Senior Director - F&I Dealer Operations

Company

Cox Automotive - USA Business Operations Sr Director, Business Services Sr Director Hybrid - Ability to work remotely part of the week Yes, 15% of the time Day

Compensation

Compensation includes a base salary in the range of $148,500.00 - $247,500.00. 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.

** This is a remote position; however, candidates located within 25 miles of the Atlanta office will come in 3 days/wk. Candidates located in Atlanta preferred. **

The Sr. Director, F&I Dealer Operations leads the dealer-facing operations of Cox Automotive’s Dealertrack F&I business, with full ownership of the associated P&L, revenue budget, and overall business performance. This role also oversees the Express Aftermarket business, including revenue growth, provider network management, and strategic provider relationships.

As the voice of the dealer, this leader develops and executes strategies that drive market share growth, dealer satisfaction, operational excellence, and commercial success. The role partners closely with Product, Technology, Sales, Operations, and Finance teams to translate dealer needs and market trends into business priorities and measurable results.

The Sr. Director is responsible for optimizing the systems, processes, and support structures that enable efficient, compliant, and scalable F&I operations, including digital contracting, credit application processing, contract administration, and third-party service management. The position drives continuous improvement initiatives that enhance financial performance, streamline operations, improve dealer experience, and support the industry's transition from paper to digital workflows.

The role also establishes and enforces operational policies, monitors service and performance metrics, manages operational, financial, and compliance risks, and serves as an executive representative for the dealer business with internal stakeholders, dealers, lenders, and external partners. Success in this position requires strong business leadership, strategic thinking, operational expertise, and a commitment to delivering profitable growth and exceptional dealer outcomes.

POSITION RESPONSIBILITIES

Dealer Business Leadership & Growth:

• Provide executive leadership and own the P&L for the Dealer Solutions F&I dealer business and Express Aftermarket, holding day-to-day accountability for delivering the revenue budget, operational effectiveness, and alignment with Dealer Solutions strategic objectives.

• Develop and execute the business strategy to grow F&I market share and dealer penetration, including dealer acquisition, retention, and cross-sell strategies across Cox Automotive solutions.

• Develop and lead cross-collaboration strategies with CAI matrix partners, fostering a high-performance culture and creating opportunities to build the dealer customer base and drive product revenue.

• Contribute to the development and enforcement of operational policies and procedures, ensuring alignment with corporate standards and applicable regulatory requirements governing dealer/lender financing operations.

• Ensure efforts are in place to streamline and optimize business service processes – including administrative, transactional, contract administration, and vendor management support – leading to greater effectiveness and efficiency across F&I operations.

• Monitor dealer business performance metrics – including revenue, market share, dealer retention, and dealer satisfaction – ensuring high-quality service delivery and ongoing adaptation in response to evolving F&I business and operational needs.

• Represent the F&I dealer business from an executive perspective, engaging with internal clients, boundary partners, dealers, lenders, and third-party service providers to ensure mutual and shared understanding of departmental objectives, practices, and delivery expectations.

• Identify potential risks associated with business service delivery – operational, financial, compliance, and fraud-related – developing and overseeing implementation of mitigation strategies.

• Develop and manage revenue and operating budgets for the F&I dealer business, ensuring operational and resource efficiency.

• Work closely with Finance and F&I business management, ensuring effective dealer business contribution from a bottom-line perspective.

Voice of the Customer:

• Serve as the voice of the dealer for the F&I business, establishing structured feedback loops (e.g., dealer advisory input, surveys, CSAT/NPS, support and attrition insights) and translating dealer needs into prioritized requirements for Product & Technology.

• Maintain a close understanding of evolving dealer trends, F&I market dynamics, and competitor offerings; advise executive leadership on market opportunities, threats, and Cox performance versus the competition.

• Manage key dealer relationships, resolve service delivery challenges, ensure consistent delivery of the desired dealer experience, and connect dealers with other areas of Cox Automotive to address cross-product issues.

