Lead Technical Manager - ANAPLAN - Enterprise Planning, Data Architecture & AI Enablement

Company Description

CREATIVITY IS OUR SUPERPOWER. It’s our heritage and it’s also our future. Because we don’t just make toys. We create innovative products and experiences that inspire, entertain and develop children through play. Mattel is at its best when every member of our team feels respected, included, and heard—when everyone can show up as themselves and do their best work every day. We value and share an infinite range of ideas and voices that evolve and broaden our perspectives with a reach that extends into all our brands, partners, and suppliers.

Job Description

Mattel is seeking a highly accomplished Lead Technical Manager – Enterprise Planning, Data Architecture & AI Enablement to lead the next evolution of our Anaplan Connected Planning ecosystem.

This strategic leadership role combines Enterprise Anaplan Architecture, Data & Integration Architecture, Platform Governance, AI Innovation, and Technical Leadership. The successful candidate will own the technical vision and roadmap for enterprise planning capabilities while driving operational excellence, automation, AI adoption, and continuous innovation across Finance, Supply Chain, Commercial, Workforce, and other planning domains.

The ideal candidate is a hands-on technology leader who combines deep Anaplan expertise with enterprise data architecture experience, strong engineering discipline, and a passion for leveraging AI to improve productivity, accelerate delivery, and solve complex business challenges.

This role will partner closely with Center of Excellence Lead, Business Leaders, Enterprise Architects, Data Engineering teams, Product Owners, and Delivery Teams to deliver scalable, intelligent, and future-ready planning solutions.

Key Responsibilities

Enterprise Planning & Solution Architecture Leadership

• Define and govern enterprise-wide Anaplan architecture standards, patterns, and best practices.
• Lead architecture decisions across Finance, Supply Chain, Sales, Demand Planning, Workforce Planning, and Integrated Business Planning solutions.
• Establish scalable platform strategies including:
  • Data Hub architecture
  • Multi-model ecosystem design
  • ALM governance
  • Security architecture
  • Integration frameworks
  • Application lifecycle management
• Drive platform modernization initiatives including Workflow, Polaris, Data Orchestrator, and emerging Anaplan capabilities.
• Ensure all solutions align with PLANS, DISCO, and enterprise architecture principles.

Enterprise Anaplan Data & Integration Architecture

• Lead design and governance of enterprise planning data architecture.
• Define integration standards and reusable frameworks connecting Anaplan with:
  • Oracle
  • Salesforce
  • Workday
  • Google BigQuery
  • Data Lakes and Warehouses
• Establish enterprise standards for:
  • Data quality
  • Master data management
  • Reconciliation
  • Metadata governance
  • Monitoring and observability
• Partner with Data Engineering teams to improve scalability, reliability, and performance of planning data pipelines.

Operational Excellence & Platform Governance

• Own platform health, performance, reliability, and scalability.
• Drive proactive identification and elimination of recurring issues.
• Implement monitoring, alerting, and automated validation frameworks.
• Reduce technical debt through architectural improvements and standardization.
• Lead governance processes including:
  • Design reviews
  • Security reviews
  • Deployment approvals
  • Technical quality assessments
• Ensure enterprise compliance, auditability, and operational resilience.

AI, Automation & Digital Innovation Leadership

• Champion AI-enabled productivity and innovation across the Planning Technology organization.
• Identify opportunities to leverage AI technologies to improve:
  • Documentation
  • Testing
  • Root cause analysis
  • Knowledge management
  • User support
  • Process optimization
  • Development productivity
• Evaluate and introduce emerging AI capabilities including:
  • Generative AI
  • Intelligent automation
  • Predictive planning
  • AI-assisted development tools
• Establish best practices for responsible AI adoption within planning processes.
• Foster an AI-first and continuous improvement culture across the team.

Technical Leadership & Team Development

• Lead and mentor Solution Architects, Lead Model Builders, Developers, Administrators, and Integration Engineers.
• Serve as the highest technical escalation point for complex planning and integration challenges, critical production incidents and platform outages.
• Build technical capabilities across the organization through coaching, training, and architecture leadership.
• Promote engineering excellence, knowledge sharing, and innovation.
• Influence strategic technology decisions across the Enterprise Planning landscape.

Strategic Stakeholder Engagement

• Partner with senior business and technology leaders to align planning technology investments with business objectives.
• Translate business strategies into scalable technology solutions.
• Communicate technical strategies, risks, trade-offs, and recommendations to executive audiences.
• Drive prioritization of platform enhancements and innovation initiatives.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, Business Analytics, or related field.
• Master’s degree or MBA preferred.
• 10+ years of experience in Enterprise Planning, Enterprise Applications, Data Architecture, or related disciplines.
• 7+ years of hands-on Anaplan implementation and architecture experience.
• Proven experience leading enterprise-scale Anaplan platforms and Center of Excellence initiatives.
• Strong expertise in:
  • Enterprise Solution Architecture
  • Data Architecture
  • Integration Architecture
  • API-based integrations
  • ALM and platform governance
  • Performance optimization
  • Security and access management
• Experience integrating Anaplan with Oracle, Workday, Salesforce, BigQuery, or similar enterprise platforms.
• Demonstrated success leading global technical teams and cross-functional initiatives.

Preferred Qualifications

• Anaplan Certified Solution Architect.
• Master Anaplanner designation preferred.
• Experience with:
  • CloudWorks
  • Anaplan Data Orchestrator
  • Polaris
  • Workflow
  • SCIM
  • Audit APIs
  • Bulk and Transactional APIs
• Experience with Google Cloud Platform, BigQuery, Composer, or similar cloud ecosystems.
• Preferred Hands-on exposure to AI tools like
  • ChatGPT Enterprise
  • Microsoft Copilot
  • Gemini
  • AI-assisted development tools
  • Python automation
  • Data analytics and visualization platforms
• SAFe certification or Agile leadership experience preferred.

 

Additional Information

Leadership Competencies

• Strategic Thinking
• Enterprise Architecture
• Data-Driven Decision Making
• AI & Innovation Leadership
• Technical Excellence
• Problem Solving & Root Cause Analysis
• Coaching & Talent Development
• Stakeholder Influence
• Change Leadership
• Ownership & Accountability

Success Measures

The successful candidate will:

• Drive enterprise-wide adoption of Anaplan Connected Planning.
• Improve planning platform reliability and scalability.
• Reduce recurring production and data quality issues.
• Increase automation and operational efficiency.
• Accelerate solution delivery through AI-enabled productivity.
• Establish reusable architecture and integration standards.
• Build a high-performing, innovative technical team.
• Enable smarter, faster business decisions through modern planning technologies.

Why Join Mattel

At Mattel, creativity is our superpower. This role offers a unique opportunity to shape the future of enterprise planning by combining Anaplan, Data Architecture, AI, and Automation to deliver transformative business outcomes on a global scale.