Strategic Project/Program Manager

Role Overview
The Strategic Program Manager is a skilled delivery practitioner who independently manages, strategically guides, and prepares the organization for change, enterprise transformation and/or ensures successful adoption of new software solutions (from design to delivery).
They are a consultative leader that operates with a high degree of discipline, attention to detail, and emotional intelligence. As an individual contributor, they will lead complex, cross-functional programs and bridges tactics and strategy by orchestrating readiness plans, mitigating risks, and driving stakeholder engagement.
They proactively identify risks, navigate organizational complexity, gain alignment, prepare for organizational readiness, and translate program status into clear narratives that enable faster decisions. They are expected to apply AI-powered practices to their work, contribute to the evolution of PMO standards, and model consultative behaviors. They'll operate in a highly matrixed environment in close partnership with product, engineering, marketing, performance management, sales, and business stakeholders - and are expected to influence without authority at the Director and VP level.
This role will be aligned to a specific focus area within the PMO - spanning product solution module delivery, enterprise cross-functional programs, or foundational transformation initiatives - based on organizational need and candidate fit.
Responsibilities
Prepare, Manage & Execute Programs

• Operates with a high degree of autonomy - identifies what needs to happen, drives it forward, and closes the loop without waiting to be directed.

• Independently manages complex, cross-functional projects and spanning multiple business or technical domains, owning the full lifecycle from initiation through delivery, close, and adoption.

• Works on projects / programs that have strategic importance to the business, ensuring alignment to vAuto's overall strategy.

• Translates ambiguous strategies and program objectives into actionable integrated plans, schedules, and delivery milestones; identifies dependencies, critical path, and resource needs.

• Produces and maintains high-quality program artifacts including charters, risk and issue logs, communication plans, dependency maps, and status reports calibrated to stakeholder audience.

• Manages scope, change control, and budget tracking; escalates proactively when constraints threaten delivery outcomes.

• Plays a consultative role with business partners and stakeholders to define the right approach, process, and tools for program success.

• Coordinates and leverages shared resources across concurrent workstreams or programs within their portfolio.

• Defines and implements PM standards and processes for the programs they manage; contributes to broader PMO playbooks, templates, and delivery frameworks.

• Leads structured retrospectives on programs they manage; surfaces learnings that inform continuous improvement and PMO capability-building.

• Manages third-party vendor engagements and internal partnerships - including data strategy stakeholders - as required by program delivery scope.

• Continually evaluates processes, methodologies, and tools as opportunities for innovation and efficiency.

Communicate & Engage Stakeholders

• Drives clarity and reduces uncertainty across workstreams by communicating program status, risks, and decisions proactively - calibrating message and medium to the audience and fostering open collaboration across teams.

• Produces high-quality program narratives for program sponsors and cross-functional leaders - translating execution detail into business-relevant insights that enable faster decisions.

• Establishes and maintains productive working partnerships with business owners, product leads, and technology teams.

• Identifies and escalates risks and issues with a clear point of view on mitigation; does not wait to be asked.

• Facilitates effective working sessions and decision forums at the program level, including steering and status meetings.

• Actively communicates program milestones and wins to maintain stakeholder engagement, team momentum, and PMO visibility.

• Demonstrates political acumen and interpersonal awareness; exercises sound judgment in how and when to surface issues across organizational levels.

Applies and Advances AI-Powered Delivery Practices

• Actively uses AI productivity tools to improve program delivery velocity; applies AI assistance to meeting synthesis, status reporting, risk identification, and documentation quality.

• Pilots emerging AI tools on live programs with a critical evaluation lens; produces structured assessments of productivity impact, accuracy risk, and appropriate use boundaries before recommending adoption to the broader team.

• Contributes to team AI fluency by sharing effective practices with peers and supporting PMO norms for responsible and transparent AI use.

• Maintains full alignment with Cox Automotive AI policy in all AI-assisted work; ensures program artifacts produced with AI assistance are reviewed, owned, and accountable to the PM - not treated as authoritative outputs.