Business Enablement & Continuous Improvement:

• Develop business cases for strategic F&I initiatives, including ROI projections, resource requirements, and prioritization of activities according to strategic value.

• Translate F&I dealer business strategy into actionable, well-sequenced improvement plans, providing project management oversight and accountability for key initiatives.

• Set clear metrics for improvement initiatives and implement a process to measure progress, ensure accountability, and recognize success.

• Lead change management for dealer-impacting initiatives, identifying requirements, enabling change readiness, and removing barriers to adoption.

• Recommend changes to capability requirements and capital investments, leveraging deep market expertise to support business case development.

Express Aftermarket & Provider Network:

• Own the Express Aftermarket business and its revenue, setting strategy and annual plans to grow dealer adoption and transaction volume of aftermarket products through Express.

• Partner with Sales, Marketing, and Product & Technology to drive dealer awareness, adoption, and usage of Express, using dealer and provider feedback to improve the experience.

• Recruit and onboard new aftermarket providers and products to the Express network, prioritizing additions that increase value and usage for dealers.

• Negotiate and manage commercial terms, pricing, renewals, and agreements with aftermarket providers, ensuring contract compliance and mitigating risk.

• Build and maintain executive-level relationships with aftermarket providers, leading business reviews, resolving issues, and monitoring provider performance and satisfaction.

• Lead and develop the Express Aftermarket provider relationship manager responsible for day-to-day provider account management.

F&I Operations & Business Services:

• Oversee administrative and transactional support underlying F&I product delivery, including credit application processing, digital contracting operations, contract/document preparation, approval, and distribution, and dealer and lender billing and invoicing.

• Manage contract administration and negotiation support for F&I-related vendor, lender, and service-provider agreements, ensuring compliance with contract specifications and regulatory requirements.

• Support operational execution of F&I transformation initiatives, including migration from paper-based to digital contracting and simplification/rationalization of F&I product and billing structures.

• Ensure business service systems are in place to support fraud prevention, compliance monitoring, and risk-mitigation workflows relevant to F&I operations.

Leadership:

• Direct the efforts of subordinate managers and professional staff within the F&I Dealer Operations organization, fostering a high-performance culture.

• Build and maintain executive-level relationships with key dealers and dealer groups, aftermarket providers, internal customers, vendors, lenders, and stakeholders, addressing concerns and ensuring delivery of high-quality, value-adding services.

• Lead efforts to leverage technology to streamline processes, address concerns, and further enhance service delivery.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS & SKILLS

Job Family Functional Skills (Mastery / Advanced level):

• Accuracy and Attention to Detail – Mastery: processes information with high accuracy; develops tools and checklists to ensure error-free output; accurately gauges impact and cost of errors and applies lessons learned.

• Business Acumen – Mastery: applies deep knowledge of economic, financial, market, and industry trends to shape F&I dealer business strategy, grow market share, and limit risk.

• Budgeting – Mastery: creates accurate, realistic budgets; monitors and adjusts budgets to reflect business change; identifies, explains, and reports on planned versus actual discrepancies.

• Contracts Management and Administration – Mastery: manages and administers contractual agreements; ensures vendor/lender data and files are created, stored, and managed as required; reviews contracts for compliance.

• Customer Focus – Mastery: understands dealer, lender, and internal customer needs; sets priorities and takes action to prevent service issues; tracks experience, captures voice-of-the-dealer feedback, and drives improvement.

• Internal Controls – Mastery: creates, implements, and enhances processes for effective internal control; ensures compliance with company standards and legal/regulatory obligations.

Job Family Foundational Skills (Mastery / Advanced level):

• Builds Positive Relationships – Mastery

• Communicates with Consideration – Mastery

• Focuses on Execution – Mastery

• Guides Team Success – Mastery

• Makes SMART Decisions – Advanced/Mastery

Domain / Additional Skills:

• Deep knowledge of dealer F&I operations, automotive industry trends, dealer behaviors, and enabling technology; working knowledge of lender operations, including digital contracting, credit application processing, and fraud-prevention workflows preferred.

