About this job
The bulk of the data engineer’s work would be in building, managing and optimizing data pipelines and then moving these data pipelines effectively into production for key data and analytics consumers (like business/data analysts, data scientists or any persona that needs curated data for operational and analytical data use cases.
Data engineers also need to guarantee compliance with data governance and data security requirements while creating, improving and operationalizing these integrated and reusable data pipelines. This would enable faster data access, integrated data reuse and vastly improved time-to-solution for CarMax’s operational and analytical initiatives
Data Engineer II – Enterprise Data Services
We are seeking a Data Engineer with hands‑on, production experience building and operating data pipelines in a cloud environment. This role sits on the Enterprise Data Services team, which owns streaming data ingestion, curation, and delivery for Analytics and Data Science teams.
Key Responsibilities
- Design, build, and maintain production-grade data pipelines (streaming and batch)
- Implement event-driven ingestion and near real‑time processing
- Build transformations using distributed data processing frameworks
- Write and maintain clean, testable Python code following software engineering best practices
- Support CI/CD pipelines, automated deployments, and environment promotions
- Monitor and troubleshoot pipeline failures, latency issues, and data quality problems
- Collaborate closely with Data Scientists, Analysts, and platform engineers
Required Experience & Skills
Candidates must have professional, hands‑on experience in most of the following:
- 2+ years of experience as a Data Engineer or Software Engineer working with data
- Strong experience writing production Python code
- Experience building and supporting pipelines on Azure or an equivalent cloud platform (AWS/GCP)
- Hands‑on experience with distributed data processing, such as:
- Apache Spark
- Databricks (or Spark runners such as EMR, Dataproc)
- Experience working with event streaming or messaging platforms, such as:
- Azure Event Hubs
- Apache Kafka / Confluent Kafka
- Amazon Kinesis
- Practical experience with CI/CD pipelines, version control, and automated deployments
- Familiarity with data modeling, schema management, and data reliability concepts
- Experience operating systems in an agile, collaborative engineering team
Strongly Preferred
- Supporting production streaming systems with uptime and latency expectations
- Azure-native services such as:
- Azure Databricks
- Azure Functions (or equivalent serverless frameworks: AWS Lambda, Cloud Functions)
- Cosmos DB (or comparable NoSQL stores such as DynamoDB, Cassandra)
- Experience working with Analytics or Data Science platform teams
- Debugging live pipelines and handling operational ownership/on‑call responsibilities
Technology Environment (Primary & Equivalent)
- Languages: Python (required), SQL, SparkSQL
- Streaming: Event Hubs | Kafka | Kinesis
- Processing: Databricks | Apache Spark | EMR | Dataproc
- Storage: Cosmos DB | DynamoDB | Cassandra
- Serverless: Azure Functions | AWS Lambda
- Cloud: Azure (primary) | AWS | GCP
- DevOps: CI/CD pipelines, automated deployments
Who This Role Is For
This role is a strong fit for someone who:
- Has already worked on real, production data systems
- Wants to deepen experience in streaming and cloud‑native data platforms
- Brings a software engineering mindset to data problems
- Values ownership, reliability, and continuous learning
Work Location and Arrangement: This role will be based out of the CarMax Midtown office, Richmond VA or CarMax Technology Hub, Plano TX and have a Hybrid work arrangement.
Associates based in Richmond work onsite 4 days per week.
Associates based in Plano 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 not be considered for this specific role.
About CarMax
CarMax disrupted the auto industry by delivering the honest, transparent and high-integrity experience customers want and deserve. This innovative thinking around the way cars are bought and sold has helped us become the nation’s largest retailer of used cars, with over 250 locations nationwide.
Our amazing team of more than 25,000 associates work together to deliver iconic customer experiences. Along the way, we help every associate grow their career and achieve their best, at work and in their community. We are recognized for our commitment to training and diversity and are one of the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For®.
Our Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion:
CarMax is committed to bringing together people from different backgrounds and perspectives, providing employees with a safe, welcoming, and inclusive work environment.
CarMax is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified candidates will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, or any other characteristic protected by law.
Upon an applicant's request, CarMax will consider reasonable accommodation to complete the CarMax Job Application.
Skills Required
- 2+ years of experience as a Data Engineer or Software Engineer working with data
- Strong experience writing production Python code
- Experience building and supporting pipelines on Azure or an equivalent cloud platform
- Hands-on experience with distributed data processing, such as Apache Spark
- Experience working with event streaming platforms, such as Azure Event Hubs or Apache Kafka
- Practical experience with CI/CD pipelines and automated deployments
- Familiarity with data modeling and schema management
CarMax Compensation & Benefits Highlights
The following summarizes recurring compensation and benefits themes identified from responses generated by popular LLMs to common candidate questions about CarMax and has not been reviewed or approved by CarMax.
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Retirement Support — Retirement benefits appear robust, including a 401(k) with dollar-for-dollar matching up to the first 6% of base salary and immediate vesting. Stock purchase programs with a discount or match are positioned as an additional long-term wealth-building option.
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Healthcare Strength — Health coverage is described as comprehensive, spanning medical, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance, with access beginning relatively early for eligible associates. Mental health resources and wellbeing programs are also present as part of the health offering.
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Leave & Time Off Breadth — Time-off offerings are described as broad, including vacation, holidays, sick time, and paid leave related to new child placement or birth/adoption in addition to family medical leave options. The structure varies by role and tenure, but the overall menu is sizable.
CarMax Insights
What We Do
CarMax revolutionized the auto industry by delivering the honest, transparent and high-integrity car buying experience customers want and deserve. This disruptive thinking has helped us become the nation’s largest retailer of used cars with more than 200 stores nationwide. And thanks to our amazing team of nearly 25,000 associates, we have been recognized as one of the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For® - 16 years in a row! Committed to hiring people with strong values of integrity, transparency and respect, we offer unmatched training and support for associate career growth, and have been recognized as one of Training Magazine’s "Training Top 125" companies in America. We are also proud to be a best place to work for Veterans, and the #2 Best Workplace for Retail.
