Cars.com is seeking a seasoned online advertising Principal Product Manager to transform our banner ad strategy & business from one focused on display into more native ad experiences.  The Principal Product Manager will develop a short and long-term strategy that meets the growing needs of our advertising customers and creates elegant online experiences for consumers.  This role will also be responsible for seeing the strategy come to life across Cars.com’s entire online consumer experience, including mobile apps.  We’re looking for a strategic leader and visionary that will create an optimal customer-first advertising experience while maximizing existing and future revenue opportunities.    

This person will work closely with the Cars Executive Team in building the vision for native advertising and transforming the site to accommodate that vision.  They will need to garner support for their strategy from the top-down and execute against it once fully supported.  To do so, they will have a dedicated team of designers and engineers, and be responsible for ideating on product concepts, taking them from napkin sketches through commercial release in a lean development framework.  The PPM will monitor OEM and auto dealer customer needs, the competitive landscape, and industry trends to create and execute a compelling product roadmap in close cooperation with Sales, Marketing, Analytics, Engineering and Product Marketing. 

This role calls for a mini-CEO collaborative leader that has great communication skills, a vision and passion for innovative native ad experiences as well as a keen eye towards future revenue growth.  Preferably, this candidate has extensive Ad Tech, online publishing and/ or advertising start-up experience.  Mobile Apps experience will be a major plus to anyone applying for this role.  They should have a very keen eye towards monetization while also ensuring the consumer experience is optimal. 

Key Responsibilities Include:

• Lead the development of a compelling native advertising strategy and product vision for Cars.com on responsive and mobile app properties

 

• Create top-down buy-in from the Chief Revenue Officer to local sales reps for that vision and strategy

 

• Develop and maintain a roadmap of ad offerings that provide unique and sustainable competitive differentiation, working within a lean agile product development environment

 

• Work with all functions across the organization to test, build, bring to market, and grow revenue with advertising products that will meet internal business objectives and the needs of OEM and local dealer customers

 

• Play a key role in the division’s strategic direction, defining and articulating new opportunities, and working in close concert with key stakeholders, including senior leadership, Cars.com technology, design and various business teams, to articulate specific goals

 

• Gather and unearth unmet customer needs through research, data analysis, user experience analysis and testing, competitive research and other relevant tools

 

• Envision, articulate and prioritize a long-term product strategy and roadmap designed to achieve these goals

 

• Clearly communicate strategy and goals to project teams and ensure delivery against them

 

• Deliver on rigorous, quantifiable business objectives in a matrixed, flat organization.

 

• Closely partner with engineering and design to define problems and solutions, requirements and prioritization

 

 #LI-KG1

• Minimum of 10-years product management or product strategy equivalent experience delivering online advertising products to market

 

• Demonstrated experience building ad solutions beyond display ads (Native, Sponsored, Campaigns, Video, Targeting, Etc.)

 

• Deep understanding of the ever-evolving Ad Tech landscape, metrics and industry trends

 

• Experience in contextualizing ad solutions for websites and mobile apps platforms

 

• Demonstrated ability to maximize revenue & ad slot yield on industry specific sites

 

• Extensive experience leading cross-functional teams in new product launches. Ability to manage release-readiness programs across internal and external stakeholders including product/engineering, sales/account, support, operations, and marketing function

 

• Excellent communication and presentation skills with the ability to speak the language of technology and business teams

 

• Comfortable presenting to senior leadership with strong attention to detail and the ability to see and explain the big picture

 

• Strong technical background and familiarity with Agile development methodologies, preferably in a Lean environment

 

• Ability to work quickly and independently in a fast paced environment, make decisions, rally the troops and hit goals

 

• Demonstrated willingness to dig in and get things done

 

• Not afraid of testing, learning, and iterating in a lean, flat and autonomous structure

 

• Ready and able to start on Day 1 with a blank whiteboard and plenty of sharpies