• Demonstrated track record of growing revenue and market share in a B2B software or services business.

• Knowledge of the F&I aftermarket (e.g., vehicle service contracts, GAP, and ancillary products) and the provider/administrator landscape preferred.

• Advanced people-leadership skills; demonstrated experience directing the efforts of subordinate managers and professional staff.

• Strong vendor and contract negotiation, renewal, and risk-mitigation experience.

• Excellent verbal, written, and executive-level presentation skills; ability to advise and influence senior leadership.

• High level of proficiency in MS Office applications, including Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in a related discipline and 12 years’ experience of progressive experience in business operations, general management, or dealer-facing operations leadership, ideally within automotive software, dealer finance, or F&I environments.
  • The right candidate could also have a different combination, such as a master's degree and 10 years’ experience; a Ph.D. and 7 years or 16 years’ experience of progressive experience in business operations, general management, or dealer-facing operations leadership, ideally within automotive software, dealer finance, or F&I environments.
• 7+ years experience in which the individual assigned and prioritized others’ work, reviewed and approved final deliverables, and provided *performance input, including feedback and coaching. Below are examples of qualifying leadership experience:
  • Formal lead or team lead role
  • Oversight of contract, contingent workers, interns, suppliers, or vendors 
  • Matrix or dotted-line leadership; Formal mentorship of junior team

• Demonstrated P&L ownership, including developing and managing revenue and operating budgets, vendor, lender, and provider contracts, and business processes at an enterprise or major business-unit level.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

• MBA preferred.
• Experience supporting regulatory, compliance, or risk-mitigation requirements within a financial services or dealer/lender-facing operating environment preferred.
• Experience in businesses based on technology, software, or digital solutions for the automotive or related industry preferred.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION REGARDING THE POSITION

Reporting Relationships: This role reports to the VP, Business Development and F&I.

Travel Requirements: Up to 10–15%, as needed to support dealer, aftermarket provider, vendor, and lender engagements.

Key Client & Internal Partner Interfaces: F&I Dealers and Dealer Groups, Sales, Sales Business Office and Marketing, Product & Technology, Client Operations, Finance, Legal, and Supply Chain, Lender Partners, Aftermarket Providers, third-party vendors and service providers.

To be employed in this role, you’ll need to clear a pre-employment drug test. Cox Automotive does not currently administer a pre-employment drug test for marijuana for this position. However, we are a drug-free workplace, so the possession, use or being under the influence of drugs illegal under federal or state law during work hours, on company property and/or in company vehicles is prohibited. 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. Through groundbreaking technology and a commitment to stellar experiences for drivers and dealers alike, Cox Automotive employees are transforming the way the world buys, owns, sells – or simply uses – cars. Cox Automotive employees get to work on iconic consumer brands like Autotrader and Kelley Blue Book and industry-leading dealer-facing companies like vAuto and Manheim, all while enjoying the people-centered atmosphere that is central to our life at Cox. Benefits of working at Cox may include health care insurance (medical, dental, vision), retirement planning (401(k)), and paid days off (sick leave, parental leave, flexible vacation/wellness days, and/or PTO). For more details on what benefits you may be offered, visit our benefits page. Cox is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer – All qualified applicants/employees will receive consideration for employment without regard to that individual’s age, race, color, religion or creed, national origin or ancestry, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, physical or mental disability, veteran status, genetic information, ethnicity, citizenship, or any other characteristic protected by law. Cox provides reasonable accommodations when requested by a qualified applicant or employee with disability, unless such accommodations would cause an undue hardship. EOE, including disability/vets Applicants must currently be authorized to work in the United States for any employer without current or future sponsorship. No OPT, CPT, STEM/OPT or visa sponsorship now or in future. Application Deadline: 11/01/2026