Full-Time
Senior People Program Manager
Tekion
1,001-5,000 employees
Cloud-native automotive retail platform with DMS
No salary listed
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
In Person
 Business & Strategy (1) |
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- 4–6 years of experience in HR/People Programs, HR/People Operations, HR/People Project Management, or related roles, ideally in a fast growing or mid to large organization.
- Hands-on experience delivering cross-functional projects or recurring cycles (e.g., performance reviews, engagement surveys, system rollouts).
- Working knowledge of project management tools (e.g., Jira, Microsoft Planner, Asana) and strong documentation practices.
- Solid Excel or Google Sheets skills for reporting, tracking, and basic analysis of HR data.
- Experience working with vendors or internal service providers to track deliverables and timelines.
- Comfort collaborating with global stakeholders across time zones, including India–US teams.
- About you: A strong executor who brings structure to ambiguity and reliably follows through on commitments.
- About you: A process-oriented thinker who looks for practical improvements on that scale.
- About you: A collaborative partner who communicates clearly with cross functional stakeholders and balances people's needs with business priorities.
- About you: Detail oriented and organized with the confidence to raise risks and push back when needed.
- Own and execute People programs end-to-end including performance management cycles, engagement surveys, internal talent movement programs, People/HR system upgrades, and compliance related initiatives.
- Manage project delivery by building and maintaining project plans, timelines, milestones, dependencies, and status updates; proactively identify risks and drive mitigation.
- Operationalize programs by supporting governance, operating rhythms, documentation, and handoffs to ensure programs are sustainable beyond initial launch.
- Drive standardization and continuous improvement by maintaining core program artifacts (project charter, RACI, project plan, comms plan, launch readiness checklist, building repeatable playbooks/SOPs, and running post-launch retros to capture learnings and improve future cycles.
- Create clear, scalable resources such as process guides, FAQs, templates, and manager communications to enable self-service and consistent execution.
- Partner with Legal/Privacy and India compliance experts to ensure programs align with local statutory, audit, and data privacy requirements.
- Maintain and analyze People data, including reporting, data audits, and basic dashboards to track program health and identify improvement opportunities.
- Support the People team’s operating cadence, including preparation for Monthly and Quarterly Business Reviews and readiness for peak People cycles.
- Exposure to India compliance topics (e.g., statutory processes, audits) through partnership with subject matter experts
- Experience with People systems such as Workday (or equivalent HRIS), Greenhouse or Ashby (ATS), or similar tools.
- Formal project management training or certification (PMP, Prince2, or equivalent)
Tekion provides the Automotive Retail Cloud (ARC), a cloud-native SaaS platform for automotive dealers, OEMs, and consumers that unifies sales, CRM, service, parts, F&I, and accounting. It runs in the cloud and is accessible on any device, using AI, ML, and big data to enable personalized upselling, digital retailing, real-time analytics, and workflow automation, breaking data silos across the dealership lifecycle. Unlike traditional, siloed dealer-management systems, ARC is a single integrated platform that connects dealers, OEMs, and customers at scale, backed by unicorn funding and major automotive investors. Its goal is to standardize and modernize automotive retail by providing a scalable platform that improves efficiency, data visibility, and customer experience worldwide.
Company Size
1,001-5,000
Company Stage
Growth Equity (Venture Capital)
Total Funding
$635.1M
Headquarters
Pleasanton, California
Founded
2016
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- Tekion achieved over 60% revenue growth in 2025 while launching its first AI-native App Store with Volie and others [2][5].
- It became the first automotive platform certified under ISO/IEC 42001 for Responsible AI, boosting enterprise trust in AI deployments [2].
- New AI agents like Salesperson AI and F&I Manager AI automate high-volume tasks, reducing errors and accelerating deal closure [1][4].
What critics are saying
- Legacy DMS vendors like CDK and RouteOne are bundling AI into existing contracts, blocking Tekion migrations with 50–70% probability in 6–12 months [Negative trends].
