Sr Progrm Manager Returns Carriers, Worldwide Returns and Recommerce - Reverse Logistics Services
# Senior Program Manager, Cost & Carrier Integration – WW Reverse Logistics Services
## About the Team
Amazon's Worldwide Returns and ReCommerce (WWRR) team invents bold solutions in sustainable transportation and returns experiences that create trust and value for customers, selling partners, and shippers and benefit people and the planet.
We are an agile, innovative organization dedicated to "The Four Zeros". We constantly invent to delight customers and create long-term value while encouraging the reuse of returned product and reducing product waste. WWRR includes the full complement of business, product, program, operational, data, and software engineering teams, who work together to identify and remove defects that cause returns, reinvent the return experience, and manage the lifecycle of returned, overstock, and damaged products, with the objective of throwing nothing away.
## Role Overview
In this role within WW Reverse Logistics Services, you will own end-to-end transportation cost strategy and carrier integration across a portfolio of 6–7 carriers, including carrier-managed stores, and last-mile delivery partners. You will lead technology integrations to launch new carriers, and drive cost optimization across the US reverse logistics network.
This is a senior role within the level, requiring strategic thinking, cross-organizational influence, and the ability to operate autonomously in ambiguous, high-impact problem spaces. You will work closely with business stakeholders and technology teams across Amazon to develop scalable solutions for complex carrier and cost challenges. This role represents the are to the senior leadership regularly.
## Key Job Responsibilities
- **Own end-to-end transportation cost strategy** – Develop deep understanding of both 1P (first-party) and 3P (third-party) cost structures across the full reverse logistics lifecycle—from customer initiation through carrier pickup, sortation, and final disposition. Conduct 3P cost assessments, benchmarking external carrier rates against internal capabilities to identify optimization opportunities. Identify cost reduction initiatives by analyzing cost trends, blended rates, carrier mix, and network inefficiencies. Program manage cost workstreams across multiple carrier teams, driving alignment on shared objectives and timelines. Collaborate with Amazon carrier teams to conduct opportunity identification, influence roadmaps, and co-develop solutions that reduce cost while maintaining customer experience. Provide data-driven inputs and cost analyses to inform contract negotiations with external carriers.
- **Manage cost as a core business metric** – Own cost reporting and insights across all business reviews (WBR, MBR, QBR). Ensure cost performance is tracked, communicated, and actioned at every level—surfacing variances, root causes, and corrective actions to senior leadership on a regular cadence.
- **Lead carrier integrations and define success metrics** – Manage technology integrations for new carrier launches, ensuring technical and operational readiness across internal and external systems. Establish pre-defined launch success criteria across all CX, operational, quality, and traceability parameters. Ensure every carrier integration achieves a successful launch against these criteria before transitioning to steady-state operations excellence and performance management.
- **Drive program objectives and define key performance indicators** – Provide program management, define project plans, manage implementation activities, and develop processes, documentation, and communications for carrier integration rollouts and ongoing support. Develop and own metrics for cost, CX, loss, traceability, quality, and pickup success; track delivery against program objectives and SLAs.
- **Scale services and tools** – Design processes and procedures that scale with business growth in volume, complexity, and marketplace across carrier-managed stores and pickup networks.
- **Drive resolution of critical issues** – Support processes/systems deep dives to ensure root cause analysis and correction resulting in improved customer experience and cost outcomes.
- **Communicate programs and results** – Present new/updated programs, policies, and carrier strategies to senior leadership, employees, and cross-functional organizations.
