Lead Auto Detailer / Market Manager, Madison, WI

Golden Mobile Detailing | Madison & Dane County | Full-Time, Seasonal-to-Year-Round

This is not a normal detailing job

Most detailing jobs hand you a schedule and a bay. This one hands you a market.

We are Golden Mobile Detailing, and we have spent the last few years building one of the strongest detailing operations in the Fox Valley (Appleton area) mobile service, an in-shop location in Kaukauna, and a customer base built on doing the job right every single time. Now we are expanding into Madison, and we are looking for one person to run it.

You would not be a technician on someone else's crew. You would be the person who is Golden Mobile Detailing in Madison. You run the vehicles, you talk to the customers, you build the reputation, and as the market grows, you build and lead the team under you. Our long-term goal is a full second shop location in Madison, and the person we hire is the person who gets us there.

If you are a strong detailer who has always felt like you could run the whole thing yourself, this is that opportunity — with our systems, our equipment, our marketing, and our support behind you.

Let us be straight with you about the start.

We are not going to oversell this.

We are brand new in Madison. We have no reviews there yet, no local reputation yet, and no word of mouth yet. The first several months will be slow. Some weeks early on will not be full. That is the honest reality of opening a new market, and we would rather tell you now than have you find out in month two.

Here is what we are doing about it: we are running paid advertising into the Madison area before you even start, we have city-specific pages built for Madison and the surrounding suburbs, we have a proven marketing playbook that already works in our home market, and we have a dedicated team handling lead response and follow-up so you can focus on the work and the customers.

We are also structuring your pay so that a slow start does not mean a bad paycheck. More on that below.

The market will pick up. We have done this before, we know how long it takes, and we are funding it properly. But the right person for this job is someone who can see the long game and wants to be there from day one — not someone who needs a full calendar in week one to stay motivated.

What you will be doing:

Performing full details, inside and out, to our quality standard.
Managing your own schedule and daily route across the Madison and Dane County service area.
Talking with customers — quoting jobs, answering questions, walking them through the work, and making sure they leave happy.
Selling our maintenance plans, ceramic coatings, and upgrade services.
Running our booking and CRM software to track every job, quote, and customer.
Documenting your work with before-and-after photos on every vehicle.
Managing inventory, supplies, and the condition of your work van.
As the market grows: hiring, training, and managing technicians under you.
Working with the owner directly on a weekly basis to grow the Madison market.

Who we are looking for:

Someone who already knows how to detail. You can take a vehicle from rough to showroom, inside and out, without someone standing over your shoulder. Interiors, exteriors, paint correction, and coatings are not new territory for you.

But detailing skill is not the top of our list. Here is what actually matters most for this role:

You take ownership. Nobody is going to be watching you most days. We are two hours away. We need someone who holds the standard because it is their standard, not because someone is checking.
You are genuinely good with people. You are our only voice in Madison. You will be in customers' driveways, in their garages, and on the phone with them. Friendly, professional, honest, and easy to deal with.
You can manage. Your own time first, and eventually other people. Organized, reliable, and able to keep a schedule and a customer list straight.
You are coachable. We have detailed systems and processes for a reason, and they work. We need someone who will run our playbook, not rewrite it in month one.

Requirements:

Proven hands-on auto detailing experience, interior and exterior.
Valid driver's license and a clean driving record.
Based in or willing to relocate to the Madison / Dane County area.
Able to travel to our Appleton area shop for approximately three weeks of paid training.
Comfortable working outdoors in Wisconsin weather during the season.
Physically able to handle the demands of detailing work — bending, kneeling, lifting, and standing for extended periods.
Available some Saturdays during peak season.
Reliable transportation and a smartphone.
Prior leadership or management experience is a strong plus.

Compensation and bonuses:

This role is built so that when Madison wins, you win.

Base pay: $20-$30 — paid evenly year-round, including the slower winter months, so your income stays steady
Commission on Madison market revenue — you earn on what the market produces, not just on individual jobs (3-5% of overall business revenue at the end of the month, depending on how well that month was played out)
Commission on maintenance plans and upgrade sales
Location performance bonuses tied directly to how the Madison market performs
Shop milestone bonus when Madison hits the targets that trigger our second physical location.
A path to General Manager — and a real conversation about ownership — for the person who builds this market with us.

Additional details:

All equipment, and all chemicals and supplies provided
Paid training, with travel and lodging covered during your time in Appleton
Company apparel provided
Direct access to the owner and real influence over how this market is built

Training:

You will spend approximately 2 weeks at our Appleton area shop learning our process, our chemicals, our quality standard, our software, and our customer approach. Travel and lodging are covered and this time is fully paid.

When you head back to Madison, you will not be dropped in alone. We will be on the ground with you for the first couple weeks of live operation, riding along on jobs and making sure you have everything you need before we step back.

After that, we stay in close contact — a weekly call, ongoing support, and a monthly in-person visit from the owner throughout the season.

How to apply:

Send us your resume along with a short note telling us:

Where you have detailed and what kinds of work you have done?
Any experience you have managing people or running your own operation?
Why a brand new market with a slow start sounds like the right fit for you?

Photos of your past work are strongly encouraged and will absolutely help your application stand out.

Apply to: 920-585-7253 or paxton@goldenmobiledetailing.com

Learn more about us: goldenmobiledetailing.com

We hire slow because we hire carefully. If you are the right fit, this is a role you could still be growing into five years from now.

Golden Mobile Detailing is an equal opportunity employer.

Golden Mobile Detailing

Detailer

About the Job