Valvoline Inc. is launching the Auto Career Accelerator (ACA), an online recruiting platform designed to connect emerging professionals with open positions in the automotive services and heavy-duty industries. Available positions will be posted exclusively from within Valvoline’s lubricant customer network, which includes tire shops, car dealerships, quick lubes and heavy-duty fleets.

Initial posted positions will include entry-level and mid-level technicians, as well as management, sales and service openings. As the platform expands, it will include heavy-duty mechanics, CDL truck drivers and welders, according to Valvoline.

Jamal Muashsher, Valvoline’s vice president of marketing and customer experience, said the company intends to pair the best and brightest with available positions throughout the company’s network in order to close an auto industry employment gap.

“Throughout its 152-year history, Valvoline has formed relationships with thousands of vocational and technical, or vo-tech, schools nationwide. Conversely, our installer and fleet customers have consistently reported the technician shortage as an ongoing concern,” Muashsher explained. “With our blended industry connections, we felt it important to enable vo-tech students to easily and actively search thousands of open positions.”