Director, Program Management Office
Jennifer Howe
I build the operating models that let technology organizations deliver enterprise transformation at scale.
I build the operating models that let technology organizations deliver enterprise transformation at scale.
As Director of the Program Management Office at Ascent Global Logistics, I built the function from zero. My team spans Program Management, Product, UX, Business Analysis, QA, and Scrum under a single accountability structure, governing a $10M+ project portfolio inside Ascent's $30M IT budget. Several of my direct reports are people leaders themselves. The standards we wrote for intake, RAID, gate reviews, and business case templates are now the enterprise default for major initiatives.
I started in design, moved into product, and built my way into enterprise program leadership — always by building things that didn't exist yet.
Over the last decade I've gone from establishing Ascent's first UI/UX practice, to launching its first formal product management function, to building and scaling the DesignOps practice — and then making the move into enterprise transformation when the organization needed someone who understood both the delivery system and the work inside it.
Right now I'm focused on AI enablement inside the PMO. That means embedding AI into project management, requirements development, and delivery operations, and positioning the PMO as the enterprise layer for safe, governed AI adoption across cross-IT initiatives.
Programs that reshape how the business operates, not one-off projects. Each sits inside the $10M+ portfolio I govern in partnership with the CTO and CFO.
Multi-year program collapsing six legacy TMS platforms into a single scalable system while the business continues to run on them. Executive accountable for delivery, methodology, and benefits realization across the program lifecycle.
Multi-team initiative pulling together IT, operations, and commercial requirements as the company moves into Europe. The breadth requires partnership across organizational silos and steering across functions that don't naturally talk to each other.
Built Ascent's first centralized PMO from zero. A unified function bringing Program, Product, UX, Business Analysis, QA, and Scrum disciplines under one accountability structure, deployed as a shared capability hub across the full delivery lifecycle: discovery, requirements, design, build, test, release.
Architected the program roadmap for a greenfield platform serving as the unified visibility layer for shipment tracking, event management, and exception handling across all TMS solutions — giving the business a single coherent view of supply chain operations for the first time.
How much could a non-engineer running a PMO actually do with AI augmentation? That's what I started experimenting with over the last few months. The Production Flow Dashboard is what came out of it.
I picked a pain point in my team's work. We were constantly being asked where the risks sat in the teams' workflow, where the blockers were, and how we were tracking on capacity, dwell time, and cycle time. We had Jira across all teams so the data was there. The gap was pulling a quick view that let team leads and IT leadership actually see what was happening.
So I asked Claude Code if I could build something to solve it. Together we built an internal delivery visibility platform that ingests Jira and GitHub data and gives every team a live view of where work is moving and where it's stuck. It started as a personal proof of concept, then went into production with our infrastructure team.
What started as a proof of concept ended up replacing about a day a week of manual status assembly across the IT org.
When I showed it to our CEO, he asked for an executive-level view. That became the portfolio rollup that now gives leadership a single coherent picture of what's shipping.
The Dashboard is also scaffolding for a bigger piece I'm designing now: an AI-driven product delivery model that turns traditional software development roles on their head. As the shape of the work itself changes, the Dashboard is what keeps accurate visibility into velocity, quality, and risk.
Alongside the tooling work, I built the AI governance framework for safe, secure adoption across IT — balancing experimentation velocity with data security and quality standards so teams can move fast without the organization flying blind.
Built Ascent's first centralized Integrated PMO from zero. Govern a $10M+ project portfolio within a $30M+ enterprise IT budget, partnering with the CTO and CFO on intake, prioritization, capital allocation, and benefits realization. Defined the standards, methodology, and governance framework (gate reviews, RAID standards, business case templates) that became the enterprise default for major IT initiatives.
Introduced formal Product Management to Ascent's digital portfolio for the first time — establishing the systems, cadences, and stakeholder product planning that unified product strategy across business units. Scaled the design function from a one-person operation into a cross-functional team, stood up Ascent's first cross-product design system, and partnered with the CTO, Engineering, and Marketing to take multiple products from concept to market.
Established the company's first UI/UX practice, creating design standards, component patterns, and research processes that scaled with the organization. Built a centralized marketing and branding hub and redesigned the company website grounded in user research and business growth goals.
Governed intake, prioritization, capital allocation, and benefits realization for Ascent's $10M+ project portfolio inside a $30M+ IT budget, in partnership with the CTO and CFO.
Sponsored multi-year programs that reshape how the business operates: consolidating six legacy TMS platforms into one, leading the European expansion, and modernizing the systems that generate the majority of company revenue.
Built the Product Delivery Office from zero. A unified function bringing Program, Product, UX, BA, QA/UAT, and Scrum under one accountability structure as a shared capability hub across the full lifecycle.
Embedded AI into PMO operations and built the enablement roadmap positioning the PMO as the enterprise layer for safe, governed AI adoption across cross-IT initiatives, not engineering-only experiments.
Served on the board of a regional animal welfare organization starting in 2014, driving strategy, fundraising, and community engagement to improve outcomes for animals in need.
Nearly a decade (2006–2015) fostering and caring for dogs in need. Provided temporary homes and helped animals find their forever families.
Logistics tech, building teams, the messy reality of large-scale program delivery. Always happy to connect.