to flagship pursuits and engagements.
• Unlock market access opportunities tied to sovereign cloud mandates, national AI initiatives, public procurement frameworks, SMEs, and government-led digital infrastructure programs.
• Build a disciplined opportunity pipeline from government engagements with clear ownership, milestones, and conversion metrics shared with regional business leaders.

• Industry, Ecosystem & influencer leadership

• Lead SAP’s representation and engagement with regional and national industry associations, business councils, CEO forums securing board and committee positions where they advance industry and SAP’s strategic agenda.
• Convene and influence senior CXO and policymaker communities on emerging themes including the autonomous enterprise, agentic AI, sovereign digital infrastructure, digital-green twin transition, and workforce skilling etc.
• Drive joint advocacy with peer companies and partners on shared priorities to amplify SAP’s voice and impact across the region.

• Policy awareness & strategic translation

• Maintain sharp situational awareness of policy and regulatory shifts across APAC particularly on AI, sovereign cloud, data, and public procurement and translate these into engagement priorities for SAP.
• Anticipate political, regulatory, and geopolitical developments that could create opportunity or risk and mobilize SAP leadership early to frame strategic responses.
• Coordinate with the global Government Affairs and Legal teams to ensure SAP’s regional engagement is consistent with corporate policies, while championing local engagements.

• Internal leadership & cross-functional influence

• Serve as a senior member of the APAC Government Affairs team partnering with country leads to elevate engagement quality and consistency across the region.
• Brief and prepare SAP executives for high level government, customer, and public engagements.
• Sensitize internal stakeholders across sales, marketing, legal, compliance, and communications on the political and stakeholder landscape of diverse APAC jurisdictions.
• Function as a strategic liaison during regulatory reviews, escalations, or crises to ensure SAP’s interests are represented and protected at the most senior levels.

Required Experience & Qualifications

• Minimum 15 years of progressive experience across Government Affairs, cyber security, critical information Infrastructure, sovereign cloud, public sector/enterprise Sales / BD, senior consulting, or leadership roles within Industry associations or multilateral institutions.
• Demonstrated experience of operating at senior levels in Government across multiple APAC markets with evidence of doors opened, initiatives shaped, and outcomes delivered.
• Proven ability to translate government engagement into commercial impact i.e. pipeline contribution, market access, and named business outcomes in a technology, professional services, or regulated industry context.
• Comfort across at least two areas from sovereign cloud, enterprise AI, public sector digitalization, SOE transformation, corporate / SME digital adoption.
• Bachelor’s degree with preferably a postgraduate qualification in business administration, public policy, international relations, Law, or economics..

Bring out your best
SAP innovations help more than four hundred thousand customers worldwide work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively. Originally known for leadership in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, SAP has evolved to become a market leader in end-to-end business application software and related services for database, analytics, intelligent technologies, and experience management. As a cloud company with two hundred million users and more than one hundred thousand employees worldwide, we are purpose-driven and future-focused, with a highly collaborative team ethic and commitment to personal development. Whether connecting global industries, people, or platforms, we help ensure every challenge gets the solution it deserves. At SAP, you can bring out your best.

We win with inclusion

SAP’s culture of inclusion, focus on health and well-being, and flexible working models help ensure that everyone – regardless of background – feels included and can run at their best. At SAP, we believe we are made stronger by the unique capabilities and qualities that each person brings to our company, and we invest in our employees to inspire confidence and help everyone realize their full potential. We ultimately believe in unleashing all talent and creating a better world.

SAP is committed to the values of Equal Employment Opportunity and provides accessibility accommodations to applicants with physical and/or mental disabilities. If you are interested in applying for employment with SAP and are in need of accommodation or special assistance to navigate our website or to complete your application, please send an e-mail with your request to Recruiting Operations Team: Careers@sap.com.

For SAP employees: Only permanent roles are eligible for the SAP Employee Referral Program, according to the eligibility rules set in the SAP Referral Policy. Specific conditions may apply for roles in Vocational Training.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their age, race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, et al), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status, or disability, in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local legal requirements.

Successful candidates might be required to undergo a background verification with an external vendor.

AI Usage in the Recruitment Process

For information on the responsible use of AI in our recruitment process, please refer to our Guidelines for Ethical Usage of AI in the Recruiting Process.

Please note that any violation of these guidelines may result in disqualification from the hiring process.

Requisition ID: 453096 | Work Area: Communication | Expected Travel: 0 - 10% | Career Status: Professional | Employment Type: Regular Full Time | Additional Locations: #