(USA) Principal, Software Engineer

Walmart • Sunnyvale, CA

3d • Onsite

About The Position

The Principal Software Engineer leads complex, large-scale engineering projects, translating requirements into technical solutions and overseeing design, development, and testing. This hands-on technical leadership role directs cross-functional engineering teams, supports timely delivery and high-quality outcomes, drives root cause analysis and continuous improvement, and works with business partners to shape strategic priorities.

The role helps determine how AI is incorporated into products and platforms and used to improve how engineers design, build, test, and operate software. The team develops and scales core platform services for high-traffic business systems, using technologies such as Java/Spring Boot, NoSQL databases, Kafka, and cloud platforms including Azure and GCP. Its services support customer transactions such as cart building, discounts, and checkout, with an emphasis on reliability and performance during peak events.

The Principal Engineer leads platform engineering and full-lifecycle software delivery across teams, architects AI-enhanced applications, mentors engineers, collaborates with stakeholders, maintains architectural documentation, and advances engineering practices and technologies. The role also builds AI-powered capabilities, including LLM-driven automation, agentic workflows, and anomaly detection with appropriate guardrails.

The position is based at Walmart's primary location at 815 Eleventh Ave, Sunnyvale, California. The annual salary range is $143,000 to $286,000, with annual or quarterly performance bonuses; stock may also be included for certain positions. Walmart lists health, financial, paid-time-off, education, and other benefits, subject to eligibility and plan terms.

Requirements

• Either a bachelor's degree in computer science, computer engineering, computer information systems, software engineering, or a related area and 5 years of experience in software engineering or a related area; or 7 years of experience in software engineering or a related area.
• Extensive experience in platform engineering leadership, delivering scalable cloud-native architectures and reusable tooling.
• Proven expertise in software development lifecycle management, including CI/CD, testing, observability, and incident response.
• Strong proficiency in AI/ML integration and building intelligent software systems using languages such as Python, Java, and C++.
• Ability to apply model-driven design and technical solution design to complex distributed systems.
• Strong problem-solving skills focused on innovation and continuous improvement.
• Mentorship and leadership skills to guide engineering teams and influence architectural decisions.
• Experience with MCP or similar patterns for connecting AI agents to enterprise systems and tools.

Nice To Haves

• A master's degree in computer science, computer engineering, computer information systems, software engineering, or a related area and 3 years of experience in software engineering or a related area.
• Background creating inclusive digital experiences, including knowledge of WCAG 2.2 AA standards, assistive technologies, and digital accessibility best practices.

Responsibilities

• Lead platform engineering efforts by delivering scalable infrastructure, reusable tooling, and cloud-native architectures aligned with strategic roadmaps.
• Drive software development lifecycle activities—including design, coding, testing, deployment, and maintenance—across multiple teams.
• Architect and implement AI-enhanced applications and intelligent systems supporting millions of users.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship, promoting engineering best practices and innovation.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to translate business needs into actionable technical requirements and measurable outcomes.
• Maintain architectural documentation to support transparency and alignment.
• Integrate new technologies and optimize processes to foster continuous improvement.
• Build AI-powered capabilities such as LLM-driven automation, agentic workflows, and anomaly detection with appropriate guardrails.
• Lead root cause analysis and help ensure reliable, high-quality delivery.

Benefits

• Medical, vision, and dental coverage.
• 401(k), stock purchase, and company-paid life insurance.
• Paid time off, including sick leave, parental leave, family care leave, bereavement leave, jury duty leave, and voting leave.
• Short-term and long-term disability.
• Company discounts.
• Military Leave Pay.
• Adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement.
• PTO and/or PPTO that may be used for vacation, sick leave, holidays, or other purposes.
• Live Better U, a Walmart-paid education benefit program for eligible full-time and part-time associates.
• Annual or quarterly performance bonuses.
• Stock may be included as additional compensation for certain positions.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal