Executive Director, Enterprise Program Management
KeHE Distributors, Naperville, Illinois, United States, 60564
KeHE – Executive Director, Enterprise Program Management
Pay Range: $159,940 – $234,498 per year.
Why Work for KeHE? Full‑time. Benefits start on Day 1.
Health/Rx
Dental
Vision
Flexible and health spending accounts (FSA/HSA)
Supplemental life insurance
401(k)
Paid time off
Paid sick time
Short‑term & long‑term disability coverage (STD/LTD)
Employee stock ownership (ESOP)
Holiday pay for company‑designated holidays
Overview 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!
Primary Responsibilities
Act 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.
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.
Empower and provide oversight to the “spoke” PMOs in each function (project managers within Operations, Sales, IT, and Shared Services.)
Ensure all actions are consistent with KeHE’s Mission, Vision, and Values.
Enterprise Program Governance
Establish and own the enterprise PMO framework, aligning it with long‑term 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 executive‑level monthly and quarterly reviews with functions or enterprise teams.
Create and own executive stage‑gate and investment review processes to ensure programs continue only if they deliver clear ROI.
Strategic Program Leadership
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.
Operational Excellence & Change Management
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.
Stakeholder Engagement & Communication
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.
Skills, Knowledge and Abilities
Strategic leadership across the organization, translating business objectives into scalable, measurable initiatives.
Influence and align senior leaders and executives to deliver enterprise‑wide outcomes.
Proven track record of leading large‑scale transformation and change initiatives with sustained adoption.
Expertise in leveraging enterprise analytics, financial insight, and structured decision frameworks to address complex business challenges.
Strategic integrator across IT, Operations, Finance and Commercial teams, clarifying trade‑offs and driving alignment.
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.
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.
Partner with technology leaders to set strategic direction for systems that enable scalable enterprise operations.
Design enterprise‑ready solutions that meet current needs while enabling future organizational maturity.
Evolve enterprise capabilities over time, balancing pragmatism with long‑term strategic intent.
Education and Experience
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Operations, or related field. Master’s 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”).
Project Management Professional certification and Project Management Office Certified Practitioner heavily preferred.
Previous experience in Logistics, Supply Chain or Food Distribution heavily preferred.
Exceptional communication and presentation skills.
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).
Physical Requirements
Must be able to lift and/or move up to 20 pounds, sit frequently and travel frequently.
Typical office environment; rarely exposed to outside weather conditions.
Noise level typically low to moderate.
Requisition ID: 2026-28700
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement KeHE Distributors provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits all forms of discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, color, religion or faith, sex, gender, age, ancestry, national origin, mental or physical disability or medical condition, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, military or veteran status, genetic information, or any other category protected under federal, state, or local law. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training as well as the administration of all Human Resources and Talent Acquisition processes.
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Why Work for KeHE? Full‑time. Benefits start on Day 1.
Health/Rx
Dental
Vision
Flexible and health spending accounts (FSA/HSA)
Supplemental life insurance
401(k)
Paid time off
Paid sick time
Short‑term & long‑term disability coverage (STD/LTD)
Employee stock ownership (ESOP)
Holiday pay for company‑designated holidays
Overview 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!
Primary Responsibilities
Act 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.
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.
Empower and provide oversight to the “spoke” PMOs in each function (project managers within Operations, Sales, IT, and Shared Services.)
Ensure all actions are consistent with KeHE’s Mission, Vision, and Values.
Enterprise Program Governance
Establish and own the enterprise PMO framework, aligning it with long‑term 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 executive‑level monthly and quarterly reviews with functions or enterprise teams.
Create and own executive stage‑gate and investment review processes to ensure programs continue only if they deliver clear ROI.
Strategic Program Leadership
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.
Operational Excellence & Change Management
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.
Stakeholder Engagement & Communication
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.
Skills, Knowledge and Abilities
Strategic leadership across the organization, translating business objectives into scalable, measurable initiatives.
Influence and align senior leaders and executives to deliver enterprise‑wide outcomes.
Proven track record of leading large‑scale transformation and change initiatives with sustained adoption.
Expertise in leveraging enterprise analytics, financial insight, and structured decision frameworks to address complex business challenges.
Strategic integrator across IT, Operations, Finance and Commercial teams, clarifying trade‑offs and driving alignment.
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.
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.
Partner with technology leaders to set strategic direction for systems that enable scalable enterprise operations.
Design enterprise‑ready solutions that meet current needs while enabling future organizational maturity.
Evolve enterprise capabilities over time, balancing pragmatism with long‑term strategic intent.
Education and Experience
Bachelor’s degree in Business, Marketing, Operations, or related field. Master’s 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”).
Project Management Professional certification and Project Management Office Certified Practitioner heavily preferred.
Previous experience in Logistics, Supply Chain or Food Distribution heavily preferred.
Exceptional communication and presentation skills.
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).
Physical Requirements
Must be able to lift and/or move up to 20 pounds, sit frequently and travel frequently.
Typical office environment; rarely exposed to outside weather conditions.
Noise level typically low to moderate.
Requisition ID: 2026-28700
Equal Employment Opportunity Statement KeHE Distributors provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits all forms of discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, color, religion or faith, sex, gender, age, ancestry, national origin, mental or physical disability or medical condition, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, military or veteran status, genetic information, or any other category protected under federal, state, or local law. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training as well as the administration of all Human Resources and Talent Acquisition processes.
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