Sr. Product Manager II

Posted Jul 17

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.

Lead Product Manager (Sr. Product Manager II) 

Role: The Lead Product Manager (Sr. PM II) for Consumer Monetization, will be responsible for defining a consumer centric product strategy to fuel revenue growth by surfacing and selling auto related products and services to the millions of car owners that visit our site each daily. The Lead PM for Consumer Monetization will do this by partnering closely with internal stakeholders (including Finance, Media, Marketing, and Sales), external stakeholders (near endemic partners), cross-functional teams, and other PMs to build products and features that excite, educate, and engage vehicle owners. This Lead PM will be tasked with creating a user experience that is intuitive, informative, and habit forming such that shoppers turn into long-term, repeat users throughout the full car ownership lifecycle in ways that also deliver value for cars.com and our 3rd party partners. 

This role requires a product expert that has expertise in ecommerce/online marketplaces, customer acquisition, product led growth strategies, experimentation, full funnel analytics, P&L ownership, and building products across device types (web and app) with a mobile app first mentality. This PM must be flexible, adaptable, and embrace ambiguity. The ideal candidate uses analytical tools and data to identify needle moving solutions and has a history of delivering results through 0-1 product building. Finally, this PM must have strong diplomacy and communication skills in order to drive collaboration across a broad group of stakeholders (internal and external) to deliver a shared business goal.

Scope: As a Senior Product Manager at Cars Commerce, you will help solve challenges unique to our multi-sided marketplace by leading innovation and value delivery for business critical and complex product(s) while also mentoring/coaching other Product Managers. You will work with a cross-functional group of designers, engineers, researchers and analysts to unlock creativity, collaboration, and innovation to form and execute a best-in-class 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. 

You have strong customer empathy and make product decisions based on both qualitative and quantitative customer and business data; optimizing for ROI and driving bottom-line/top-line performance. You are a natural collaborator and communicator who has a track record of building positive relationships across broad, diverse organizations. You are a creative problem solver, a role model to other PMs, and an executor driven by positive outcomes for our users and our business. You demonstrate trust in and dedication to our vision, mission and values. 

Essential Functions: 

  • Define and deliver the roadmap for your product(s).
  • Be a hands on coach, mentor and role model to more junior Product Managers, while also building best in class products for your customers.
  • Understand shoppers' and sellers’ problems in detail and ensure the problems are clearly defined and prioritized - making tradeoffs between scope, cost, schedule and business benefits to ensure tech resources are always focused on the highest impact work.
  • 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.
  • Contribute to team level KPIs/OKRs, define product KPIs/OKRs, and monitor/manage product health and achievement toward those KPIs/OKRs.
  • Establish effective, trusting relationships with key internal and external partners.
  • Establish yourself as an expert and thought leader in your specific product space.
  • Communicate roadmaps, updates and key accomplishments effectively and broadly throughout the organization.
  • Work across other internal teams to establish clear interconnected roadmaps and drive alignment on intersection points. 

Minimum Qualifications:

  • Bachelor’s degree in business, computer science, or economics, or related field, or equivalent work experience. 
  • At least 7 years of experience as a product manager (across mobile app and web).
  • Product Visionary: You possess a deep understanding of UX design principles and a proven ability to implement product experimentation, including A/B testing and user testing. You excel in guiding products from strategy to delivery, demonstrating a solid grasp of core product management concepts, lean development, and agile practices.
  • Analytical Strategist: You're adept at leveraging analytical tools like SQL, Redshift, Amplitude, or Excel to evaluate product usage and conversion rates. You transform data into actionable growth strategies, utilizing Split and other A/B testing tools to guide product decisions.
  • General Manager: With both GM and product leadership experience, you have the ability to transform the current customer experience to define and achieve future business objectives. You understand financial statements and business line P&Ls, using this knowledge to guide strategic decisions that drive growth.
  • User-Centric Media Maven: You’ re experienced in generating revenue through retail media ad products while maintaining a seamless user experience. You prioritize non-intrusive ad placements, optimize the user journey, and tailor content to be relevant to customers, achieving increased ad revenue without compromising user satisfaction.
  • Gamification Guru: Your ability to build rewarding and habit forming user experiences to drive customer acquisition, activation, and retention have resulted in significant results through product-led growth strategies.
  • Inquisitive and Driven: Your passion for understanding consumers and growing the business is contagious, motivating you to dive deep into data to uncover insights.
  • Product Insight Prodigy: You have a knack for identifying consumer needs and creating straightforward, effective solutions. You use both qualitative and quantitative insights to guide your product decisions.
  • Master Communicator and Collaborator: Your strong communication and interpersonal skills allow you to build relationships, navigate divergent viewpoints, and influence stakeholders at all levels.

Nice to Have Qualifications:

  • MBA or other advanced degree.
  • Experience working in e-commerce, retail, marketplaces, transportation, logistics, or a related sector.
  • Experience with Amplitude and/or Split.

#LI-REMOTE; #LI-AK2

In the spirit of pay transparency, we are excited to share the base salary range for this position which is not inclusive of bonuses, benefits or other forms of compensation that the position may be eligible for. If you are hired at Cars Commerce, your final base salary compensation will be determined based on factors such as skills and/or experience. If the salary range is close to what you're seeking, then we encourage you to apply and learn more about the total compensation package for this position.

Salary Range

$149,800—$187,300 USD

Our Comprehensive Benefits Package includes:

  • Medical, Dental & Vision Healthcare Plans
  • 401(k) with Company Match + Immediate Vesting
  • New Hire Stipend for Home Office Set-Up
  • Employee Stock Purchase Program
  • Generous PTO
  • Refuel - a service based recognition program where employees receive additional paid time away to learn grow and reset
  • Paid Holidays, Floating Holiday, Volunteer Day, Recharge Day
  • Learn more about our Benefits, Perks, & Culture on our LinkedIn Life Pages!

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity at our company. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status. California Applicants: Click here to review our California Privacy Policy for Applicants. For current employees, please click here to review our California Privacy Policy for Employees.