Shows up as a Strategic Partner

• Comes to conversations with a point of view. Prepares recommendations before meetings, not just status updates, so stakeholders can make decisions rather than gather information.

• Approaches every program with genuine curiosity - asks 'why' before 'how,' challenges assumptions, and takes time to understand the real business problem before building a plan

• Reads the room beyond what is on the agenda. Pays attention to organizational dynamics, competing priorities, and stakeholder relationships that affect program delivery, and factors those into how they communicate and escalate.

• Reduces the decision load for senior stakeholders and administrative load for product peers. When escalating an issue, arrives with a clear framing, a recommended path forward, and the context needed to decide quickly, not a list of open questions.

• Earns trust through judgment, not just execution. Builds a reputation for being someone who will flag a problem early, give an honest read on program health, and follow through without needing to be chased.

Supports Change Readiness

• Properly accounts for external dealer change management by coordinating appropriate readiness activities and internal change management with sustainable behavioral change.

• Capable of independently handling basic Change Enablement for low complexity projects / programs, including basic impact assessments and drafting comms.

Drive Continuous Improvement & PMO Standards

• Contributes to the definition and consistent application of PMO standards, templates, and delivery practices across programs and teams.

• Identifies improvement opportunities in PM methodology, processes, and tooling; brings forward grounded, actionable recommendations to the Senior Manager.

• Supports the Senior Manager in maintaining a high-performing PMO by modeling delivery standards and contributing to team capability and culture.

Qualifications
Required

• Bachelor's degree in a technical, business, or management-related field; equivalent combination of education and experience considered.

• 4+ years of progressive program or project management experience, including demonstrated independent ownership of complex, cross-functional enterprise programs.

• Demonstrated experience managing programs with multiple concurrent workstreams, and diverse stakeholder groups.

• Strong executive communication skills; ability to synthesize complex program status into concise, decision-ready narratives for Director and VP-level audiences.

• Proven analytical skills; able to use data to track, report on, and drive program outcomes with credibility.

• Demonstrated familiarity with AI productivity tools and a genuine commitment to applying emerging technology to improve delivery performance.

• Proficiency with modern collaboration and program delivery platforms (Smartsheet, Microsoft 365, Teams, Jira or equivalent).

• Fluency in Agile, hybrid, and traditional delivery methodologies; applies the right approach based on program context.

• Proven ability to influence without direct authority in a matrixed, cross-functional environment.

Preferred

• Experience in the automotive, technology, or digital marketplace industry.

• Familiarity with portfolio-level delivery tools and PMO operating models.

• PMP, PgMP, HCD, Six Sigma, Agile certifications

• Understanding of product development lifecycle, SAFe frameworks, and engineering delivery pattern

• Automotive Retail software experience (Client Support, Program Management, Business Operations, Performance Management, etc.)

Note: This job description provides a general summary of essential responsibilities and is not meant as an exhaustive list. Assignments may differ based on business conditions, departmental need, or program portfolio scope.
USD 101,500.00 - 169,100.00 per year
Compensation:
Compensation includes a base salary in the range of $101,500.00 - $169,100.00. The base salary may vary within the anticipated base pay range based on factors such as the ultimate location of the position and the selected candidate's knowledge, skills, and abilities. Position may be eligible for additional compensation that may include an incentive program.
Benefits:
The Company offers eligible employees the flexibility to take as much vacation with pay as they deem consistent with their duties, the company's needs, and its obligations; seven paid holidays throughout the calendar year; and up to 160 hours of paid wellness annually for their own wellness or that of family members. Employees are also eligible for additional paid time off in the form of bereavement leave, time off to vote, jury duty leave, volunteer time off, military leave, and parental leave.
Applicants must currently be authorized to work in the United States for any employer without current or future sponsorship.
Application Deadline: 08/10/2026
EOE, including disability/vets