Principal, Data Scientist -- Agentic AI

Walmart • Sunnyvale, CA

4d • $143,000 - $286,000

About The Position

About Walmart Data Ventures Walmart Scintilla is a commercial data and AI platform powering the suppliers of the world’s largest retailer. With access to one of the most diverse and scaled data ecosystems anywhere, we transform the data of Fortune 1 company into insight, recommendation, and innovation that drives impact for customers, merchants, and suppliers. Our teams are pioneering the use of Generative AI, agentic intelligence, and advanced machine learning to reimagine customer experiences, optimize operations, and unlock new business models. For external candidates, it’s a chance to join a team that is shaping the future of retail AI and setting industry benchmarks. About the Role We are seeking a Principal Data Scientist to shape the future of Generative AI and Agentic AI at Walmart. This role is a highly specialized Applied Science position, requiring a deep fusion of cutting-edge applied science and scalable production system delivery. Building on our public vision of “Four Super Agents”, you will architect and scale next-generation ML and LLM systems that power both customer-facing experiences and enterprise operations. You will drive innovation at the intersection of applied science, engineering, and platform strategy—pushing the boundaries of what large-scale AI can do in production. What you'll do... What You’ll Do Our team is driving high-impact enterprise initiatives, including recommendation platforms, customer voice, market research, product innovation, customer attitudinal segmentation, agent based simulations, and many more. These initiatives require advanced expertise in the following capabilities: GenAI & Agentic AI Innovation Architect and build agentic AI systems with capabilities such as planning, memory, tool-use, and multi-agent collaboration, ensuring seamless integration with Walmart’s digital ecosystem. Define best practices for LLMOps, including prompt versioning, embedding store management, synthetic data generation, fine-tuning strategies, and continuous evaluation for safety, accuracy, and bias. Drive applied research in large language models (LLMs) and multi-modal AI, leveraging methods such as LoRA/PEFT fine-tuning, reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF/DPO), quantization, and speculative decoding. Explore and operationalize RAG pipelines, deep research, multimodal fusion, and specialized architectures for language, vision, time series, and beyond. ML & Applied Science Foundations Translate ambiguous, high-impact business problems into scalable AI/ML solutions with measurable outcomes. Build and guide end-to-end ML systems covering data sourcing, feature engineering, model training, deployment, monitoring, and iteration. Champion advanced MLOps practices: automated pipelines, CI/CD for ML, model versioning, drift detection, and telemetry-based monitoring. Ensure models meet standards of fairness, explainability, and responsible AI compliance. Leadership & Influence Serve as a technical leader and mentor, guiding senior engineers and applied scientists to build depth and expertise. Influence cross-functional platform strategy, ensuring AI systems align with Walmart’s broader product and engineering vision. Contribute to Walmart’s AI reputation through thought leadership—publishing, presenting, and showcasing innovations internally and externally. What We’re Looking For Above all, we're looking for a leader defined by curiosity and the resilience to thrive in complex, innovative, and high-uncertainty environments. The ideal Principal has a deep technical science and engineering background—mastery of algorithmic thinking and strong coding skills—even if they haven't mastered every agentic technology on day one. We value the efficient use of AI coding assistants but expect strong, independent coding prowess. Your willingness to work hard and quickly get up to speed on new domains is the most critical asset. If you have the foundational strength and the drive to lead our next-era AI journey in retail, we encourage you to apply.

Requirements

• Deep expertise in Generative AI, LLMs, and/or Agentic AI systems (e.g., LLMOps, fine-tuning, RAG, multi-agent orchestration).
• Strong applied science background with the ability to design, experiment, and deploy cutting-edge ML models in production.
• Proven experience architecting large-scale ML/AI platforms with attention to performance, scalability, and maintainability.
• Strong programming and ML tooling skills (Python; PyTorch/TensorFlow).
• Familiarity with Agentic development platforms (Google ADK, LangGraph, CrewAI, AutoGen).
• Track record of technical leadership, mentoring, and influencing architectural decisions across teams.
• Bachelors degree in Statistics, Economics, Analytics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Information Technology or related field and 5 years' experience in an analytics related field.
• Masters degree in Statistics, Economics, Analytics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Information Technology or related field and 3 years' experience in an analytics related field.
• 7 years' experience in an analytics or related field

Nice To Haves

• Experience with broader ML ecosystems: Scikit-learn, Spark ML, XGBoost, or programming languages such as Java, C++, SQL, R.
• Familiarity with advanced optimization methods (e.g., distributed training, model compression, ONNX interoperability).
• Exposure to multimodal systems (vision, speech, time series).
• Strong presence in the AI/ML community (publications, open-source contributions, conference talks).
• Data science, machine learning, optimization models
• PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Information Technology, Operations Research, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Econometrics
• Publications or active peer reviewer in related journals or conference
• Successful completion of one or more assessments in Python, Spark, Scala, or R
• Using open source frameworks (for example, scikit learn, tensorflow, torch)
• We value candidates with a background in creating inclusive digital experiences, demonstrating knowledge in implementing Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standards, assistive technologies, and integrating digital accessibility seamlessly.
• The ideal candidate would have knowledge of accessibility best practices and join us as we continue to create accessible products and services following Walmart’s accessibility standards and guidelines for supporting an inclusive culture.

Responsibilities

• Architect and build agentic AI systems with capabilities such as planning, memory, tool-use, and multi-agent collaboration, ensuring seamless integration with Walmart’s digital ecosystem.
• Define best practices for LLMOps, including prompt versioning, embedding store management, synthetic data generation, fine-tuning strategies, and continuous evaluation for safety, accuracy, and bias.
• Drive applied research in large language models (LLMs) and multi-modal AI, leveraging methods such as LoRA/PEFT fine-tuning, reinforcement learning from human feedback (RLHF/DPO), quantization, and speculative decoding.
• Explore and operationalize RAG pipelines, deep research, multimodal fusion, and specialized architectures for language, vision, time series, and beyond.
• Translate ambiguous, high-impact business problems into scalable AI/ML solutions with measurable outcomes.
• Build and guide end-to-end ML systems covering data sourcing, feature engineering, model training, deployment, monitoring, and iteration.
• Champion advanced MLOps practices: automated pipelines, CI/CD for ML, model versioning, drift detection, and telemetry-based monitoring.
• Ensure models meet standards of fairness, explainability, and responsible AI compliance.
• Serve as a technical leader and mentor, guiding senior engineers and applied scientists to build depth and expertise.
• Influence cross-functional platform strategy, ensuring AI systems align with Walmart’s broader product and engineering vision.
• Contribute to Walmart’s AI reputation through thought leadership—publishing, presenting, and showcasing innovations internally and externally.

Benefits

• At Walmart, we offer competitive pay as well as performance-based bonus awards and other great benefits for a happier mind, body, and wallet.
• Health benefits include medical, vision and dental coverage.
• Financial benefits include 401(k), stock purchase and company-paid life insurance.
• Paid time off benefits include PTO (including sick leave), parental leave, family care leave, bereavement, jury duty, and voting.
• Other benefits include short-term and long-term disability, company discounts, Military Leave Pay, adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, and more.
• You will also receive PTO and/or PPTO that can be used for vacation, sick leave, holidays, or other purposes.
• Live Better U is a Walmart-paid education benefit program for full-time and part-time associates in Walmart and Sam's Club facilities. Programs range from high school completion to bachelor's degrees, including English Language Learning and short-form certificates. Tuition, books, and fees are completely paid for by Walmart.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level
• Number of Employees: 1-10 employees