Operations Key Account Manager

Location: Belleville

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.

ROLE SUMMARY The Operational Key Account Manager (OKAM) is the performance owner of a portfolio of Ascent’s most important key account customers. The role is accountable for end-to-end service performance — SLAs, KPIs, continuous improvement, and cost-to-serve — across the assigned accounts. The OKAM runs the day-to-day operational cadence, owns issue resolution, and ensures Ascent delivers consistent, measurable execution on the commercial commitments made by the Growth KAM.

Working closely with Operations, Control Tower, IT, and Finance, the OKAM turns performance data into customer-facing insight and continuous improvement — a hands-on, execution-focused role for a disciplined operational leader.

KEY ACTIVITIES The six most important activities of the role:

Own Day-to-Day Service Performance — Accountable for SLA/KPI delivery (OTIF, TTFB, claims, win/capture) across the assigned account portfolio; run the weekly and monthly operational cadence with the customer.

Drive Continuous Improvement & Savings — Lead the CI roadmap for each account — identify systemic issues, deliver measurable cost-to-serve and OTIF improvements, and convert performance trends into documented savings.

Lead Root-Cause Analysis & CAPA — Own issue resolution, root-cause investigation, and corrective/preventive action for escalations; close the loop with Operations and the customer on sustainable fixes.

Maintain SOPs & Operational Governance — Design, maintain, and govern the account SOPs; ensure cross-regional consistency and smooth onboarding of new lanes, modes, or scopes awarded by the Growth KAM.Deliver Performance Visibility via Power BI — Own the customer’s KPI dashboards and scorecards; turn Power BI data into structured performance narratives for internal reviews and customer QBRs.Coordinate Cross-Functional Execution — Act as the central bridge between the customer’s operational teams, Ascent Operations, Control Tower, IT, and Finance;

ensure one coordinated service delivery for the customer.

WHAT YOU WILL BRINGThe successful candidate brings the following qualifications, experience, and education:

Freight forwarding experience is required

Experience with Cargo Wise is preferredA valid passport is a plus Candidates must be based in the Belleville area and able to work onsite with the customer as needed

Work Experience6+ years of progressive operational experience in logistics, supply chain, or freight forwarding — with a proven track record of managing complex, multi-modal customer accounts.

Demonstr…