SAP Developer

An SAP developer is a professional who builds applications, extensions and integrations within an SAP environment to meet a company’s business needs. Their work may cover technical design, development, testing and maintenance.

The scope depends on the existing system and the project. A role focused on ABAP programs does not necessarily involve the same work as one dedicated to extensions on SAP BTP. To understand a job advert, look at the applications involved, the data exchanges to be implemented and the amount of maintenance expected. The job title alone does not describe these responsibilities.

The developer works with functional teams to clarify requirements and translate them into technical specifications. This collaboration does not mean that the developer takes responsibility for all the system’s functional configuration.

SAP developer, functional consultant and administrator: who does what?

• The developer builds and develops the application components within their assigned scope.
• The functional consultant works on requirements and functional configuration; clarify with them what needs to be passed on to the development team.
• The administrator handles the technical operation of systems, including monitoring and backups.

The architect, meanwhile, works on the overall architecture and technical roadmap. A developer role may carry additional responsibilities, but these should be named during recruitment.

SAP development must meet business requirements while remaining manageable for the team maintaining it. Testing and diagnosis contribute to the reliability of solutions; support aims to limit disruption to operations. These activities require an understanding of what the program should do and the situations in which it might fail.

Fictional example: a team wants to modify a data exchange between an SAP application and another system. Before changing the code, it describes the expected data and the error scenarios to handle. The developer can then prepare tests based on these expectations and explain the limits of the change.

Maintenance also requires other people to be able to take over the development work. A handover must therefore make the technical choices, checks performed and known limitations clear, beyond demonstrating that the solution works at that moment.

• Translate requirements clarified with functional teams into technical specifications.
• Design applications or extensions suited to the assigned SAP scope.
• Develop the programs needed to deliver the expected functionality.
• Build the planned interfaces between the applications concerned.
• Test the development work against the expected results.
• Diagnose and correct issues encountered.
• Maintain the solutions delivered and support their development.

Studies in computing or related subjects are among the backgrounds mentioned in the job adverts consulted. They can provide a starting point for programming and software design. However, a candidate’s background should be assessed in light of the work involved: no single qualification, on its own, establishes suitability for every SAP developer role.

Practical experience links learning to completed work: programming, diagnosis and testing for ABAP development, or exchanges between applications for an integration requirement. The knowledge developed through training and the responsibilities held on a project shed light on different aspects of a candidate’s background.

SAP offers certifications related to the developer role. Their value depends on the content studied and the role’s environment. They can help indicate the knowledge covered, without replacing practical experience or becoming a universal recruitment requirement.

To assess a candidate, you can use the following approach, adapting it to the planned work and your team’s environment.

1. Define the criteria for the role

Draw up a short assessment grid based on the assigned tasks. Distinguish programming, diagnosis, testing and communication with functional stakeholders. Add integration or user interfaces if they fall within the scope.

For each criterion, specify what you expect when the candidate starts in the role and what can be learnt with support. Ask someone familiar with your SAP environment to review the grid.

2. Examine a previous piece of work

Ask the candidate to describe a relevant project, from the initial request to the delivered result. Ask them to clarify their contribution, the information they received and the decisions they made.

You could ask: “Which part of the requirement did you need to clarify with the functional team?” Then: “How did you check that the solution met that expectation?”

A positive sign is an explanation that connects the requirement, the technical choice and the checks performed. An answer about the team’s work with no identifiable individual contribution calls for further questions. Accept an anonymised account when the candidate cannot share their documents.

3. Set an exercise close to the actual work

Prepare a clearly scoped exercise with the necessary context and an explicit expected result. Choose a task representative of the role, then let the candidate explain their approach before discussing the solution.

Fictional example: you provide a description of a data exchange that returns an unexpected result. Ask the candidate what information they would look for, which hypotheses they would examine and how they would check a correction.

Observe how they distinguish facts from hypotheses. Ask what they cannot conclude from the information provided. An immediate conclusion, without any planned investigation or checks, warrants further exploration.

4. Discuss testing and handing over work

Return to a change they have made. Ask: “Which behaviours did you test, and why?” Ask them to specify the known limitations and the points left unresolved.

For an assignment involving taking over programs, ask how they would present their work to a colleague. Assess the clarity of the explanation and the usefulness of the information selected, without imposing a documentation format unfamiliar to your team.

5. Observe communication and support

Discuss an ambiguous business request. Look at whether the candidate asks understandable questions and restates the expected result before proposing a solution.

If the role includes mentoring, ask for an example of how they helped a colleague and adapted their explanation. Assess management only when it is actually part of the role.

6. Compare assessments

Have the technical answers reviewed by an experienced SAP developer or an expert in the relevant area, particularly if this expertise is lacking internally. Keep the decision tied to the criteria defined at the outset.

If you take up references with the candidate’s consent, focus the discussions on their contribution and professional interactions. Record the points supported by evidence, the uncertainties and the support needed before reaching a conclusion.