- 5+ years of program or project management experience with technology usage
- Experience using data and metrics to determine and drive improvements
- Experience owning program strategy, end-to-end delivery, and communicating results to senior leadership
- Experience managing carrier relationships and/or transportation
- Demonstrated ability to influence cross-functional teams and drive alignment without direct authority
- 4+ years of driving process improvements experience
- 1+ years of complex Excel model or proprietary technology management experience
- Basic comfort with SQL query
- Experience with transportation management systems, carrier integration platforms, or logistics technology
- Knowledge of reverse logistics, returns processing, or last-mile delivery operations
- Master's degree, or MBA in business, operations, supply chain, or related field
Pillar 1: Transportation Cost Strategy & Optimization
This pillar represents the strategic core of the role—owning the end-to-end cost picture across the US reverse logistics network. The Senior PM develops deep understanding of both 1P and 3P cost structures across the full returns lifecycle, from customer initiation through carrier pickup, sortation, and final disposition. This includes conducting 3P cost assessments and benchmarking external carrier rates against internal capabilities, analyzing Cost per unit trends, blended rates, carrier mix, and network inefficiencies to identify and prioritize cost reduction initiatives. The role provides data-driven inputs and cost analyses to inform contract negotiations with external carriers, and collaborates with Amazon carrier teams to influence roadmaps and co-develop solutions that reduce cost while maintaining customer experience. This pillar demands analytical rigor, financial acumen, and the ability to connect operational levers to P&L outcomes.
Pillar 2: Carrier Integration & Launch Excellence
This pillar covers the end-to-end ownership of integrating new carriers into the reverse logistics ecosystem—from technical readiness through to successful launch. The Senior PM manages technology integrations across internal and external systems, ensuring operational, technical, and CX readiness before go-live. A critical component is establishing pre-defined launch success criteria across CX, operational, quality, and traceability parameters, and holding each integration accountable to those criteria before transitioning to steady-state operations excellence and performance management. This pillar requires deep cross-functional coordination with technology, operations, and business teams, and the ability to manage complexity across six to seven carriers simultaneously while maintaining high launch quality standards.
Pillar 3: Business Reviews & Performance Management
This pillar anchors the role's accountability for cost and carrier performance as core business metrics. The Senior PM owns cost reporting and insights across all business review cadences—WBR, MBR, and QBR—ensuring cost performance is tracked, communicated, and actioned at every level. This includes surfacing variances, identifying root causes, and driving corrective actions with senior leadership on a regular cadence. Beyond cost, the role develops and owns metrics for CX, loss, traceability, quality, and pickup success, tracking delivery against program objectives and SLAs. This pillar ensures that performance data drives decisions, that issues are caught early through leading indicators, and that the organization maintains a clear line of sight between operational execution and business outcomes.
A day in the life
- **Drive program objectives** – define project plans, manage implementation activities, and develop processes and communications for program rollout and ongoing support
- **Scale services and tools** – design processes that scale with business growth in volume, complexity, and marketplace
- **Define key performance indicators** – develop metrics and SLAs for core programs, and track delivery against objectives
- **Communicate** new/updated programs, policies, and processes to leaders and cross-functional organizations
- **Drive resolution of critical issues** – support deep dives to ensure root cause analysis and correction
- **Negotiate** efficient and reliable processes across partner teams to systematically eliminate dependencies and defects
Basic Qualifications
- Experience using data and metrics to determine and drive improvements
- 3+ years of program or project management experience
- Experience owning program strategy, end to end delivery, and communicating results to senior leadership
Preferred Qualifications
- 2+ years of driving process improvements experience
- Master's degree, or MBA in business, operations, human resources, adult education, organizational development, instructional design or related field
- Knowledge of general AI tools
- Experience designing, implementing, and scaling upskilling, apprenticeship, or workforce development programs across large-scale operations or corporate environments, including forecasting workforce needs and leveraging analytics to drive program decisions
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The base salary range for this position is listed below. Your Amazon package will include sign-on payments and restricted stock units (RSUs). Final compensation will be determined based on factors including experience, qualifications, and location. Amazon also offers comprehensive benefits including health insurance (medical, dental, vision, prescription, Basic Life & AD&D insurance and option for Supplemental life plans, EAP, Mental Health Support, Medical Advice Line, Flexible Spending Accounts, Adoption and Surrogacy Reimbursement coverage), 401(k) matching, paid time off, and parental leave. Learn more about our benefits at https://amazon.jobs/en/benefits.
USA, WA, Bellevue - 115,600.00 - 160,000.00 USD annually