Automotive Dealer Principal – Melbourne
Back to search
vzD9L
Executive Management
Melbourne
Permanent / Full Time
- Lead three dealerships — full autonomy, true hands-on DP role
- Strong management teams already in place across all sites
- Genuine earning upside — package flexes for the right operator
Dealer Principal — Multi-Site Group — Melbourne, VIC
Three sites, one volume franchise brand, and a genuine opportunity to put your stamp on a business — this is a hands-on Dealer Principal role for an operator who leads from the floor, not the office.
The Opportunity
Our client is a long-established dealer group running three dealerships across Melbourne, each around 30 minutes apart. It's a serious operation — turnover in the vicinity of $170-180M a year, close to 300 new and used units a month, and a team of 120-130 people.
The bones are good. Each site has capable department managers in place, and fixed operations are well covered by a group service manager. What the business needs now is a dynamic leader at the top — someone who can sharpen the front end, drive used cars hard, and get the group's return back to where it should be in a market that's changed a lot in the last few years.
What You'll Bring
This is Melbourne living at its best — a genuine community feel with everything the city has to offer within easy reach. If you've been looking for the right opportunity to combine a serious leadership role with a lifestyle move, this could be it.
Sound like you?
Apply now or reach out to Cameron Cresswell at Automotive Talent for a confidential chat — cameron@automotivetalent.com.au
About Automotive Talent
Automotive Talent is a specialist talent acquisition agency working exclusively in the automotive industry across Australia, New Zealand, and the broader APAC region. We specialise in executive and leadership roles, working with dealerships, body shops, aftermarket businesses, OEMs, and distributors to find the right people for the roles that matter.
We're not a generalist agency that dabbles in automotive. This is all we do, which means we understand the industry, speak the language, and know what good looks like on both sides of the table.
Every role we work on is handled personally — no volume game, no candidate spam. If we put your name forward, it's because we reckon you're genuinely worth a conversation.
Three sites, one volume franchise brand, and a genuine opportunity to put your stamp on a business — this is a hands-on Dealer Principal role for an operator who leads from the floor, not the office.
The Opportunity
Our client is a long-established dealer group running three dealerships across Melbourne, each around 30 minutes apart. It's a serious operation — turnover in the vicinity of $170-180M a year, close to 300 new and used units a month, and a team of 120-130 people.
The bones are good. Each site has capable department managers in place, and fixed operations are well covered by a group service manager. What the business needs now is a dynamic leader at the top — someone who can sharpen the front end, drive used cars hard, and get the group's return back to where it should be in a market that's changed a lot in the last few years.
What You'll Bring
- Proven experience as a Dealer Principal or General Manager — ideally across multiple sites or a larger single operation.
- Deep capability in used cars... this is non-negotiable. Right now, used vehicles, finance and aftermarket are where the money is, and you'll need to be all over them.
- A hands-on, visible leadership style. You mix it with the team on the floor, and you're out in the community — this is a community-based business, and the DP needs to be the face of it.
- Commercial sharpness across sales, F&I and aftermarket, with a clear-eyed view of the current market and the new entrants reshaping it.
- Base salary circa $150k + super
- Two company cars (FBT covered)
- 10% of bottom line — with genuine scope for strong six-figure earnings as the business performs
- Flexibility on the overall package for the right operator
This is Melbourne living at its best — a genuine community feel with everything the city has to offer within easy reach. If you've been looking for the right opportunity to combine a serious leadership role with a lifestyle move, this could be it.
Sound like you?
Apply now or reach out to Cameron Cresswell at Automotive Talent for a confidential chat — cameron@automotivetalent.com.au
About Automotive Talent
Automotive Talent is a specialist talent acquisition agency working exclusively in the automotive industry across Australia, New Zealand, and the broader APAC region. We specialise in executive and leadership roles, working with dealerships, body shops, aftermarket businesses, OEMs, and distributors to find the right people for the roles that matter.
We're not a generalist agency that dabbles in automotive. This is all we do, which means we understand the industry, speak the language, and know what good looks like on both sides of the table.
Every role we work on is handled personally — no volume game, no candidate spam. If we put your name forward, it's because we reckon you're genuinely worth a conversation.