Accelerate your career with a company that leads the way!
Dealer Auction is a digital business leading the way in the transformation of automotive remarketing. Joint venture between Auto Trader and Cox Automotive, Dealer Auction is the UK’s largest online wholesale marketplace. Dealer Auction’s core purpose is to help automotive businesses buy and sell used vehicles online, faster, and smarter than any other platform. Customers include manufacturers; fleet & leasing companies; franchise and independent retailers. With more than 120,000 vehicles transacted every year, Dealer Auction attracts over 5,500 buyers and 1,200 sellers. As buying and selling moves away from traditional methods into online solutions, Dealer Auction is set to grow exponentially.
Why Join Us & What’s In It For You?
As a Cox Automotive team member, you’ll have access to a wide range of benefits, including exclusive discounts, cashback offers and our peer-to-peer recognition scheme. And there’s even more to enjoy:
- Option to buy additional holiday days
- Birthday off every year – paid
- One annual Well‑Being Day for you to relax and recharge
- One paid Charity Day to give back and support a cause that matters to you
- Opportunities for career progression across the Cox Automotive network
About The Role
As a Head of Commercial Finance, you will act as a strategic business partner to the Senior Leadership Team, Sales, Operations and Marketplace teams. You will drive revenue performance, pricing strategy, commercial insight and own financial planning to support sustainable growth in a high‑volume, transaction‑based environment. You will play a key role in regularly presenting to and updating the Dealer Auction Board, which comprises the Joint Venture CEO and directors from both parent companies.
We’re looking for someone with a strong grounding in commercial finance, alongside the confidence and curiosity to challenge thinking, improve outcomes and help the business make better informed decisions.
What You’ll Be Doing
Commercial Performance & Analysis
- Partner with Sales and Product teams to analyze revenue, margins and profitability
- Monitor auction KPIs including conversion rates, sold price vs. reserve, days‑to‑sell, average transaction value
- Deliver weekly and monthly performance dashboards with actionable insights
Pricing & Revenue Strategy
- Develop and refine fee models across the different channels on the platform
- Develop commercial approach for bespoke customer contracts
- Drive customer and sales incentive schemes
- Develop commercial approach for new product launches (e.g., wallet payments)
Forecasting & Planning
- Lead all aspects of budgeting process
- Align with finance functions of shareholders to achieve relevant deadlines
- Full engagement of Senior Leadership Team and wider business on assumption‑based approach
- Build driver‑based financial models linked to auction volume and pricing assumptions for rolling forecast
- Conduct scenario planning for market fluctuations in used vehicle prices
Business Partnering
- Act as finance lead for commercial initiatives
- Challenge and support Sales leadership on targets and incentive structures
- Provide financial input on supplier contracts and strategic partnerships
- Present insights to senior leadership and board stakeholders
Cost Control
- Drive cost efficiency initiatives: identify, analyze and implement cost‑saving opportunities across the business while maintaining operational effectiveness and supporting strategic objectives
- Partner with stakeholders to challenge spend, optimize resource allocation and embed a strong cost‑conscious culture across the organisation
Controls & Governance
- Ensure revenue recognition accuracy in line with accounting standards
- Maintain strong internal controls over commission and transaction reporting
- Improve data integrity and reporting automation
- Report relevant financials to shareholders in a timely manner
- Experienced in leading, coaching and developing people, with a genuine motivation to help people grow and succeed
- Lead by example, acting as a role model for our values and ways of working, ensuring decisions balance both people needs and business outcomes
What We’re Looking For
- Fully qualified accountant (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or equivalent)
- Background in commercial finance or FP&A
- Strong financial modeling ability and advanced Excel skills
- Experience translating financial data and complex datasets into commercial insight and decisions
- Experience partnering closely with senior commercial and operational leaders, providing constructive challenge and clear recommendations
- Great communication skills with the ability to share financial insight to a range of stakeholders, simplifying complexity and focusing on what really matters
- Commercial curiosity – want to understand why performance is moving, not just report what happened
- Can balance strategic thinking with hands‑on delivery, especially in a fast‑moving, evolving business
- Experience in online marketplaces, e‑commerce or automotive
- Experience using BI tools (Power BI, Tableau or Looker) to support insight and storytelling
- Knowledge of auction economics or vehicle remarketing
We’re Committed to Inclusion
We are proud to be an inclusive and equal‑opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity in all its forms. We are a place where you can be you.
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