Sr. Manager, Talent Operations and Recruitment Marketing

8901 - Corp Office West Crk - 12800 Tuckahoe Creek Parkway, Richmond, Virginia, 23238

Car Max, the way your career should be!

As a Sr. Manager, Talent Operations you will collaborate with senior leaders and cross-functional partners to shape and lead the strategy for Employer Brand, Recruitment Marketing, Upper Funnel and Candidate Experience initiatives. You will use data, evaluate market trends, competitive insights, and emerging solutions to inform the strategy, drive operational improvements, position Car Max as an employer of choice, and maximize the value of current tools and external partners.

This role requires strategic thinking, stakeholder partnership, and strong execution, along with the ability to manage multiple priorities, external partnerships, and deliver measurable results in a fast-paced environment.

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.

• Develop and lead the recruitment marketing and talent brand vision, strategy, goals, and KPIs to attract top talent and strengthen Car Max's employer position in the market.

• Oversee recruitment marketing and employer brand activities end to end, including strategic planning, quarterly prioritization, intake governance, agency briefing, campaign direction, and execution oversight across channels.

• Define and manage the Employer Value Proposition (EVP) pillars, ensuring messaging is differentiated, relevant, and consistently activated across talent acquisition, talent management, and candidate experience strategies.

• Lead employer brand positioning across paid, owned, shared, and earned channels to ensure a cohesive and compelling candidate-facing narrative.

• Monitor, assess, and optimize channel and campaign performance to ensure strategies drive awareness, engagement, and qualified applicant flow.

• Serve as a strategic partner to Talent Acquisition and cross-functional leaders, ensuring recruitment marketing and talent operations priorities are aligned with enterprise business goals.

• Lead strategic vendor management, including evaluating partner capabilities, setting expectations, driving accountability, and ensuring external partnerships deliver measurable value and innovation.

• Own contract negotiations with agencies, media partners, and external vendors, securing favorable terms, service levels, and pricing aligned with business needs.

• Oversee contract management processes for talent operations and recruitment marketing partners, including renewals, scope changes, compliance, and performance accountability.

• Manage budgets at the strategic level, ensuring investments are aligned to priorities, resources are allocated effectively, and spend delivers business impact.

• Conduct and synthesize market research to understand the market landscape and competitive landscape, including evolving trends related to Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, and Candidate Experience.

• Translate external market intelligence, industry trends, and competitive benchmarking into recommendations that inform strategy, innovation, and continuous improvement.

• Partner with senior stakeholders across communications, marketing, HR, procurement, legal, and finance to gain alignment, remove barriers, and advance high-impact initiatives.

• Establish governance, processes, and success measures that enable scalability, consistency, and operational excellence across talent…