The Operations Integration team acts as the liaison between Operations and the rest of the Cars.com organization. This team of Business Analysts manages plans to integrate new products, business processes, and systems into existing Operations standard procedures. The Ops Business Analyst is serves as Operations’ voice on various cross-functional teams through product development lifecycle, including post launch tracking and maintenance, coordination of project objectives, requirements, and milestones. Each analyst is responsible for 4-5 high visibility Product initiatives. You will be expected to become an expert regarding the products and initiatives with which you are aligned.

Responsibilities:

• Ensure Ops readiness for new experiments/product launches and provide business insights from the Operations team to business partners throughout the wider organization.
• Participate in daily stand-ups with Product teams to stay connected to changes in scope, changes to requirements, and progress towards milestones.
• Work with stakeholders within Ops to design workflows and to identify risks in order to prepare for high-visibility experiments, pilots, and launches. Communicate risks and propose solutions to cross-functional stakeholders.
• Gather and communicate end-user feedback throughout Agile Development Cycle, write defects in Jira and assist in prioritizing user stories in the backlog. Maintain a positive, efficient working relationship with Tier 2 to escalate defects to Product teams as appropriate.
• Be a champion for all experiments and initiatives. Convey value and KPIs to Ops and throughout the wider organization. Facilitate connections between various departments to access data points that drive KPI’s for a given product, based on deep understanding of product and business needs.
• Collaborate with Product Marketing and Sales Training to coordinate messaging.
• Collaborate with Ops Training to create effective documentation. Lead training as necessary for product releases.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to create business cases for new initiatives.
• Consult Product teams when establishing vendor agreements to ensure support of Operations requirements. Work with vendors to support ongoing product initiatives, to escalate issues, to enhance offerings and to improve processes.
• Lead cross-functional Operations SME group discussions to assist with special projects and initiate a feedback method.

Key Competencies:

Business Acumen: You will develop a deep understanding of how the business works and of dependencies between various departments. All aspects of the business must be considered during experiments and releases. You will be expected to identify business needs and take initiative to meet them.

Dealing with Ambiguity: You will be comfortable handling risk and uncertainty. You can shift gears easily and can decide and act without having the total picture.

Command Skills: This role requires excellent presentation and communication skills. As such, you will be comfortable presenting to peers, CFTs, and senior leadership. As Ops’ voice, you won’t be afraid to express an unpopular viewpoint if necessary.

Background:

• Demonstrated critical thinking. Strong attention to detail with a thorough and creative approach to problem solving.
• Strong customer service and interpersonal skills. Ability to balance business and customer needs to ensure that experiments and releases are executed smoothly across the organization.
• Ability to thrive in a collaborative environment, yet comfortable working independently.
• 2-5 years project management or business process experience, or equivalent time in an operational role with a proven record of success.
• Technically-minded individuals preferred. Should be able to understand basic web technologies as they relate to the Cars.com product suite.
• Proficiency in MS Office; Confluence, JIRA, Salesforce preferred.