- Tekion’s $6,000/month per-store pricing may trigger dealer churn to cheaper SaaS alternatives like DealerCenter within 9–15 months [Negative trends].
- Agentic AI failures such as F&I Manager AI missing compliance docs could cause funding delays and rapid churn by 2026–2027 [Negative trends].
What makes Tekion unique
- Tekion is the first fully cloud-native AI-native automotive retail platform built on a single codebase for 3,000+ dealers [6][8].
- It unifies DMS, CRM, service, F&I, parts, and accounting under one data model, eliminating legacy silos [6].
- Founded by Tesla’s former CIO Jay Vijayan, it embeds agentic AI trained on real dealership workflows into every process [1][3].
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Benefits
Competitive compensation and generous stock options
100% employer-paid top-of-the-line medical, dental and vision coverage
Great benefits including unlimited PTO, parental leave and free snacks and beverages
The opportunity to work with some of the brightest minds from Silicon Valley’s most dominant and successful companies
Be part of an early stage, hyper-growth start-up with the opportunity to grow and prosper
Work on the latest and coolest technologies – everything is home-grown and built ground-up
A dynamic work environment with a strong sense of community and collaboration
The open and transparent culture that encourages innovation, rewards performance and discourages hierarchy
Exciting opportunities for career growth and development
Growth & Insights and Company News
6 month growth
↑ 1%1 year growth
↑ 0%2 year growth
↑ 0%Tekion adds four AI tools, expense partnership. Tekion unveiled four additions to its agentic AI suite and announced a technology partnership aimed at helping dealer groups monitor and process expenses, Auto Remarketing reported. The tools, introduced Tuesday at Tekion's inaugural T1 Pro conference, include T1 Pro, Salesperson AI, F&I Manager AI and an accounts-payable AI capability built on the Tekion AI platform. The rollout targets several high-volume store functions where dealers are pushing for more automation: showroom follow-up, F&I workflow, back-office processing and enterprise expense control. For operators, the relevant question is whether these AI tools reduce manual work without adding process friction for sales staff, finance managers or accounting teams already working across multiple systems. Tekion's move also reflects a broader vendor push to package AI as operational infrastructure rather than a standalone feature. Dealer groups evaluating these products will likely focus on integration with existing DMS and accounting processes, audit controls, user adoption and whether AI recommendations can be tracked and managed at the store and group level. Dealers should watch for deployment timelines, pricing details and early customer results as Tekion moves the four AI additions and the expense-management partnership from conference announcement to store-level implementation. Ready to acquire more vehicles for less? Free for 30 days. No credit card. No contracts. Live in 10 minutes.
Tekion named to Forbes America's Best Startup Employers 2026. Tekion News 09 Apr 2026 Pleasanton, CA, April 9, 2026 - Tekion has been recognized on the Forbes America's Best Startup Employers 2026 list. This prestigious award is presented in collaboration with Statista, a leading statistics portal and industry ranking provider. The list was announced on March 3, 2026, and is available on Forbes' website. America's Best Startup Employers 2026 identifies top-performing startups in the United States through a comprehensive evaluation process based on three key criteria: employer reputation, employee satisfaction, and growth. More than 7 million data points were analyzed across over 20,000 eligible companies, with more than 2,500 qualifying for in-depth review. Ultimately, only 500 companies were selected for inclusion in the final ranking. Tekion's inclusion reflects its continued focus on building a high-performing, people-first organization while driving innovation across automotive retail. As the company continues to scale, it remains committed to fostering a workplace culture centered on transparency, collaboration, and continuous growth. This recognition reinforces Tekion's belief that strong teams and a connected culture are foundational to delivering meaningful impact for customers, partners, and the broader industry. About Statista Statista publishes hundreds of worldwide industry rankings and company listings in collaboration with leading media partners. Its research and analysis are based on the success of statista.com, a leading data and business intelligence platform providing statistics, market data, and consumer insights.
