Strategic Lead, Digital Performance & Retention

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, our reputation-based digital wholesale auction marketplace, Dealerclub, 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 Challengeand 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.

The Strategic Lead, Digital Performance & Retention is a pivotal leadership role designed to spearhead our 2026 growth strategy in the Quebec market. Reporting directly to the Vice President of Sales, you will be the steward of regional sales efficiency and retention, balancing aggressive market expansion while fortifying our data-driven retention framework through a revolutionary support structure and constant field presence.

In this role, you will redefine how we interact with our dealer partners. You are managing a unique concept; by creating and overseeing the Strategic Performance Manager function, you will transform our market approach from transactional sales to a more consultative performance ecosystem, empowering our sales representatives to excel while supporting the groups and dealers strategy.

You are optimizing a high-performance engine where product demonstrations, performance reviews, and pipeline management are executed with surgical precision. Your mission is to ensure that Cars Commerce solutions encompassing D2C Media, remain the undisputed benchmark for digital profitability in the Canadian automotive landscape while maximizing revenue, product adoption, and client retention.

Main Responsibilities:

• Strategic Leadership & Retention: Architect and execute a robust retention strategy for the Quebec market, ensuring 2026 growth targets are met by minimizing churn and maximizing Customer Lifetime Value).

• Operating Model Design: Launch and refine a formalized, repeatable retention model, segmenting accounts by risk, growth potential, and product penetration.

• Performance Ecosystem Management: Oversee the delivery of high-level performance reviews and data-driven audits. Orchestrate the transition of dealers toward a unified architecture, replacing third-party tools with the integrated Cars Commerce suite to maximize data synergies and the platform’s multiplier effect.

• Sales Enablement & Support: Act as the technical and strategic "closer" by supporting representatives in complex team demonstrations, high-stakes presentations, and technical deep dives into product integration. Lead ROI demonstrations and competitor replacement scenarios.

Performance & Operational Excellence

• Performance-Profitability Liaison: Establish a clear correlation between digital metrics and dealership accounting performance to prove the direct impact of solutions on gross profit and operational efficiency.

• Strategic Rep Coaching: Define the operational framework and priority objectives for representatives to ensure measurable improvement in sales conversion and the speed of product penetration within the current customer base.

• Pipeline & Execution Excellence: Maintain rigorous control over the sales pipeline, ensuring consistent movement and high conversion rates while preserving the integrity of the regional structure.

• Crisis Leadership: Serve as the final escalation authority for high-risk strategic accounts, deploying technical, pricing, and product-mix strategies to stabilize revenue.

Market Mastery & Collaboration

• D2C Media Product Mastery: Act as the subject matter expert for the D2C Media suite, ensuring the seamless deployment and optimal usage of websites, lead management tools, and digital advertising synchronization.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work in lockstep with regional sales teams to identify market opportunities, competitive threats, and product gaps.

• Market Protection: Identify early warning signs regarding retention and intervene proactively before revenue erosion impacts regional financial statements.

• Group-Level Relations: Act as the primary expert for major dealer groups in Quebec, leading multi-rooftop negotiations and master service agreements.

• Market Intelligence: Monitor competitive dynamics in Quebec and proactively adjust value positioning and pricing strategies.

About You:

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Marketing, Information Technology, or a related field.

• Market Knowledge: Deep understanding of the Quebec automotive ecosystem, including dealer group dynamics and regional market specificities.

• Digital Proficiency: Expert-level knowledge of CRM integrations, Inventory Management Systems (IMS), AI products, and Google Analytics (GA4) within an automotive context, coupled with the ability to translate data into actionable financial insights.

• Leadership Experience: 5+ years of experience demonstrating leadership skills and senior expertise within automotive digital retail; proven track record of leading teams through organizational change or the creation of new strategic functions.

• Communication Skills: Demonstrated strong communication skills and bilingualism. Full fluency in both French and English is essential to bridge local execution with national strategy.

• Strategic Mindset: Ability to balance "boots on the ground" execution with long-term financial planning and retention modeling.

• Executive Presence: Proven ability to influence dealership owners, dealer groups, and internal executives.

• Networking: An established network of key decision-makers across major Quebecois dealership groups.

• Strategic Forecasting: Ability to deliver high-fidelity monthly and quarterly forecasts to the VP of Sales, identifying risks in the retention funnel before they manifest in the financials.

​Preferred: 

• D2C Media Expertise: Previous hands-on experience or deep technical familiarity with the D2C Media platform, including its websites, AI products, VBDC, AccuTrade, SEM campaigns, and specialized automotive CMS.

• Advanced Analytics: Proven experience in predictive modeling for customer churn and implementing advanced attribution models within the automotive digital marketing sector.

• Tech-Stack Savvy: Comprehensive familiarity with the Google marketing and cloud technology suites.

• Advanced Education: An MBA or professional certification in Digital Transformation is considered a significant asset

Our Comprehensive Benefits Package includes:

• Medical, Dental & Vision Healthcare Plans

• New Hire Stipend for Home Office Set-Up

• Generous PTO

• Paid Holidays, Floating Holiday, Volunteer Day, Recharge Day

Learn more about our Benefits, Perks, & Culture on our LinkedIn Life Pages!

For US-based Positions: Applicants must be authorized to work in the United States. Please note that we are unable to sponsor employment visas at this time.
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