VP, Growth & Media

AutoNation

4d

About The Position

The Vice President of Growth and Media owns AutoNation’s paid demand strategy and enterprise media investment across the full customer journey. This executive leads performance marketing, market investment, and growth planning for New, Used, We Buy Your Car, and After-Sales, with direct accountability for qualified opportunity volume and efficient cost per sale or purchase. The role connects national scale with regional, market, and store priorities and works closely with business line leaders, Field Marketing, Brand, Customer Relationship Management, Digital Product, Analytics, Finance, Operations, original equipment manufacturers, and agency partners to drive measurable growth, market share, and investment efficiency.

The VP sets enterprise growth and full-funnel media strategy; leads planning and investment allocation across channels and markets; and creates frameworks for channel mix, audience strategy, geographic prioritization, pacing, optimization, and testing. The role translates business objectives into demand plans for each line of business, oversees performance measurement and corrective action, and aligns enterprise media strategy with local market conditions and operational priorities.

The position also leads enterprise social media strategy, third-party media and marketplace partnerships, agency governance, and a high-performing team. It requires close cross-functional partnership, data-led executive influence, financial stewardship, disciplined experimentation, and accountability for business outcomes. The incumbent is expected to follow company policies, procedures, and safety standards, and may be asked to perform other job-related tasks beyond those listed.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Communications, Economics, Analytics, or a related field, or equivalent relevant experience.
• Twelve or more years of progressive marketing experience, including significant leadership of integrated media, performance marketing, or enterprise growth strategy for a complex, multi-location consumer business.
• Seven or more years of people leadership experience, with success building teams, developing talent, and leading through influence in a matrixed organization.
• Demonstrated ownership of large, multi-channel media investments spanning brand and performance channels, including paid search, paid and organic social, video, audio, display, programmatic, and third-party media.
• Proven ability to translate enterprise and line-of-business objectives into integrated plans that deliver measurable demand, revenue, market-share, efficiency, and customer outcomes.
• Strong command of marketing measurement, financial stewardship, incrementality, attribution, experimentation, forecasting, and executive performance reporting.
• Experience leading agencies, platforms, publishers, marketplaces, and complex commercial partnerships.
• Exceptional executive communication, judgment, negotiation, change leadership, and cross-functional partnership skills.
• Must meet company requirements for employment.
• Valid in-state driver’s license and an acceptable, safe driving record maintained throughout employment.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree preferred.
• Automotive, retail, franchise, dealer, or other distributed-location experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Set enterprise growth and full-funnel media strategy to generate qualified demand, improve market share, support profitable sales, and strengthen customer retention.
• Lead annual, quarterly, and monthly media planning across national, regional, market, and store levels, balancing enterprise scale, local relevance, and original equipment manufacturer requirements.
• Allocate investment across brand and performance channels based on business objectives, market opportunity, inventory, customer demand, and marginal-return insights.
• Create decision frameworks for channel mix, audience strategy, geographic prioritization, pacing, optimization, and test-and-learn activity.
• Own the enterprise paid-demand plan and communicate expected opportunity volume, efficiency, and sales contribution by line of business.
• Lead growth and media plans for New, Used, We Buy Your Car, and After-Sales, translating business objectives into actionable demand plans.
• Partner with lines of business to define target audiences, offers, messaging, media roles, customer journeys, and performance expectations.
• Identify cross-line-of-business opportunities that increase customer lifetime value and position AutoNation as a preferred partner throughout the automotive ownership journey.
• Use competitive, customer, market, and performance insights to shape business decisions and near-term actions.
• Lead performance marketing across paid search, paid social, video, display, programmatic, audio, and other demand channels.
• Establish performance goals, measurement standards, reporting cadences, and channel and line-of-business accountability.
• Own marketing performance against committed opportunity volume and cost per sale, initiating corrective action when results are off plan.
• Evaluate opportunity quality, conversion, sales, market share, cost per opportunity, cost per sale, incremental lift, and return on investment.
• Partner with Analytics and Finance on attribution, incrementality testing, forecasting, audience measurement, and investment governance.
• Lead performance reviews, translate insights into actions, and manage major platform and budget changes with appropriate testing discipline.
• Own the framework for allocating and recalibrating media investment across regions, markets, and stores based on demand, competitive position, inventory, performance, and growth opportunity.
• Partner with Field Marketing, regional and market leaders, and stores to connect enterprise strategy with local business conditions and sales priorities.
• Develop a scalable enterprise, regional, market, and store media model that improves efficiency while maintaining local support.
• Create transparent market- and store-level investment views, performance diagnostics, and recalibration processes that distinguish marketing opportunity from operational conversion needs.
• Ensure plans account for inventory availability, competitive conditions, merchandising, close-rate performance, and local market opportunity.
• Own enterprise social media strategy across paid, organic, platform, content distribution, community, and reputation considerations in partnership with Brand and Corporate Communications.
• Lead strategy and governance for third-party marketplaces, lead providers, publishers, and media partnerships, including investment, quality standards, testing, and performance accountability.
• Develop first-party data, audience, personalization, and retargeting strategies to strengthen acquisition and retention.
• Evaluate emerging platforms, partners, and capabilities and scale those that demonstrate measurable business value.
• Lead agency-of-record and key partner relationships, setting strategic direction, operating expectations, scopes of work, performance standards, and executive governance.
• Hold agencies accountable for opportunity delivery, cost-per-sale improvement, media quality, optimization speed, innovation, and transparent reporting.
• Partner with Procurement, Finance, and Legal on agreements and ensure investments, fees, incentives, data rights, and deliverables are transparent and competitive.
• Build productive partnerships with original equipment manufacturers and certified providers to maximize co-op eligibility, data access, and shared learning while protecting AutoNation’s enterprise strategy.
• Hold internal and external teams accountable for planning, execution, optimization, reporting, and innovation.
• Build, lead, coach, and develop a high-performing team with clear roles, priorities, performance expectations, and career development plans.
• Influence senior leaders across Marketing, Sales, Operations, Finance, Technology, and the Field through concise, data-led recommendations and clear tradeoffs.
• Create a culture of urgency, curiosity, collaboration, disciplined experimentation, and accountability for business outcomes.
• Demonstrate behaviors consistent with the Company’s Vision, Mission, and Values in interactions with customers, co-workers, and suppliers.
• Adhere to company policies, procedures, and safety standards.
• Perform other job-related tasks as requested.

Benefits

• Competitive compensation
• 401k matching
• Health insurance plans
• Dental insurance plans
• Vision insurance plans
• Maternity benefits
• Associate purchase and discount programs for vehicles, services, parts, collision, accessories, and AutoGear
• Deals and discounts through YouDecide

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Executive