Job Description
Sr. Manager, Technical Program Management
Location: United States, Remote
Be essential at Cars Commerce
At Cars Commerce, we’re fanatical about simplifying everything about car buying and selling. We do right by our customers and consumers to better connect the industry with simplified and tierless technology to enhance, measure and drive local automotive retail. Whether through our No.1 most recognized marketplace, Cars.com, our industry-leading digital experience, Dealer Inspire, our trade and appraisal technology, Accu-Trade, or our new Cars Commerce Media Network, Cars Commerce is essential for success in the automotive industry.
No one ever travels alone here: at its core, Cars Commerce is collaboration. In fact, it’s built into the very fabric of our shared values. We like to say we Rise Together putting people at the center of what we do, from consumer to customer to community. Life at Cars Commerce makes it easy when we share the ethos to be Open to All, encouraging open-minded communication because we know diverse thinking yields better outcomes. But critical to our success is Caring to Challenge and Taking Ownership, fueling a competitive spirit in a respectful environment where we think about tomorrow but act today. At our foundation, we have integrity, Doing the Right Thing, even when it’s hard. It’s our shared commitment to these values that makes Cars Commerce a place where growth becomes not only possible, but downright unavoidable.
But don’t take our word for it. As a U.S. News & World Report Best Company to Work For in 2024, we’re obsessive about the employee experience. We are among the top 20% being declared Best of our industry based on six critical factors that are important to employee wellbeing, like quality of pay, benefits, work life balance and more.
About the Position:
Dealer Inspire is a certified provider of multiple products and services within many automotive OEM programs. These certifications allow for franchise dealer enrollments and contribute significantly to the market penetration of products and revenue generated. The role of Senior Manager, Technical Program Management will lead a team of Technical Program Managers to successfully manage work pipelines necessary to maintain and grow these OEM program affiliations.
This Senior Manager will be a transformative leader and contributor to establishing a new team of Technical Program Managers. This business unit will work in direct relationships with OEM clients to manage the work request pipeline, facilitate discovery sessions, triage new work, and troubleshoot issues. Members of this team will be the technical points of contact, collaborating and interacting closely with the internal OEM Program Manager team to service each program’s needs. This team will also coordinate and build strong relationships with internal technical teams on ensuring the successful implementation and high-quality delivery of tasks.
OEM program pipelines include both routine maintenance efforts as well as the introduction of more complex integrations and large-scale projects requiring the Technical Program Management team to set expectations, evaluate priorities, understand desired outcomes and manage a project plan and roadmap to ensure smooth execution. The role of the Senior Manager will oversee these activities across programs, providing direction to team members, resolving priority conflicts, and maintaining a rollup view and roadmap of the overall work pipeline related to managing these programs. Additionally, the Senior Manager will operate in close partnership with leaders across Technology, Product, Operations, and Sales to continuously evolve and improve processes, align on priorities and timelines, discuss needed resource allocation, and provide analysis of program needs against business objectives.
The primary goals of the Senior Manager, Technical Program Management role are to balance the needs and wants of OEM programs against internal business goals and resource constraints. The ideal candidate is a proven leader with thorough experience building and maintaining high-efficiency workflows, delivery processes, and communication channels working with high-profile programs or client accounts.
Essential Job Functions:
- Direct, manage, and mentor a team of Technical Program Managers focusing on operational excellence.
- Maintain close working relationships with internal leadership across functional areas as well as with counterparts within OEM programs.
- Initiate and collaborate on goals and health metrics for OEM programs aligned with business objectives. Measure and communicate progress towards these goals.
- Apply change management to evolve program operations through the introduction of a new team of Technical Program Managers.
- Apply change, risk, and resource management to balance the needs of multiple high value programs.
- Assess and lead retrospectives on completed projects to adjust strategy and process to improve team performance.
- Maintain a roadmap of program projects and objectives, partnering with leadership to guide prioritization and resource distribution. Keep leadership informed through progress reports and risk/opportunity analysis.
- Stewards cost to serve analysis across programs, providing periodic updates and identifying programs with disproportionate cost/reward balances.
- Collaborate with leadership to create and refine strategic objectives within current and future programs.
- Accountable for understanding health scores and satisfaction across all programs, identifying areas for improvement and resolving in collaboration with the OEM program management team.
Required Skills and Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in computer sciences, software engineering, tech management, business management, project management, or similar fields or practical field experience.
- 5-8 years of experience in program, product, or project management or similar roles.
- 3-5 years of management experience with small to mid-sized teams.
- Record of successful, high value account/program management, preferably within the automotive industry.
- Thorough knowledge and proficiency in program, project management, and SDLC methodologies.
- Strong ability to balance stakeholders through negotiation and organizational savvy.
