Noel B. Watson will join Santa Monica-based digital auto marketplace TrueCar Inc. as its new chief financial officer.

Watson’s previous tenure as chief accounting officer at Needham, Mass.-based online travel agency TripAdvisor lasted 13 years. He will be responsible for leading accounting, investor relations and all financial operations for TrueCar.

Watson “will play a vital role as we accelerate product and technology innovation toward becoming a true end-to-end shopping-to-showroom car buying experience,” TrueCar Chief Executive Chip Perry said in a statement. “His depth of experience with two-sided digital marketplaces that have complex revenue and acquisition models will provide an outstanding background for driving TrueCar’s financial growth and prosperity,” Perry added.

TrueCar was founded in 2005 and has raised $588.6 million to date, according to Crunchbase Inc. The company has been publicly traded since 2014.

Tech reporter Samson Amore can be reached at [email protected] or (323) 556-8335. Follow him on Twitter @samsonamore.