Mazda recently moved its head of certified pre-owned and remarketing to a new position overseeing all retail marketing and incentives for the company and is now looking to fill his spot.

Eric Watson, who was group manager of remarketing and CPO for Mazda North American Operations, officially began his tenure as the company’s group manager of retail marketing and incentives on Monday. He replaced Clark Colby, who was named assistant managing director of Mazda Motor de Mexico.

Mazda is hoping to fill the vacated CPO/remarketing post quickly and is also looking for a manager of retail communications and a manager of incentives operations, Watson explained to Auto Remarketing on Thursday.

The automaker has certainly seen certified sales build momentum since launching the revamped program in July 2010. In the first seven months of 2011, Mazda moved 10,553 units and was up 185-percent year-over-year.

The automaker aims for the new CPO boss to help continue that progress in the certified sector.

“We’re looking for someone who has a blend of experience that understands the manufacturer CPO program, but also how to remarket cars,” Watson told Auto Remarketing.

As far as the retail communications role, the hire will fill the spot previously held by Brian Sendker. Mazda is looking for someone with a communications background who has experience managing dealer ad groups. The incentives operations role is a new position, and the ideal candidate would have a background in finance and dealership contact.

Sharing more about his new position, Watson said he will head up all the incentives programs and budget as well as the retail marketing. The latter includes things like dealer ad groups and delivering regional retail marketing messages, he said.

“I think the goal of the position is to continue to build upon the positive marketing momentum and sales trends that we’ve seen over the last few months on the new-car side,” Watson said. “We’ve come up with new creative and a new marketing campaign over the last few months and (my goal is) just continuing to deliver a very consistent message in the marketplace.

“I think it’s a key role that touches upon every aspect of our business,” he continued. “I’m looking forward to contributing to the growth of Mazda in that position.”

Applicants for the positions can view the job descriptions and apply online through www.mazdausa.com.