Principal Software Engineer

About this job

At CarMax, we are industry disruptors. At the heart of our innovation is new digital products. Working on many different aspects of the customer experience, our Principal Engineers research and discover new opportunities and shape products to fulfill them. From inception to completion, you will develop tools and technology, learning quickly from our spirit of experimentation. You will have a direct impact on improving the performance of our business and ensuring customers can buy the vehicles they want in a way that is right for them!

Purpose of the Role

The Principal Engineer for Marketplace, Partnerships, and Commerce plays a critical leadership role in accelerating CarMax’s retail marketplace and commerce strategy. In FY27’s Year of Acceleration, this role is accountable for delivering scalable marketplace capabilities, strengthening platform and AI foundations, delivering on key commerce objectives and setting the technical bar for execution, reliability, and engineering efficiency.

Working across product, platform, architecture, security, and external partners, this role balances strategic thinking with hands‑on technical leadership—owning complex problem spaces end‑to‑end and ensuring technology decisions translate into measurable business outcomes.

What you will do – Essential Responsibilities

• Serve as a technical leader enabling CarMax’s retail marketplace initiatives across automotive, insurance, and lending partnerships
• Design and evolve repeatable integration, orchestration, and configuration patterns that allow new partners to be onboarded quickly, securely, and predictably
• Ensure marketplace and commerce solutions deliver seamless customer, associate, and partner experiences across digital, in‑store, and Customer Experience Center (CEC) channels
• Treat CarMax platforms as extensible, multi‑tenant foundations—optimizing for reuse, scale, and long‑term flexibility
• Apply agentic AI, automation, and opinionated engineering workflows to materially increase delivery throughput, quality, and predictability
• Partner with other engineering leaders to selectively extend AI-development beyond Marketplace where it can unlock step‑function improvements in execution
• Champion modern, AI‑assisted development practices while maintaining high standards for design, testing, and security
• Collaborate with shared platform teams across identity, integration, data, DevOps, commerce, and AI to unblock and accelerate marketplace‑critical initiatives
• Contribute hands‑on engineering leadership to foundational efforts where marketplace success depends on platform maturity
• Influence architectural direction by grounding recommendations in real delivery needs, partner constraints, and operational realities

Qualifications and Requirements

Basic Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering, or equivalent practical experience
• 7+ years of professional software engineering experience, including responsibility for complex, distributed systems
• Demonstrated ability to lead technically across multiple teams and influence outcomes without direct authority
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to both technical and non‑technical audiences

Experience in the following required

• Advanced experience with .NET / C#, cloud‑native development, and Microsoft Azure
• Deep experience designing and operating RESTful APIs, event‑driven architectures, and distributed systems
• Deep experience with front‑end and UI architecture (e.g., React and modern web frameworks)
• Strong understanding of CI/CD pipelines, DevOps practices, and automated testing strategies
• Expertise in SQL and NoSQL data technologies
• Proven experience operating production systems with high availability, security, and compliance requirements
• Experience working within Agile, product‑centric organizations at scale
• Experience integrating with third‑party partners or external marketplaces
• Experience with inventory, commerce, or transactional platforms
• Hands‑on exposure to AI‑assisted development, agentic workflows, or engineering productivity platforms

Work Location and Arrangement: This role will be based out of the Richmond Midtown or Plano Tech hub and have a Hybrid work arrangement. 

• Associates based in Richmond work on-site 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 200 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.