Senior Manager

Who we are

At Car Gurus (NASDAQ: CARG), our mission is to give people the power to reach their destination. We started as a small team of developers determined to bring trust and transparency to car shopping. Since then, our history of innovation and go-to-market acceleration has driven industry-leading growth. In fact, we’re the largest and fastest-growing automotive marketplace, and we’ve been profitable for over 15 years.

The market is evolving, and we are too, moving the entire automotive journey online and guiding our customers through every step. That includes everything from the sale of an old car to the financing, purchase, and delivery of a new one. Today, tens of millions of consumers visit  each month, and 30,000 dealerships use our products. But they're not the only ones who love Car Gurus—our employees do, too.

We have a people-first culture that fosters kindness, collaboration, and innovation, and empowers our Gurus with tools to fuel their career growth. Disrupting a trillion-dollar industry requires fresh and diverse perspectives. Come join us for the ride!

We are seeking a Senior Manager of Compensation to elevate and scale our compensation programs. This leader will shape and operationalize our compensation strategy, ensuring our philosophy, programs, and practices are competitive, equitable, compliant, and aligned with our business strategy and organizational goals.

The ideal candidate combines deep technical expertise with strategic influence—someone who can guide the business through complex compensation decisions while leading a small team of compensation professionals with enterprise responsibility for base pay, short-term incentives, and equity/long-term incentive programs.

• Lead the design, strategy, planning, governance, and communication of broad-based and executive compensation programs, including base pay, annual incentives, equity, and long-term incentive plans.
• Refine and advance our compensation philosophy to align with business priorities, market competitiveness, internal equity, and evolving workforce needs.
• Conduct ongoing market research and benchmarking to ensure pay practices remain competitive and aligned with technology sector trends.
• Remain current on compensation best practices and the evolving legal and regulatory landscape; assess risk and proactively recommend solutions to ensure compliance with wage and hour regulations and plan requirements.

• Oversee equity plan administration, ensuring accurate recordkeeping of vesting schedules, plan compliance, and coordination of settlements in accordance with plan rules and payroll tax requirements.
• Lead the annual merit, bonus, and equity planning cycles, ensuring process excellence, clear communications, and optimized technology workflows that create a seamless experience for leaders and employees.
• Provide support for executive compensation programs and the Compensation Committee, ensuring governance, rigor, and alignment with company objectives.

• Serve as a trusted advisor to executives, HR Business Partners, and business leaders on company pay structures, pay change recommendations, new hire offers, promotions, and complex compensation matters.
• Provide expert counsel on compensation-related risks and opportunities, translating analytics into actionable business insights.
• Partner cross-functionally with Finance, Legal, Payroll, and People & Talent to ensure compliance, operational rigor, and process excellence.

• Develop and execute comprehensive communication strategies that effectively articulate the value of our compensation programs and support talent attraction and retention.
• Build awareness and education initiatives across all levels of the organization to strengthen understanding of total rewards and collective value.
• Inspire and manage a high-performing compensation team, fostering growth, accountability, and continuous improvement.
• Assess team structure and operating model, set priorities, allocate resources, and…