Senior Technology Manager, AI & ML

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

CarMax, the way your career should be! 

About this job

At CarMax, a Senior Technology Manager, AI & ML is a key leader in providing reliable and scalable machine-learning capabilities across the organization.  The Senior Technology Manager will be responsible for overseeing multiple portfolios of ML and AI capabilities and solutions.  In this role you will support managers and their teams of engineers to help prioritize business needs and drive innovative solutions for two teams. One of those teams is focused on Generative AI use cases and helping to accelerate partner teams development using Generative AI.  The second that this manager will support is focused on customer journey modeling and guiding CarMax customers through their optimal buying journey by providing predictive inputs at key moments. The ideal candidate will have a passion and understanding of Data Science, Machine Learning and AI and will have the substantial experience in software engineering and cloud engineering that is necessary to turn those models into highly visible, mission-critical capabilities that drive CarMax’s iconic customer experience.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Identify new opportunities for ML and AI solutions and build and cultivate relationships with leaders across the organization to foster those partnerships

• Influence partners and stakeholders in Data Science and other teams across the organization to prioritize objectives and provide a comprehensive approach to solution recommendations that includes ROI, time to market, scalability as well as alternative recommendations 

• Communicate effectively with senior leadership to share progress, raise any roadblocks or impediments to delivery, and also spread awareness of your teams’ achievements

• Create the strategic roadmap that will guide the direction and goals for the team, both in terms of individual project impacts but also overall standards for machine learning and AI utilization in the organization

• Empower your direct reports to lead their teams by providing them with the resources, training, feedback, and a sounding-board to be successful in their roles

• Develop people through effective communication and ongoing feedback

• Manage the budget of your area including budget planning and estimating costs of future development and tracking spend on an ongoing basis

• Create an inclusive and engaging culture for a team of remote and hybrid engineers with varying levels of experience

• Work through others to deliver resilient and scalable technology solutions that solve for complex business problems

• Help drive the broader understanding of the use of machine learning and AI by interfacing with key roles in Operations, Legal, Security, and Technology

• Stay on top of industry trends and best practices to continuously improve what we do and ensure our customer experience is the best it can be

• Quickly learning the CarMax technology standards and norms and ensuring that your teams follow best practices for change management, security, etc.

• This role will have on-call expectations to be available for major incidents and issues that affect your team’s applications.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, relevant technical field, or equivalent practical experience

• Optional for sponsorship needs: Master’s Degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering,  or relevant technical field

• 10+ years of software-engineering experience in an enterprise-level environment in one or more of the following areas: machine learning/artificial intelligence, cloud computing, systems engineering

• 5+ years’ experience managing direct reports

• 5+ years’ experience with microservices software architecture 

• 5+ years leading the end-to-end design and development of scalable services to be consumed by the enterprise, including monitoring and production support 

• 5+ years’ experience building enterprise-level solutions with Microsoft Azure or equivalent cloud technologies 

• Demonstrated ability to provide vision for the Cloud Engineering, Software Engineering, and Machine-Learning spaces and inspire teams towards the future

• Proven ability to strategically prioritize by balancing business delivery and value generating work with technical debt and engineering excellence

• Proficient in developing in Python

• Experience with scripting languages such as shell scripts

• Experience in DevOps practices, testing frameworks, and CI/CD 

• Experience with Model Development and Deployment (MLFlow, Azure ML)

• Experience with container orchestration (Kubernetes, Docker)

• Experience communicating and working across functions to drive organization-wide solutions

Preferred Qualifications:

• Previous experience deploying large-scale applications on Azure

• Familiarity with MLOps and industry-standard machine-learning Python libraries

• Experience with Azure AI services (Azure Machine Learning, Azure Cognitive Services)

• Advanced AI/ML specializations (reinforcement learning, deep learning, NLP)

• Proficient in an object-oriented programming language (i.e. C#, Java) 

• Experience using large language models (LLMs) with semantic search frameworks for chatbot implementations

Software Specific Qualifications:

• Experience building enterprise-level solutions with Microsoft Azure or equivalent cloud technologies 

• Proficiency developing and debugging in Python

• Experience with Model Development and Deployment (MLFlow, Azure ML)

• Experience with Azure AI services (Azure Machine Learning, Azure Cognitive Services)

• Experience with scripting languages such as shell scripts

• Experience in DevOps practices, testing frameworks, and CI/CD 

• Proficiency in version control systems (Git) for AI/ML model versioning

• Experience with container orchestration (Kubernetes, Docker)

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.

Work Location and Arrangement: This role will be based out of the Richmond, VA Technology Innovation Center and have a Hybrid work arrangement.

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.

Upon an applicant's request, CarMax will consider reasonable accommodation to complete the CarMax Job Application.