Service Manager - Lincoln North Miami

Position Overview

The Automotive Service Manager is responsible for leading the Lincoln North Miami service operation, increasing customer-pay business, maximizing departmental gross profit, developing employees, and delivering an exceptional ownership experience. This hands-on leader is accountable for financial performance, technician productivity, service advisor effectiveness, customer retention, and operational excellence.

Responsibilities

• Establishes and executes departmental business plans, financial goals, and measurable performance objectives consistent with dealership and manufacturer expectations; reviews results regularly with the General Manager.
• Develops, implements, and enforces standard operating procedures and company/manufacturer policies to improve productivity, quality, efficiency, and profitability.
• Drives appropriate customer-pay maintenance and repair sales through effective advisor coaching, accurate estimates, thorough inspections, and consistent follow-up.
• Leads, coaches, and develops technicians, service advisors, and support staff; monitors shop capacity, dispatch, proficiency, productivity, and efficiency.
• Ensures compliance with safety, cash-handling, dealer plate, payroll, environmental, and applicable federal, state, and local regulatory requirements.
• Owns service department financial performance, including labor sales, gross profit, effective labor rate, hours per repair order, expense control, and net profitability; identifies and executes corrective actions.
• Reviews and controls warranty, extended warranty, work in process, service policy, sublet, and other relevant accounting schedules.
• Coordinates timely, cost-effective internal repairs and pre-owned vehicle reconditioning with Sales and Parts.
• Reviews aging repair orders and open work daily, removes bottlenecks, and ensures prompt customer communication and vehicle delivery.
• Ensures vehicles are checked for open recalls and that applicable repairs are arranged and documented.
• Resolves escalated customer concerns and coordinates with manufacturer representatives and technical support on difficult repairs and applicable buyback matters.
• Ensures consistent use of multi-point inspections, technician video inspections where available, accurate pricing, and advisor follow-up to improve customer transparency and approved work.
• Oversees alternate transportation and loaner programs, including utilization, eligibility, expense control, and compliance.
• Builds customer retention through proactive follow-up, service recovery, appointment availability, and a consistently high-quality ownership experience.
• Provides the General Manager with regular reporting on financial results, advisor and technician scorecards, customer satisfaction, aging repair orders, and improvement initiatives.
• Coordinates with neighboring dealership operations when directed, while maintaining primary accountability for Lincoln North Miami service performance.
• Plans technician and advisor training, factory certifications, recruiting, and succession development to support department growth and manufacturer requirements.
• Sets and manages individual performance targets for advisors, technicians, and support staff, including labor sales, effective labor rate, hours per repair order, productivity, efficiency, and customer satisfaction.
• Builds customer relationships and achieves manufacturer customer satisfaction and service retention objectives through responsive communication and effective issue resolution.
• Works closely with Parts and other department managers to improve parts availability, special-order follow-up, repair cycle time, reconditioning, and overall dealership profitability.
• Understands and ensures compliance with manufacturer warranty and policy procedures.
• Develops practical service marketing, appointment, and retention initiatives to increase new and repeat customer-pay business.
• Maintains outstanding business relationships with manufacturer.
• Oversees technician shop hours and proper submission to payroll.
• Collaborates with human resources for employee hiring, terminations, performance review and discipline.
• Attends meetings onsite as well as offsite.

Qualifications

• Minimum five (5) years of automotive service management experience preferred, with demonstrated success improving dealership service sales, gross profit, employee performance, and customer satisfaction; relevant education or equivalent experience considered.
• Proficient user of Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, Excel).
• Ability to multitask and communicate effectively as well as being highly organized and flexible.
• Comfortable with ambiguity in a dynamic, changing environment.
• Unwavering commitment to ethical business practices.
• Understands, keeps abreast of, and complies with federal, state and local regulations that affect service operations, such as hazardous waste disposal, OSHA & Right-To-Know, etc.