Head of OEM Business Development

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 Role:

This is a newly formed role working for the SVP of Enterprise Accounts and focused on matching CARS most innovative capabilities with emerging OEM objectives. Your ambitious thinking will be a catalyst for bold new partnerships with OEMs. You will develop, design and negotiate complex and first of their kind deals. The work will require close coordination with the Product and Engineering teams, as well as other stakeholder teams including National Advertising Sales, Marketing, Operations, and more. By expanding our network of relationships within each OEM to pilot new concepts and build new commercial models, you will harness innovation, delight our customers, and spark growth. 

You will bring equal parts creativity and rigorous, analytical thinking to deliver simple solutions for complicated customer problems. Your vision and innovative deal making will lead to negotiations which may be unconventional in nature, and have implications across multiple CARS business units. You will be highly visible at the most senior levels of CARS, and you will need to work collaboratively with internal teams to understand and influence roadmaps by making convincing, data-based arguments. A strong sense of ownership, drive, and entrepreneurial spirit are musts.

Responsibilities:

• Build new revenue and drive company growth through innovative deals with OEMs using your gravitas, resilience and salesmanship 
• Measure success in OEM market penetration, customer success and satisfaction, speed to market, and ultimately enterprise value creation
• Start by considering CARS company strengths with in-market audiences, content, data, auto fintech, digital retailing and website technology
• Get to senior-level OEM stakeholders to identify opportunities for our media and technology platform to respond to needs and unlock growth
• Open doors with your existing OEM relationships and by working with senior leaders at CARS 
• Gather the best new ideas or dormant projects
• Create business cases for the top opportunities that create value for customers, and correspond with big market segments
• Think across automotive tiers to bridge strategies, break traditional silos and influence the industry 
• Champion and assert a point of view, navigating around anchored beliefs internally and externally
• Drive and iterate with partners and internal teams to execute data-driven pilot programs
• Stay lean while innovating, iterating and demonstrating a true willingness to pay from OEM customers; stitch together clear, positive outcomes
• Build teams to scale programs that satisfy prove to meet market demand, and grow new lines of business

Qualifications:

• 10+ years creating business development and strategic partnerships, including substantial direct experience with automotive OEM businesses
• Bachelor’s degree and l