OEM Business Development Director - Incentives

Rippling; Santa Monica (CA); Hybrid; USD 45,000 - 55,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health, vision and dental coverage (em

401(k) with company contributions

Wellness reimbursement

Paid time off & holidays

Job summary

TRUECar seeks an OEM Business Development Director to expand its commercial footprint with OEMs and captive finance partners. This role focuses on net-new revenue, end-to-end deal structuring, and fast-cycle execution.

The candidate will map whitespace across the OEM landscape, qualify opportunities, and negotiate multi-year agreements ranging from $50K to $10M+ annually, with cross-functional collaboration and industry engagement.

Qualifications

• Ten or more years of experience in automotive OEM business development, enterprise sales, or equivalent commercial function.
• Proven ability to originate and close new partnerships at enterprise scale, with concrete examples.

Responsibilities

• Map OEM and captive finance opportunities and build a structured pipeline.
• Qualify opportunities against commercial criteria and craft executable partnerships.
• Lead negotiations from term sheet to signature for multi-year deals ($50K–$10M+ annually).
• Coordinate cross-functional inputs (product, data, legal, finance) to accelerate decisions.
• Represent TRUECar at industry events with a clear commercial purpose.

Skills

Enterprise sales

New partnerships

Strategic thinking

Communication

Education

Bachelor's degree

Job description

OEM Business Development Director - Incentives

TRUECar is looking for an OEM Business Development Director to expand our commercial footprint across automotive OEM and captive finance organizations that are not yet part of our partner ecosystem. This is a new-logo role. The person in this seat is measured by what they open, structure, and close — not what they maintain.

You will map whitespace across the OEM landscape, identify where TRUECar's data, platform, and incentive capabilities create the strongest commercial case, and build the relationships and deal structures needed to turn those revenue opportunities into signed agreements. You will work alongside a counterpart who manages existing OEM accounts. Your job is to build what they can inherit.

This role requires someone comfortable with the full arc of enterprise business development: generating the opportunity, shaping the commercial framework, navigating the organization, and getting the paper signed. The mandate is net new revenue, and the expectation is that you pursue it with urgency and discipline in equal measure.

How You'll Drive TrueCar's Success

• Map the whitespace: Develop and maintain a structured view of OEM and captive finance organizations that represent viable partnership opportunities for TRUECar — by brand, by business unit, by program type. Know where we aren't and why we should be.
• Build the pipeline: Generate a qualified pipeline of new commercial opportunities through direct outreach, industry relationships, conference presence, and systematic prospecting across OEM marketing, incentive, and captive finance organizations.

Opportunity Qualification & Structuring

• Qualify with rigor: Assess each opportunity against TRUECar's commercial criteria before committing internal resources. Understand the prospect's budget authority, decision timeline, and strategic objectives well enough to know whether a deal is worth pursuing and at what priority.
• Shape the deal: Develop partnership proposals that match TRUECar's capabilities to each prospect's specific business objectives — data products, platform integration, incentive distribution, or co-marketing. Structure agreements that are commercially sound and executable, not just compelling on paper.

Commercial Execution

• Lead negotiations: Own the full negotiation and execution of new agreements from term sheet to signature, ranging from $50K to $10M+ annually. Bring preparation and persistence to every deal — the size of the contract doesn't change the standard.
• Bring in the right expertise: Know when to engage product, data, legal, or finance to strengthen a deal or accelerate a decision. You orchestrate the internal response. You don't need to be the expert in every room, but you are accountable for what comes out of it.
• Track the competitive landscape: Maintain a working view of how OEM marketing and incentive budgets are shifting, which captive finance organizations are expanding their digital footprint, and where TRUECar has a differentiated story to tell. Surface that intelligence to product and leadership in a form they can act on.
• Represent TRUECar externally: Attend and contribute to industry conferences and events with a clear commercial purpose — specific targets, specific asks, and structured follow-through. Presence without a plan is not the job.

Transition & Handoff

• Set up accounts to succeed: When a new partnership closes, provide a clean, documented handoff to the account management team, including relationship context, commercial terms, open commitments, and the client's near-term expectations. The transition should accelerate the account, not stall it.

Your Expertise

• Ten or more years of experience in automotive OEM business development, enterprise sales, or a comparable commercial function with direct experience selling to or within OEM marketing, incentive, or captive finance organizations.
• A track record of originating and closing new commercial partnerships at enterprise scale, including sourcing the opportunity, structuring the deal, and executing the agreement. You can describe specific examples, not just outcomes.
• Deep understanding of how automotive OEM organizations make purchasing and partnership decisions — who owns the budget, who influences the evaluation, and what it takes to build internal champions at multiple levels.
• Strong analytical fluency. You can build a commercial case, evaluate revenue potential, and present a data-supported recommendation to senior decision-makers on both sides of the table.
• Ability to manage a complex, multi-stage pipeline, tracking each opportunity with discipline, communicating status accurately, and knowing when to accelerate or walk away.
• Direct and precise communication. Your written work requires minimal editing. Your verbal presence earns credibility quickly in rooms where the people you're talking to have heard every pitch.
• Willingness to travel up to 40% of the time.
• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Engineering, or a related field.

Who We Are

TRUECar is a leading digital automotive platform that uses technology to help car buyers save time and money through a nationwide network of Certified Dealers. Founded in 2005 by Scott Painter, TRUECar was built on the belief that serving membership and affinity organizations central to the car-buying process, including lenders, insurers, and dealers, enables a more valuable auto-buying experience for new and used vehicles. As part of its platform, TRUECar powers auto-buying programs for over 250 leading brands, including Sam's Club, AAA, and more than 100 credit unions.

We are seeking talented individuals who are energized by our commitment to save consumers time and money. We’ve stripped away typical corporate "bloat" to build a culture rooted in high performance and accountability for results. As a member of the TRUECar Crew, you can have a real & direct impact on our success as we continue to evolve the car buying experience.

Your TRUECar Experience

At TRUECar, we offer our Crew members the flexibility to split their work time between home and the office. While many days are remote, we expect our Crew to show up for the moments that matter—gathering in person when a project needs that extra collaborative spark because nothing replaces the energy of solving big problems in the same room. We provide you with comfortable shared workspaces in our Santa Monica headquarters office and other regional locations and equip you with a professional home office setup along with monthly reimbursements for your essentials, like phone and internet.

As a TRUECar Crew member, you will receive excellent benefits and perks that include, but are not limited to, 100% employer-paid health, vision, and dental premiums; a 401(k) plan with company contributions; a wellness reimbursement account; and learning & development reimbursement opportunities. We also understand the importance of recharging, so we offer flexible PTO for exempt TRUECar Crew Members and a generous PTO accrual policy for non-exempt TRUECar Crew Members, in addition to 14 company-paid holidays and 2 floating holidays. In short, we care deeply about our Crew Members and have designed employee-centric programs that reflect this.

At TRUECar, we believe in the power of diversity to create a deeper understanding of our consumers and partners, driving innovation in our products. We welcome a workforce that reflects the diversity of car-buying consumers and encourage everyone interested in our mission to apply. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law. We will consider qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records in accordance with applicable law. Additionally, TRUECar will provide reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.

TRUECar does not accept unsolicited agency submissions.

If you are based in California, we encourage you to read this important information for California residents, linked here.