Lead Product Manager, Tekion
Automotive Enterprise Cloud
$124.5-207k
End-to-end, AI-native platform for automotive retail
Job no longer available
End-to-end, AI-native platform for automotive retail
1001+ employees
Job no longer available
$124.5-207k
1001+ employees
Company mission
To build the world's best business applications in the cloud.
Role
Who you are
- 5+ years of product management experience, with at least 2 years in an enterprise or B2B SaaS context managing integrations, APIs, or platform capabilities
- Experience in the automotive industry, automotive retail technology (DMS, CRM, digital retail)
- Demonstrated experience partnering directly with large enterprise customers or strategic partners in a client-facing product capacity
- Strong technical fluency — able to engage credibly with Engineering on API design, data models, and system integrations without writing code
- Strong AI tooling fluency, and comfortable with AI-first product development methodologies
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including executive-level presentation and the ability to simplify complex technical concepts for non-technical stakeholders
- Proven ability to manage competing priorities across multiple partners and workstreams with minimal oversight
- Experience writing detailed product requirements, user stories, and acceptance criteria for engineering teams
- Comfort with data — able to define KPIs, interpret usage metrics, and use quantitative and qualitative signals to inform prioritization decisions
Desirable
- Familiarity with OEM program structures, dealer certification programs, or factory-to-dealer technology integrations
- Experience managing products that sit at the intersection of a platform/marketplace and large enterprise subscribers
- Background in working with product-led and partner-led growth motions
- Exposure to AI-powered product features or data platform products
- MBA or equivalent advanced degree
What the job involves
- The Lead Product Manager, Automotive Enterprise Cloud (AEC) is a strategic, high-visibility role at the intersection of enterprise technology and OEM partnership
- You will be the primary product interface between Tekion and our OEM subscribers — translating complex manufacturer requirements into scalable platform capabilities while ensuring a world-class experience for some of the largest automotive companies in the world
- Reporting to the Director of Product for Automotive Enterprise Cloud, you will own the product roadmap for OEM-facing features and integrations, advocate for OEM needs internally, and lead discovery, delivery, and continuous improvement cycles that directly drive the success of our most strategic accounts
- Serve as the primary product point of contact for OEM subscribers to the Automotive Enterprise Cloud, leading requirement reviews/workshops, roadmap previews, and managing prioritization in accordance of maximum business impact for said OEMs
- Translate OEM-specific business needs — including compliance mandates, data sharing standards, customer experience requirements, and brand program integrations — into clear, prioritized product requirements
- Own and maintain the OEM-facing AEC product roadmap, balancing individual partner requests against broader platform strategy and cross-OEM scalability
- Partner with Engineering, Solutions Architecture, Program Management, Product Marketing, and Customer Success to define and deliver OEM integration capabilities, including API standards, data pipelines, reporting frameworks, and dealer program compliance tooling
- Lead discovery with OEM stakeholders to uncover unmet needs, identify friction points, and inform the long-term vision for the AEC platform
- Define suggested success metrics for OEM integrations and platform capabilities in tandem with the Program Management Organization; instrument, monitor, and report on adoption, satisfaction, and value realization
- Create and maintain product artifacts including BRDs, PRDs, ISDs, and internal and external-facing documentation
- Represent the OEM product perspective in cross-functional planning, executive reviews, and company-level roadmap discussions
- Stay current on OEM industry trends, certification requirements, competitive platforms, and regulatory developments affecting automotive retail technology
- WHAT SUCCESS LOOKS LIKE
- In 30 Days
- Completed onboarding to the ARC platform and AEC architecture, including existing OEM integration patterns
- Met with key active OEM subscriber and internal stakeholders across Engineering, Customer Success, Program Management, and OEM Business Development
- Reviewed existing backlog and roadmap commitments; identified immediate gaps or risks
- In 90 Days
- Delivered an updated, prioritized OEM-facing roadmap aligned to Director of Product and OEM stakeholder expectations
- Established a repeatable cadence with each OEM subscriber for roadmap communication and feedback collection, and business impact prioritization
- Materially advanced at least one high-priority OEM integration, capability, or high impact experience
- In 12 Months
- Measurably improved OEM subscriber satisfaction and platform adoption metrics
- Built a scalable, reusable integration framework that reduces time-to-value for new OEM onboarding
- Positioned as the trusted internal expert and external advocate for OEM product needs on the AEC platform
Our take
Car dealerships suffer from an inefficiency problem. The paperwork and administration required to complete a sale requires dealers to manage a disjointed set of various software applications. Tekion is offering an enticing remedy - a cloud-based automotive retail system that integrates the various software applications in a single infrastructure.
Competition has been strong, with rivals CDK Global and Reynolds & Reynolds offering a competitive raft of features, and benefiting from strong prior relationships with dealerships. Tekion, however, has nevertheless secured customers for the software in 28 states - likely in part due to the efficiency of partnering with a single growing service as opposed to a disparate spread.
This momentum shows no signs of slowing either, as Tekion has attracted attention from major players like CMC, Chrysler and Chevrolet. By streamlining dealership operations into a single platform, the company is proving that even in a crowded market, innovation and simplicity can win. Its recent release of AI agents and an AI interface also shows it is moving with the times.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
25% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Funding (last 2 of 6 rounds)
Jul 2024
$200m
GROWTH EQUITY VC
Oct 2021
$250m
SERIES D
Total funding: $635.1m
Company benefits
- Silicon Valley Startup Environment
- Stock Options
- Focus on Work/Life Balance
- Recognition Culture
- Health and Wellness
- Unparalleled Career Development
Company HQ
Pleasanton, CA
Leadership
Jay Vijayan
(CEO & Co-Founder)They started their career at Oracle, where they spent over 7 years in Management before spending 4 at VMware. They then worked at Tesla for 4 years, leaving their position as CIO to found Tekion in February 2016.
Guru Sankararaman
(COO & Co-Founder)After working as a Chief Architect at Cisco, they joined Tesla for 4 years. Initially they served as Director of Information Technology and then later became VP of Information Technology. Left this role to co-found Tekion in 2016.
Share this job