Dealer.com
The Operations Manager at Dealer.com is responsible for bringing eCommerce expertise to Cox Automotive’s marketplace businesses, focusing specifically on Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book. This is a consumer and client facing role that will work closely with the recently launched Esntial Commerce platform, the Automotive industry’s first automated, scalable B2B2C eCommerce solution for Used Car sales. The role will be responsible for testing into, and ultimately managing, large volumes of transactions in partnership with our clients (Dealership groups) and act as an independent operator for credit and lending-related matters in the eCommerce automotive sales category. The Operations Manager will oversee day-to-day operations for financing and order fulfillment; from ensuring deal jacket compliance to negotiating with lenders.
This role will be critical to Cox Automotive’s growth and mission to provide its clients with new capabilities and its customers with quick and accessible financing options. The ideal candidate is solution-oriented and can follow intricate processes while improving them. This individual will also be asked to help develop strategies and actions to help our Marketplace clients leverage Esntial’s eCommerce capabilities most effectively. This will include participating in Beta and Pilot product launches, and collaborating with Operations, Product and Engineering to translate eCommerce best practices and learnings from partner Dealers into elements of our product roadmap, actively drive the acceleration of our experimentation efforts, and driving growth for our clients.
While this role is open to traditional F&I managers, this is not a commission-based role. It is fully remote and may require infrequent travel.
Ideal candidates will be located in the Eastern or Central time zones.
This individual will have the following responsibilities:
- Contribute to customer and client satisfaction by consistently meeting and/or exceeding expectations and commitments by providing a high level of customer service and solving customer problems quickly and effectively.
- Operational coordinator for all entities under the finance purview included but not limited to contracting, administration, and incident escalation.
- Follow procedural methods to clearly and concisely close deal jackets for the finance transactional process; works in tandem with a titling and compliance teams to keep processes within our legal and ethical boundaries.
- Advise accordingly on purchase options from cash to partner-financing.
- Act as a liaison for active deals ensuring all aspects work for both dealer clients & consumers.
- Provides daily oversight on financial approval reviews.
- Will improve and expand training to promote KYC (Know Your Customer) protocols for risk mitigation.
- Monitors deals post-sale to ensure funding is ‘distributed’ and fully funded without interruption.
- Will work with management to improve and maintain compliance processes.
- Familiarity with post-sale funding and work with accounting to ensure deal payments are filed.
- Provides oversight on Warranty & GAP registration products and processes, registrations, refunds, & compliance.
- Provides a solution-oriented approach to non-textbook deals or incidents which lack protocol.
- Work closely with operations team, client, account manager, product, and other cross-functional teams as required to meet the client’s needs.
- Proactive communication to consumers and dealer clients on operations status updates.
- Maintains strong working knowledge of operations status and follow up in relation to SLAs.
- Review of Process gaps and writing of change control documentation.
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s degree in a related discipline and 6 years experience in a related field. The right candidate could also have a different combination, such as a master’s degree and 4 years experience; a Ph.D. and 1 year of experience; or 10 years experience in a related field
Preferred Qualifications:
- Strong knowledge of Autotrader and aftermarket products.
- Experience in eCommerce space, either with a Retailer, Branded Manufacturer or Platform
- Proven track record of scaling a dealership’s eCommerce business.
- Experience leading and influencing cross functional partners.
- Proven record of accomplishment in building relationships and process improvement.
- Ability to read/understand a credit report.
- Analytics and risk mitigation/ Analytical and problem-solving skills.
- Strong communication, leadership, and interpersonal skills.
- Organizational, time/task management skills. Ability to prioritize, multi-task, and meet deadlines required.
- Comfort in making sales over the phone, dealing with new situations, and managing difficult conversations and external relationships.
- Show initiative with a results orientation while showing a strong individual drive and the ability to act jointly within a team.
- Competency in using web-based software including Salesforce, Microsoft Office, and DealerTrack.
- Ability to embrace gaps in rules/processes, solve problems and think strategically.
- Travel: 5-10%
This role is full-time. You may be placed on a rotating schedule due to the necessity of this role seven days a week.