Executive Director, Enterprise Program Management

KeHE Distributors, LLC•Naperville, IL

10h

About The Position

Good people, working with good people, for our common good. Sound good? KeHE-a natural, organic, specialty and fresh food distributor-is all about "good" and is growing, so there's never been a more exciting time to join our team. If you're enthusiastic about working in an environment with a people-first culture and an organization committed to good living, good food and good service, we'd love to talk to you! The Executive Director, Enterprise Program Management will serve as a trusted advisor and enterprise-level thought partner to the Executive Leadership Team, driving company-wide, multi-year initiatives that enable organizational transformation, operational excellence, and sustainable growth. This role will set the strategic direction for and lead the Program Management Office (PMO), ensuring enterprise governance, prioritization, and successful execution of mission-critical, cross-enterprise programs across multiple business units. In addition to having responsibility over the “federal” or “hub” of the Enterprise PMO, and ultimate accountability for outcomes across the full program portfolio, this role will also empower and provide oversight to the “spoke” PMOs in each function (project managers within Operations, Sales, IT, and Shared Services). As with all positions at KeHE Distributors, we expect that all actions will be consistent with KeHE’s Mission, Vision, and Values.

Requirements

Ability to set enterprise direction and lead strategically across the organization, translating business objectives into scalable, measurable initiatives.
Ability to influence and align senior leaders and executives to deliver enterprise-wide outcomes.
Proven track record of leading large-scale, enterprise transformation and change initiatives with sustained adoption.
Expertise in leveraging enterprise analytics, financial insight, and structured decision frameworks to address complex business challenges.
Capability to operate as a strategic integrator across IT, Operations, Finance, and Commercial teams, clarifying trade-offs and driving alignment.
Ability to embed a customer-centric and value-creation mindset into enterprise programs and operating decisions.
Strong business acumen with executive-level understanding of financial drivers, capital investment, P&L impact, and ROI.
Ability to operate effectively in high-ambiguity, high-stakes environments, maintaining momentum and executive confidence.
Exceptional executive communication skills with the ability to shape narratives, influence outcomes, and drive decisions across all levels.
Ability to partner with technology leaders to set strategic direction for systems that enable scalable enterprise operations.
Ability to design enterprise-ready solutions that meet current needs while enabling future organizational maturity.
Ability to evolve enterprise capabilities over time, balancing pragmatism with long-term strategic intent.
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Operations, or related field. Masters Degree a plus.
12+ years of experience in project/program management, with at least 7 years in a leadership role.
Proven experience standing up a PMO from scratch (“0 to 1” experience)
Exceptional communication and presentation skills.
Ability to influence and engage senior stakeholders across all levels within the organization
Proficiency in project management tools (e.g., Smartsheet, Asana, MS Project) and data visualization platforms (e.g., Power BI, Tableau).
Must be able to lift and/or move up to 20 pounds.
The employee is frequently required to sit.
Must be able to travel frequently.
While performing the duties of this position, the employee is subject to a typical office environment and is rarely exposed to outside weather conditions.
The noise level in the work environment is typically low to moderate.

Nice To Haves

Masters Degree a plus.
Project Management Professional certification and Project Management Office Certified Practitioner heavily preferred.
Previous experience in Logistics, Supply Chain, or Food Distribution heavily preferred.

Responsibilities

Establish and own the enterprise PMO framework, ensuring alignment with long-term enterprise strategy, business objectives, and capital investment priorities.
Define and enforce enterprise-wide governance standards, methodologies, and best practices for program and project delivery.
Oversee enterprise portfolio prioritization, investment trade-offs, and capacity planning to maximize business impact and ROI.
Lead (as needed) executive-level monthly and quarterly reviews with functions or enterprise teams.
Define and enforce a project “tiering” system that enables clear executive decision-making regarding which programs are best handled by the “federal” PMO versus within the function.
Create and own executive stage-gate and investment review processes to ensure programs continue only if they deliver clear ROI, including authority to pause or terminate initiatives as needed.
Translate corporate strategy into integrated, multi-year enterprise program roadmaps and execution plans.
Partner with C-suite leaders to ensure initiatives deliver measurable outcomes tied to strategic and financial goals.
Partner with Finance to govern capitalized labor, investment tracking, and realization of benefits at the enterprise level, ensuring results are reflected in the P&L.
Proactively identify enterprise-wide resource, capability, and dependency risks before they impact delivery.
Provide board- and executive-ready reporting, insights, and recommendations to enable informed strategic decision-making.
Drive enterprise consistency and maturity in program management tools, templates, and processes.
Sponsor and support enterprise-wide capability building and training related to program governance and execution standards
Champion enterprise change leadership, ensuring adoption, accountability, and sustained value realization.
Collaborate with HR, Communications, and functional leaders to shape culture, operating models, and ways of working in support of transformation.
Serve as the primary executive interface between the PMO, Executive Leadership Team, and Board-level forums, facilitating Steering Committees and governance bodies.
Deliver executive-caliber presentations that clearly articulate progress, risks, financial implications, and mitigation strategies.