Principal Product Manager (Platform)

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, AccuTrade, 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.

Principal Product Manager, Commerce Platform

Scope: As a Principal Product Manager, Commerce Platform at Cars Commerce, you will help deliver on our vision to provide local automotive retailers with a streamlined platform offering of interoperable components that enable retail media and vertical software solutions.  You are a strategic partner to other Cars Commerce product teams and work collaboratively to define, create, and deliver critical platform capabilities that power automotive commerce experiences across our portfolio of products.  You will work with a cross-functional group of designers, engineers, researchers and analysts to form and execute a coherent and inspiring product roadmap (including defining, validating, and prioritizing epics/initiatives). You will support the definition of product goals and strategy and will advocate core product development principles across the business.

As a Principal Product Manager, you are a creative problem solver, a role model, coach, and thought leader to other PMs, and an executor driven by positive outcomes for our users. You demonstrate trust in and dedication to our vision, mission and values. You have strong customer empathy and make product decisions based on both qualitative and quantitative customer and business data. You make decisions by optimizing for ROI and driving bottom-line/top-line performance. You have a passion for solving complex, multi-sided marketplace problems, developing strategies and roadmaps, and executing plans that create new value for our users and our business. You are a natural collaborator and communicator who has a track record of building positive relationships across a broad, diverse organization. You can establish, communicate, and gain buy-in for a vision that extends across our full ecosystem of products. 

Essential Functions: 

• Guide the creation of scalable, reusable platform solutions that enable Cars Commerce product teams to deliver differentiated and delightful experiences for car shoppers and our dealer and OEM partners.
• Champion a platform mindset across the organization and work effectively with senior engineering partners to advocate for best practices.
• Be a hands on coach, mentor and role model to all Product Managers (and provide guidance and support to product leadership), while also building best in class products for your customers.
• Consistently deliver high value and impactful work, on schedule.
• Drive real customer and business value that shows up internally and externally, regularly and predictably.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teammates to improve our processes and ensure team alignment towards goals.
• Refine and contribute to team level goals (KPIs/OKRs), through the delivery of world class products.  Measure and communicate successes and opportunities at all organizational levels.
• Establish effective, trusting relationships with