Director, Strategic Program Management - Auto Finance

CarMax; Kennesaw (GA); On-site; USD 148,000 - 237,000; Full time

Job summary

CarMax Auto Finance seeks a Director of Program Management to lead the CAF PM function, aligning business and technology initiatives with enterprise goals. The role focuses on governance, prioritization, and value realization across complex programs while developing leadership in the program management discipline.

The candidate will drive problem-solving culture, strategic investments, and measurable outcomes, partnering with CAF and Technology leadership to optimize delivery and associate

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience in program management, business, technology, operations, finance, analytics, or a related field.
• 8+ years of experience leading complex cross-functional programs, business transformation, technology-enabled change, operational strategy, or portfolio delivery.
• Demonstrated ability to lead through influence across senior leaders, business partners, Technology, and cross-functional teams.
• Strong understanding of business processes, operating models, systems, data flows, integrations, controls, and how technology changes impact operations.
• Experience establishing intake, prioritization, governance, portfolio management, value realization, and outcome measurement practices.
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate ambiguous business problems, identify root causes, assess solution options, and guide leaders toward practical decisions.
• Experience leading leaders or developing program management talent preferred.
• Strong executive communication skills, including the ability to summarize complex operational and technical information into clear recommendations.
• Curiosity and working knowledge of automation, AI-enabled solutions, reporting improvements, workflow redesign, or emerging technology opportunities.
• Consumer finance, auto finance, operations, technology, risk, analytics, or process improvement experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Establish the vision, strategy, operating model, and standards for CAF Program Management, ensuring the function enables disciplined problem solving, business and technology alignment, and measurable value delivery.
• Partner with senior leaders to identify, evaluate, prioritize, and sequence complex business and technology initiatives based on strategic value, operational impact, capacity, risk, and organizational readiness.
• Lead portfolio-level governance by creating visibility into initiative demand, dependencies, resource needs, risks, tradeoffs, business outcomes, and value realization across CAF.
• Establish and reinforce a problem-solving culture that ensures leaders and teams consistently identify root causes, evaluate opportunities objectively, and prioritize solutions based on business value, customer impact, and strategic alignment.
• Shape CAF's approach to technology-enabled business transformation by promoting the use of automation, AI, workflow optimization, and scalable technology solutions that improve business performance and associate experience.
• Serve as a strategic liaison between CAF leadership and Technology leadership to align investment decisions, delivery capacity, technology roadmaps, and business priorities.
• Evaluate enterprise impacts of business, organizational, process, and technology changes and guide leaders through tradeoff decisions that balance risk, capacity, customer outcomes, and long-term strategic objectives.
• Develop leaders and program management talent by setting expectations, coaching problem-solving discipline, strengthening technical and business acumen, and building a consistent program management capability.
• Provide executive-level communication, recommendations, and decision support that summarize complex operational and technical issues into clear options, tradeoffs, and recommended paths forward.
• Continuously improve program management practices, intake processes, governance routines, documentation standards, adoption planning, and value measurement.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic thinking

Executive communication

Problem solving

Portfolio management

Cross-functional collaboration

Influence across leadership

Business-technology alignment

Education

Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience

Job description

CarMax Auto Finance seeks a Director of Program Management to lead the CAF PM function, aligning business and technology initiatives with enterprise goals. The role focuses on governance, prioritization, and value realization across complex programs while developing leadership in the program management discipline.

The candidate will drive problem-solving culture, strategic investments, and measurable outcomes, partnering with CAF and Technology leadership to optimize delivery and associate