Principal Engineer, Cloud

Position Overview

As a Principal Engineer, Cloud, you will play a pivotal role in shaping Car Max's next-generation cloud infrastructure. This is your opportunity to join an innovative team that is redefining the automotive retail experience through cutting-edge technology. You’ll lead efforts to design, build, and evolve scalable cloud platforms, ensuring reliability, security, and resilience for our customer-facing applications. By leveraging your expertise in cloud engineering and automation, you’ll help Car Max deliver a seamless, best-in-class experience that empowers customers to buy the vehicles they want—on their terms.

At Car Max, we are the nation’s largest retailer of used cars with stores from coast to coast, and we are still growing. We’re rethinking the way people buy cars – and it’s our associates that help us do just that. We believe work should feel meaningful and rewarding, with opportunities to make an impact every day. This is where innovation meets passion – be inspired and supported to take us to the future.

You’ll collaborate with engineers, architects, and technology leaders to define patterns and best practices for deploying cloud infrastructure. Acting as a technical mentor and trusted advisor, you will influence strategic decisions and guide teams in building secure, scalable, and automated solutions that support Car Max’s customer-first mission.

• Develop and implement self‑service capabilities and automation tools to accelerate delivery and improve operational efficiency.
• Collaborate with cross‑functional teams in design, product management, and architecture to transform innovative ideas into practical solutions.
• Provide technical leadership and guidance, fostering a culture of continuous improvement and agile practices.
• Consult with internal stakeholders to evolve cloud platforms and optimize performance using modern engineering principles.
• Stay ahead of industry trends, applying best practices to enhance reliability, scalability, and security across cloud environments.

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science or related field, or equivalent experience with 7+ years in technology roles.
• 4+ years of hands‑on experience building cloud infrastructure (Azure preferred; AWS or Google Cloud considered).
• 3+ years of scripting or coding experience in languages such as Python, Power Shell, or similar.
• Expertise in cloud networking, storage, virtualization, and access control, including hybrid environments.
• Proven ability to design and deploy resilient cloud architectures and manage CI/CD pipelines using tools like Azure Dev Ops or Team City.
• Strong leadership skills with experience mentoring teams and driving cross‑functional initiatives.
• Passion for automation and eliminating manual processes to improve efficiency and scalability.

West Creek:
This role will be based out of the Car Max Home Office at West Creek (Richmond, VA) and associates will work onsite 4 days per week.

OR

Plano:
This role will be based out of the Car Max Dallas Tech Hub (Plano, TX) and associates will work onsite 2 days per week.

Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full‑time basis. Sponsorship will not be considered for this specific role.

At Car Max, we revolutionized the used car buying experience over 30 years ago by introducing transparency and integrity into the process. Our commitment to customer experience, innovation, and community has made us the nation’s largest used car retailer. With over 250 store locations and over 30,000 associates, we are proud to have been recognized as one of the Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For and are committed to helping our communities thrive.

As an associate, you are part of an innovative movement to empower the modern customer and drive progress. Your work fuels change—sparking ideas, overcoming challenges, and shaping what’s next. Join us in creating a better future– for our company, our customers, and the communities we call home.

Car Max is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified…