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Wayne-Sanderson Farms

Nation's third-largest poultry producer

ERP Support Lead

Full-Time
No salary listed
Senior, Expert
Bachelor's
Oakwood, GA, USA
In Person
IT OperationsEnterprise Applications

About the job

Requirements
  • Eight or more years of experience in ERP support, business applications support, IT service management, enterprise application delivery, vendor-managed services, enterprise application delivery, or related technology operations.
  • At least three years of experience coordinating, governing, or managing external vendor teams, managed service providers, implementation partners, functional support resources, or third-party application support teams.
  • Experience managing day-to-day service delivery, support queues, priorities, escalations, enhancements, vendor resource assignments, and stakeholder communications.
  • Experience using IT service management or ticketing platforms such as Jira Service Management, ServiceNow, Zendesk, or equivalent tools.
  • Experience supporting ERP systems, enterprise applications, integrations, and related business processes.
  • Strong knowledge of ERP and enterprise application support, service delivery, integrations, and related business processes.
  • Strong vendor management skills, including establishing expectations, monitoring delivery, addressing performance gaps, and driving accountability across third-party resources.
  • Ability to interpret service metrics, identify trends and recurring issues, and translate operational data into corrective actions and continuous improvement opportunities.
  • Strong planning and organizational skills for managing competing priorities, support demand, enhancement activity, vendor resources, and service commitments across multiple functions and locations.
  • Strong customer focus, balancing user needs, operational stability, vendor accountability, service quality, and organizational priorities.
  • Strong analytical, problem-solving, and process-improvement skills, including identifying root causes and recommending system, process, training, or automation solutions.
  • Strong written and verbal communication and stakeholder-management skills, including managing escalations, resolving competing priorities, and influencing outcomes across internal and external stakeholders without direct supervisory authority.
  • Ability to work independently, exercise sound judgment, maintain confidentiality, and collaborate effectively with IT, business partners, vendors, and leadership.
  • A bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Information Systems, Business Administration, or a related field from an accredited institution.
Responsibilities
  • Oversee day-to-day ERP and enterprise application support delivered by external vendors and managed service providers, including incident management, service requests, enhancements, backlog management, prioritization, escalations, and operational reporting.
  • Serve as the primary operational leader and escalation point for assigned application areas, coordinating with business stakeholders, internal IT teams, functional subject matter experts, vendors, and leadership to drive timely issue resolution.
  • Oversee vendor staffing coverage, resource allocation, queue management, scheduling, and capacity planning for support, issue resolution, enhancements, testing, and stabilization activities.
  • Ensure vendor readiness for application releases, upgrades, enhancement deployments, integrations, stabilization periods, hypercare events, and transition to steady-state operations.
  • Manage vendor and managed service provider performance by establishing expectations, assigning and validating work, monitoring progress, reviewing deliverables, addressing service gaps, and aligning delivery with business and IT priorities.
  • Monitor vendor service performance, including case volume, backlog, aging, response and resolution times, reopened tickets, enhancement throughput, quality trends, service-level agreement compliance, and customer satisfaction.
  • Coordinate vendor activities related to work assignment, escalation, scope adherence, performance reviews, knowledge transfer, training needs, and corrective action planning.
  • Develop dashboards, reports, and operating reviews communicating vendor performance, service health, risks, recurring issues, resource needs, and improvement opportunities to IT leadership.
  • Translate business needs, operational issues, and stakeholder priorities into vendor work objectives, support plans, enhancement priorities, and measurable outcomes.
  • Partner with business leaders and process owners across corporate functions, operations, supply chain, finance, sales, and plant locations to understand application needs, communicate priorities, and improve the user experience.
  • Coordinate internal and external stakeholders to align support and enhancement activities with business requirements, application priorities, and operational needs.
  • Define, communicate, and reinforce standard support processes with external providers, including ticket handling expectations, severity definitions, escalation paths, documentation standards, release readiness, knowledge management, and service transition practices.
  • Identify recurring issues, systemic trends, process gaps, and support risks, and lead vendor-driven efforts addressing root causes, system enhancements, training, automation, and business process improvements.
  • Promote vendor execution through effective planning, clear direction, accountability, customer focus, change awareness, and constructive conflict resolution.
  • Perform additional relevant duties as assigned.
Desired Qualifications
  • Experience in manufacturing, food production, poultry or protein, supply chain, finance, operations, or other complex operational environments.
  • Experience with ERP modernization, stabilization, hypercare, managed services, or large-scale enterprise transformation initiatives.
  • Experience governing multi-location, multi-shore, offshore, or distributed vendor support teams.

