Program Manager

About Ascent

Ascent Global Logistics, headquartered in Belleville, Michigan, is a leading global provider of expedited, time-critical logistics solutions and other direct transportation services. The company connects customers to its extensive carrier network, internal ground fleet and airline via its proprietary, digital PEAK freight marketplace, which provides robust carrier capacity and transparent pricing, backed by 24/7/365 logistics experts. Ascent’s offerings include air charter and ground expedited solutions as well as truckload, less-than-truckload, global forwarding, brokerage, and managed transportation services. The experienced Ascent team solves customers’ most challenging logistics needs by providing industry-leading service and top-tier satisfaction.

Our Guiding Principles

At the core of Ascent's culture is a strong commitment to excellence, driven by the passion and dedication of every team member. We're equally dedicated to going above and beyond for our customers, ensuring this commitment extends beyond our team and brings exceptional value to those we serve. We aim for perfect execution in everything we do and ‘play hard’ by creating an environment where tasks are performed with a can-do attitude from start to finish. We ‘play smart’ by delivering on our commitments in an honest, fair, and ethical manner. We treat every person with whom we interface with the utmost dignity and respect. We understand that our teammates are our most valuable assets, so we ‘play together’ by making every effort to provide a professional and enjoyable experience, enabling careers to flourish and personal growth to be achieved.

What You’ll Do

The Program Manager owns the program of related technology initiatives for a single business domain. For this position, the domain is two shared programs: Ascent's customer-facing shipment visibility platform, which serves every business unit, and the final-mile business unit and its operating application. The Program Manager aligns that work to the domain's strategic objectives and carries it from framing through delivery and benefits realization. It is a strategic, hands-on role: the Program Manager is the connective owner across the domain's initiatives, the primary partner to its business sponsors, and the internal IT subject-matter expert for the domain's applications, with agentic AI as primary leverage. The core of the role is translating business needs into a clear, sequenced program roadmap that product owners and delivery teams can build against.

Program Ownership and Strategic Alignment

• Own the domain's portfolio of related initiatives as a single program; align it to the business area's objectives and shape sequencing and roadmap.
• Frame major project outcomes with the business and translate them into a coherent program plan.
• Serve as the internal IT subject-matter expert for the domain's applications, maintaining deep knowledge of how those systems work and how the business uses them.
• Maintain one integrated roadmap for the shared customer visibility platform with its product owner, so requests from every business unit are sequenced in a single plan.

Business Need to Program Roadmap

• Understand how the business units operate and how the platforms are used by employees and customers, so requests are evaluated against how the work is done.
• Work with the business to define the current state, the target state and the process change in between before a build begins, so requirements reflect the real workflow rather than assumptions.
• Turn business needs into outcome statements, scope and sequencing on the program roadmap; make the trade-offs visible and get them decided.

Cross-Initiative Coordination and Dependencies

• Manage interdependencies across the domain initiatives and across the IT delivery teams, so the program advances.
• Coordinate timing, handoffs, and sequencing across initiatives; surfacing conflicts early.
• Governance and Reporting
• Run the program's governance and cadence: decisions, transparency, and status to sponsors and leadership.
• Champion PMO methodology and standards to ensure consistency across the program.

Benefits Realization

• Determine the business value of program initiatives based on defined outcomes.
• Provide visibility into progress toward program outcomes and value delivery

Business UAT Engagement (major and higher-risk projects)

• Identify, recruit, and engage business UAT testers.
• Responsible for UAT schedule and milestones; UAT team owns validation protocols and sign-off.

Stakeholder and Program Risk

• Own the sponsor and stakeholder relationship for the domain and keep expectations aligned as the program evolves.
• Manage program change management communication to promote clear, timely messaging about what is changing and when.
• Track program-level risks and issues and escalate to the appropriate level with context, options, and a recommendation.

Agentic AI

• Use AI to draft plans, status, and reporting, accelerate program documentation, and reduce routine coordination overhead.

What You’ll Bring

• 7+ years managing programs or large, cross-functional initiatives, ideally within a PMO.

• Strong command of program governance, dependency management, and benefits realization.
• Experience partnering with senior business stakeholders to align technology outputs with business outcomes.
• Strong executive communication skills: able to brief senior leaders concisely, present options and recommendations, and communicate key decision points for leaders to act on.
• Proven ability to translate business needs into program roadmaps: outcome statements, scope, actionable plans for sequencing and trade-offs that product owners and delivery teams.
• Strong experience in logistics or supply chain, including time spent in or supporting an operation’s role and its business processes.
• Working knowledge of Agile and structured delivery methods.
• Demonstrated fluency using AI tools to accelerate program and reporting work.
• Bachelor's degree in a related field; PMP, PgMP, PRINCE2, or similar certification preferred.

Ascent’s Competitive Benefits

• 401(k) and employer matching

• Life Insurance

• Health, Dental, Vision Insurance

• Short- & Long-Term Disability

• Paid Time Off (PTO)

• Employee Assistance Program

• Paid Parental Leave

• Employee Wellness Program

• Paid Holidays

• Employee Recognition Programs

• Flexible Spending Account (FSA)

• Tuition Reimbursement

• Health Savings Account (HSA)

• Overtime, Differential & Bonus Pay