D365 BC (Business Central) Systems Consultant

Purpose of the role

This role owns the ongoing direction and development of our core ERP platform, Business Central, and assures its operation and integration within the wider applications landscape. You will work across the full delivery lifecycle, alongside stakeholders throughout the UK business, to identify and deliver commercial opportunity.

Providing technical expertise across the breadth of the platform, matched with commercial focus and solid business knowledge, you will define and deliver change for the UK business. Working with our external technical partners, you will play a fundamental role in shaping the long term architecture for ERP and associated systems.

You will also be the senior Business Central voice in a small team, setting the standard for how change is scoped, built and handed over, and supporting colleagues to develop their own consulting and configuration capability.

The environment

Business Central is on premise and carries decisions made during implementation that nobody has revisited since. A move to cloud and SaaS is in prospect, so there is real platform work ahead alongside the day to day change portfolio. Getting the estate into shape before that move, rather than carrying it across, is a substantial part of the opportunity here.

Business Systems is a new in-house function. We are building the capability to scope, configure and support our own change and reducing our dependence on external delivery partners as we go. Much of what is currently specified and built for us should not be, and part of this role is being able to say so with authority.

The team is small and growing. You will have real ownership, direct access to the people who make decisions, and the scope to shape how we work rather than inherit it.

Accountabilities

• Own the ongoing design and development of Business Central and its integration with the wider applications landscape.
• Develop and maintain applications within Business Central, using configuration, native functionality and the BC code base.
• Contribute to the design of technical solutions and the overall system architecture.
• Translate business requirements into technical specifications and working solutions, collaborating with stakeholders to refine requirements and recommend the right approach.
• Analyse scoping documents to identify risks, challenges and potential improvements, including work specified by third parties.
• Identify opportunities for improvement through optimisation and automation, and then deliver them.
• Configure first, retaining core application integrity to reduce onward technical debt, and hold that line with delivery partners.
• Take ownership of data integrity and security within all development work.
• Play a leading role in the effective use and management of representative production, test and development environments.
• Investigate and resolve application issues, including complex or escalated incidents from Support that require deeper technical understanding.
• Monitor and maintain system performance, with a focus on Business Central, Dataverse and the wider Power Platform.
• Ensure applications, processes and procedures are documented and stored appropriately.
• Coach and support colleagues in the team, building Business Central consulting and configuration capability in house.
• Support continuous improvement of our systems and our delivery practices.

Knowledge, skills and experience

Essential

• Proven experience with Business Central or Dynamics NAV across the full stack, as a practitioner rather than a project manager.
• Depth in the low and no code capability of the product: configuration, workflow, approvals, posting setup, dimensions, reporting and extension points.
• Experience of Business Central integration and interfaces with internal and third party applications and services.
• Working knowledge of APIs and system integration.
• Able to translate technical concepts into clear business language and work directly with non-technical stakeholders.
• Sound judgement on when to configure, when to extend and when to say no, formed by having seen the consequences of getting it wrong.

Desirable

• Experience in retail, logistics or another high volume, multi-site operation.
• Experience of an on premise to cloud or SaaS migration.
• Experience with Dataverse and cloud integration or API platforms.
• Experience with Power Platform, including Power Apps development and enhancement.
• Degree in a development related discipline, or equivalent practical experience.

What we are looking for

• Scars. You have made the wrong call on customisation at some point, and you can explain what it cost and what you do differently now.
• The confidence to challenge. A good deal of what you review will have been specified by someone else, and we need you to interrogate it rather than pass it through.
• Comfort with ownership. The team is small, the estate is real, and you will not be waiting to be told.
• Directness with the business. You will be talking to the people who own trade, not to a project manager.
• A genuine interest in bringing others on. Part of the value of this role is what the team can do a year after you arrive.