Volie, a provider of automotive BDC software and AI-driven call intelligence, has partnered with Tekion to become a pilot partner for the new Tekion App Store, launching this year. The partnership will enable dealers to purchase Volie solutions directly through Tekion's Automotive Retail Cloud platform. Dealers will be able to subscribe to Volie, Pulse Volie Intelligence and Dealer Identity through the integrated platform, streamlining onboarding, purchasing and data connectivity. The collaboration aims to simplify how dealers buy, deploy and manage technology for their business development centres and customer communications. The Tekion App Store will allow dealers to discover and activate solutions directly within the platform, helping them onboard applications faster and realise value sooner.
Tekion, an AI-native automotive retail platform, unveiled its latest agentic AI capabilities at the 2026 NADA Show in Las Vegas. Founder and CEO Jay Vijayan announced the company achieved over 60% revenue growth in 2025 for its Automotive Retail Cloud platform. The company introduced three new AI agents: Scheduler AI for automated appointment booking, Technician AI for assisting service technicians through voice and visual inputs, and T1, a conversational interface for dealership data. Tekion also launched its App Store as part of Automotive Partner Cloud 2.0. Tekion became one of the first automotive retail platform providers certified with ISO/IEC 42001 for Responsible AI Management Systems. The company announced Tekion One 2026, its inaugural customer conference scheduled for 15–17 June in Las Vegas.
Flai integrates with Tekion to enhance connectivity across the automotive ecosystem. API integration supports data sharing and collaboration for technology partners serving dealers and OEMs. Flai, an AI communications platform for dealerships, today announced an integration with Tekion, innovator of the first end-to-end*, AI-native cloud platform serving the entire automotive retail ecosystem. This collaboration aims to expand the connected partner ecosystem within Tekion's Automotive Partner Cloud (APC), enhancing operational efficiency through enhanced data connectivity. Flai automates communications for dealerships with AI, handling inbound calls, outbound outreach, text messaging, and email to help capture leads, schedule service and sales appointments, and maintain consistent follow-up. Through this partnership with Tekion, dealers can now connect Flai's AI communications platform with Tekion's Automotive Retail Cloud (ARC). This connection helps dealers improve information flow between systems and reduces manual data entry, empowering teams to make faster, more informed decisions. The integration helps dealerships handle every phone call, book more service appointments and sales visits, and follow up with customers and staff through text and email. "Dealerships are looking for ways to handle more customer interactions with less friction," said Ari Polakof, Co-Founder and CEO of Flai. "Integrating Flai with Tekion enables stores to respond instantly to every call and follow up via SMS or email, so staff can focus on delivering a great customer experience." Tekion's ARC is the first and fastest cloud-native platform including all functionalities of a DMS, CRM and accompanying tech stack to run a seamless retail business. Through the ARC platform, Tekion APC brings together a growing network of approved partners focused on driving innovation, efficiency, and choice for dealers. The Flai/Tekion integration within ARC Sales, CRM, Parts and Service supports operational efficiency, simplifies processes, and enhances visibility for dealership staff and consumers alike. About Flai. Flai is an AI-powered communications platform for automotive dealerships. Flai automates inbound and outbound phone calls, text messaging, and email so dealers can capture leads, book more service and sales appointments, and keep follow-ups consistent. About Tekion. Tekion is redefining automotive retail with its end-to-end AI platform purpose-built for the industry. By embedding AI into every workflow, Tekion delivers intelligent automation, real-time insights, and advanced decision support - driving efficiency, revenue, and modern consumer experiences. As the first and fastest cloud-native platform for automotive, Tekion brings OEMs, dealers, partners, and consumers together through its revolutionary suite: Automotive Retail Cloud (ARC) for retailers, Automotive Enterprise Cloud (AEC) for manufacturers and large automotive enterprises, and Automotive Partner Cloud (APC) for technology and industry partners. With AI-powered, cloud-native technology, Tekion enables the most seamless, transparent, and profitable retail experiences in the industry. For more information, visit www.tekion.com. *End-to-end refers to its integrated data management platform covering all automotive business functions. Disclaimer: Tekion does not endorse or recommend any specific partner solution; dealers are encouraged to evaluate and select partners based on their own business needs.