Cars.com is a leader in the automotive digital marketplace. Since 1997, we have built our brand to preeminent status in the industry. While enjoying great stability we continue to grow and innovate. Cars.com offers modern digital products for our consumers and customers using cutting-edge lean-agile techniques. When you are a part of the Cars team you have opportunities, unique in Chicago, to lead and grow.

Our highly-engaged workforce enjoys a challenging job, opportunities to learn, our dedication to work/life balance, wellness and career growth as well as a rich set of employee programs. We’re big enough to provide abundant resources and small enough for you to make an immediate impact.

Our Program Managers partner across the organization, including Product, Technology, Marketing, and Sales, to drive Cars growth strategy initiatives. It’s a critical and highly visible role and you will be responsible for ensuring objectives and performance measures are clear, communications are thorough, teams are organized for success, barriers are proactively knocked down, and learnings and successes are celebrated and shared.

Our Program Managers:

• Co-own, with initiative owners and teams, the successful outcome of multiple strategic initiatives.
• Choose the right project management approach. Cars uses lean-agile approaches, waterfall approaches, and blends depending on the problem we are solving.
• Manage timelines, deliverables, scope and definition of done for initiatives.
• Are agile evangelists who challenge teams to live Cars.com Lean Principles.
• Create the forums needed for effective decision-making and information sharing.
• Ensure high levels of transparency, communication, and alignment via progress reporting and key decision communications.
• Establish and drive organizational change strategy for transformative initiatives.
• Ensure we don’t forget what we’ve learned creating and storing key documentation.
• Lead the team through identification, communication, and resolution of risks, barriers and resource gaps.
• Help draft training framework/methodology materials and deliver training.

We are looking for a Program Manager who:

• Works up, down, and across the organization – is as comfortable and effective with the c-suite as they are with cross-functional development teams
• Love to communicate and leap from status reports to presentations in a single bound
• Can quickly establish credibility and earn the trust of all team members and senior leadership
• Can anticipate, mitigate, and resolve conflicts
• Is adaptable to changing needs of the business maintaining composure and positivity under stress
• Is a project leader who asks for and drives accountability
• Comfortably and respectfully challenge status quo thinking
• Is self-driven and able to work with minimal supervision in a dynamic and tight deadline environment
• Is a skilled facilitator
• Has strong analytical and problem solving skills with a high attention to detail
• Has proven ability to lead and work through others via strong interpersonal and influencing skills

Required Experience:

• Bachelor's degree or combination of relevant education and experience of 10+ years.
• 5+ years Program Management experience in a technology, digital, software or other complex environments.
• Experience working with Agile-Lean software development methodologies, principles, and techniques plus experience with traditional project management methods.
• Organizational Change Management and process improvement/implementation experience.
• Experience working with diverse and complex business functions.
• Experience in both the business and technical aspects of product launches or other high impact programs.
• Consulting experience is preferred.
• Experience managing programs or projects within a product development environment is preferred.
• Scrum Master, PMP or PgMP certifications are preferred.