Principal Engineer, Cloud
At a glance
Senior Engineering Leadership role at Carmax. Dallas Technology · full-time · $136,200–$204,300 base.
techroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Build self-service cloud tools and automation that help teams deliver infrastructure faster and reduce operational effort
- Turn ideas into usable engineering solutions with design, product management and architecture partners
- Set technical direction, mentor engineers and help teams strengthen their agile practices
- Advise internal teams on cloud platform changes and performance improvements
- Apply engineering practices that strengthen cloud reliability, security and scalability
What you bring
- A computer science degree or equivalent experience, with at least seven years in technology roles
- At least four years building cloud infrastructure, with Azure preferred and AWS or Google Cloud also considered
- Three or more years coding or scripting, plus hands-on expertise with Kubernetes running on premises
- You can design infrastructure AI agents and resilient cloud architectures, and operate CI/CD pipelines
- You bring cloud networking, storage, virtualization and access-control knowledge, including hybrid environments
Who this fits
This is a senior technical leadership role for someone who mentors teams and guides cross-functional engineering work. In Plano, you’ll work onsite two days each week; the alternative is West Creek, with four onsite days. You must be authorized to work full time in the United States; sponsorship may be considered.
From the employer
CarMax, the way your career should be!
Position Overview
As a Principal Engineer, Cloud, you will play a pivotal role in shaping CarMax’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 CarMax deliver a seamless, best-in-class experience that empowers customers to buy the vehicles they want—on their terms.
Why CarMax?
At CarMax, 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.
Team Overview
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 CarMax’s customer-first mission.
Role Responsibilities
- 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.
Required Qualifications
- 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, PowerShell, or similar.
- Expertise with on premises Kubernetes required.
- Proven ability to design and develop AI Agents for infrastructure.
- 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 DevOps or TeamCity.
- Strong leadership skills with experience mentoring teams and driving cross-functional initiatives.
- Passion for automation and eliminating manual processes to improve efficiency and scalability.
Work Location and Arrangement:
West Creek: This role will be based out of the CarMax 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 CarMax Dallas Tech Hub (Plano, TX) and associates will work onsite 2 days per week
Work Authorization: Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis. Sponsorship will be considered for this specific role.
About CarMax
At CarMax, 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.
CarMax is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
The annual salary for this position is:
$136,200.00 - $204,300.00May be eligible for bonus and equity.
Benefits:
Except as otherwise required by state law, CarMax Associates are entitled to the following paid sick, vacation, and holiday time.
Associates that are considered full-time hourly or commission/incentive eligible:
- To earn up to 48 hours of sick time per year accrued on a per pay period basis and between 80 hours and 200 hours per year of vacation time after a 90 day waiting period depending on years of continuous service with the Company.
- For 8 hours of pay for each of a total of 6 paid scheduled holidays per year plus 1 floating holiday. If such an Associate does work on a scheduled holiday due to business need, they are eligible for Holiday Premium Pay.
Associates considered full-time salaried are entitled to paid time away with no specified limit as needed for sick, vacation, bereavement, jury duty, holidays, floating holiday, etc. subject to manager approval.
For more details about benefits, please visit our CarMax Benefits website.
Upon an applicant's request, CarMax will consider reasonable accommodation to complete the CarMax Job Application.
Engineering Leadership work from LinkedIn, X, Reddit and Upwork, in one list.
Each morning you get everything that fits, strongest first.
Engineering Leadership$130k+
Find me workBy the team behind techroles.