Program Manager, Global Employee Recognition & Experience

Axon•Scottsdale, AZ

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The Manager, Global Employee Experience PM is the operating engine of Axon’s Culture & People Experience team. This individual-contributor leadership role leads Culture Operations and PMO, managing the operating plan, budget and forecast, vendor contracts, project plans, and cadence so culture programs are delivered on time, on budget, and aligned to Axon’s Customer, Mission, and Employee pillars. The role coordinates a global portfolio spanning signature moments such as the Company Kick-Off, New Hire Orientation, recognition, onboarding, annual compliance training, and office site experience. It establishes scalable, consistent processes and creates a smooth, engaging, well-organized employee experience. The position leads through influence and has no direct reports. It is based in Scottsdale, Seattle, or Boston, with four days per week in the office, Tuesday through Friday, and reports to the Vice President of Culture and People Experience.

Requirements

At least 3 years of experience in program management, PMO, business operations, or employee experience operations, including at least 2 years owning a multi-program portfolio.
Proven experience building and running a PMO or program portfolio, including operating plans, governance cadences, intake and prioritization, RAID tracking, and executive-ready status reporting.
Experience owning a department or program budget, forecasting monthly with Finance, and managing spend to plan.
Experience negotiating, managing, and renewing vendor contracts in partnership with Procurement.
Hands-on experience with work management platforms such as Monday.com, Asana, Smartsheet, or similar, and collaboration hubs such as SharePoint.
Ability to drive accountability and alignment across peers, a flat team, and senior stakeholders without direct reporting lines.
Experience delivering high-visibility, company-wide programs or events with executive stakeholders.
Exceptional organization and attention to detail, with strong ownership and follow-through.
Clear, concise written and verbal communication, including executive updates and cross-functional briefings.
Comfort with ambiguity and ability to remain calm and solutions-oriented under pressure.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with dashboards and business intelligence tools such as Sigma or Snowflake.

Responsibilities

Build and maintain the annual operating plan across Culture programs, setting planning and review cadences and tracking milestones, dependencies, risks, and decisions.
Establish standard PMO practices to make programs repeatable, scalable, and consistent across regions and sites.
Drive adoption of Monday.com as the Culture program management platform and maintain the Culture SharePoint hub for playbooks, templates, vendor records, and program artifacts.
Manage the department budget and forecast end to end, including monthly forecasting with Finance, spend tracking, burn-rate alerts, and program-level budget accountability.
Manage Culture vendor contracts and renewals in partnership with Procurement, including contract terms, renewal calendars, and vendor performance.
Lead the operating rhythm, timeline, and cross-functional coordination for the Company Kick-Off, working with Executives, Marketing, HALO, and program lane owners.
Lead the weekly operating cadence for the Employee Experience Program Manager pod, including status reviews, priority setting, capacity planning, and escalations.
Own end-to-end project management for annual compliance training, from planning through launch and close-out, including required-module timelines, milestones, risks, and decisions.
Manage the Shape Culture inbox and Culture Zendesk queue, including triage, routing rules, and timely, high-quality responses; use AI-assisted workflows where useful.
Champion AI enablement and help Culture teammates use tools such as Claude to work faster, reduce manual work, and scale programs.
Drive accountability and alignment across peers, a flat team, and senior stakeholders without direct reporting lines.