About the company

Wayne-Sanderson Farms is a large poultry producer that raises and processes chicken for retail, foodservice, and other customers. It operates 23 facilities across Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Texas, and employs more than 26,000 people. It offers a broad portfolio of brands, including WAYNE FARMS, SANDERSON FARMS, COVINGTON FARMS, PLATINUM HARVEST, CHEF’S CRAFT, and NAKED TRUTH, with both fresh and further-processed chicken. The company focuses on affordable, high-quality poultry and emphasizes integrity and responsible farm and workplace practices to serve customers and communities.

Company Size

1,001-5,000

Company Stage

N/A

Total Funding

N/A

Headquarters

Oakwood, Georgia

Founded

2022

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Simplify's Take

What believers are saying

  • The July 2025 Harrison Poultry acquisition expanded Wayne-Sanderson's Georgia footprint and capacity.
  • September 2026 Mercy Chefs shipments prove operational flexibility across disasters and regions.
  • May 2026 Mississippi State feed mill backing strengthens talent pipelines, research ties, and feed innovation.

What critics are saying

  • The DOJ's January 18, 2025 enforcement motion targets Agri Stats data-sharing and monitorship violations.
  • The 2022 consent decree still burdens management and can extend into 2026 court remedies.
  • Any adverse antitrust ruling could trigger deeper pricing scrutiny, damages, and supplier distrust across poultry.

What makes Wayne-Sanderson Farms unique

  • Wayne-Sanderson is the nation's third-largest poultry producer, with 24 facilities and 27,000 employees.
  • Its vertically integrated network spans hatcheries, feed mills, processing plants, and 2,000 farm partners.
  • The Sanderson brand's 2024 AI chatbot shows unusual consumer-facing experimentation inside a commodity producer.

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Benefits

  • Health Insurance
  • Dental Insurance
  • Vision Insurance
  • Life Insurance
  • Disability Insurance
  • 401(k) Retirement Plan
  • 401(k) Company Match

Company News

Poultry Producer
Jul 28th, 2025
Wayne-Sanderson Farms Acquires Harrison Poultry, Expanding Its Footprint in Georgia - Poultry Producer

Wayne-Sanderson Farms, one of the largest vertically integrated poultry producers in the U.S., has announced the acquisition of Harrison Poultry, solidifying its presence in Georgia and expanding operational capacity across […]

PR Newswire
Jan 19th, 2025
Wayne-Sanderson Farms Seeks Relief From Court Against Recent Actions By The U.S. Department Of Justice

OAKWOOD, Ga., Jan. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Wayne-Sanderson Farms today filed its own motion seeking clarity and relief from the court that its participation in the industry-standard Agri Stats subscription service is lawful and permitted. This was necessitated by unprecedented actions taken by the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. At 2:15 a.m. Saturday morning, the Division filed a motion seeking to declare the Company in violation of the Consent Decree and to force the Company to abandon its longstanding use of the industry benchmarking service Agri Stats

PR Newswire
Jun 4th, 2024
Sanderson Farms Brand Debuts Industry-First Artificial Intelligence Chicken Chatbot Tool

Latest Innovation by Wayne-Sanderson Farms Brand Enhances Online Customer ServiceOAKWOOD, Ga., June 4, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- What if instead of having to search online for ideas on what to do with the fresh chicken in the fridge, consumers could ask the experts at Sanderson Farms® for specially-crafted recipes and inspiration for their next meal? This is where the revolutionary new artificial intelligence (AI) Chicken ChatBot comes in. Affectionally known as "Sandy" and powered by OpenAI's API for ChatGPT, consumers can start a chat on the Sanderson Farms website for quick cooking tips, fast recipe finds, helpful serving suggestions, and more. Meet Sandy our new chatbot. "We are proud to introduce Sandy, the first-ever chicken chatbot tool, to answer just about any question as it relates to recipes and cooking tips," said Hilary Burroughs, Vice President of Marketing for Wayne-Sanderson Farms. "We hope consumers find Sandy to be polite, witty and helpful, just like a good friend, to discuss all things chicken."When visiting the Sanderson Farms website, consumers will be prompted to start a chat with Sandy to answer their chicken queries. Sandy is equipped to share delicious chicken recipes based on the unique details provided, and can make recommendations for specific dietary needs and preferences, like gluten-free, Keto, and low-fat