(USA) Principal, Software Engineer

Walmart • Bellevue, WA

2d • Onsite

About The Position

The W+ team leads the design and development of scalable, cloud-native AI-powered systems that enhance operational reliability and performance. This team drives technical strategy and execution across platforms, ensuring architectural integrity and alignment with enterprise standards. Members focus on continuous improvement by automating processes, optimizing system scalability, and fostering operational excellence. Collaboration and mentorship are key, as the team supports knowledge sharing and high-quality delivery. With expertise in AI agents, reliability engineering, and payments industry solutions, the W+ team plays a critical role in advancing innovative technologies that meet business objectives and customer needs.

Platform Engineering Leadership: Delivers platform capabilities across a technical area or sub-organization, including shared infrastructure, reusable tooling, and scalable ML frameworks (for example, CI/CD pipelines, SDKs, model runtimes, feature stores). Aligns engineering efforts with roadmap milestones and domain strategies, ensuring execution supports long-term platform evolution. Applies cloud-native architecture principles and best practices in distributed system design to enable high availability, scalability, and fault tolerance.

Technical Execution & Lifecycle Management: Drives the full software development lifecycle across multiple teams—including coding, testing, CI/CD deployment, observability, monitoring, incident response, and maintenance. Implements distributed architectures optimized for real-time data processing, AI/ML integration, and cross-service reliability. Maintains architectural decision records (ADRs) to ensure traceability, alignment, and transparency in technical planning and tradeoffs.

AI/ML Integration & Product Development: Architects and builds intelligent software systems and AI-enhanced applications that serve millions of customers and associates. Leads the integration of AI agents capable of multi-step reasoning and tool-augmented tasks using technologies such as Python, Java, JavaScript, Dart, Rust, and C++. Applies model-driven design and leverage tools like GitHub Copilot to increase development velocity and quality.

Technical Leadership & Mentorship: Provides strategic technical guidance and mentorship to Engineers and their teams, fostering engineering excellence and innovation. Influences architectural decisions and design patterns across teams to promote standardization, maintainability, and system interoperability. Showcases Walmart’s engineering vision through knowledge sharing, community leadership, and by publishing technical articles and insights internally and externally.

Customer/Associate Problem Definition & Metrics: Engages with cross-functional stakeholders to deeply understand business and user needs. Breaks down ambiguous problems into actionable technical requirements and defines clear operational, engineering, and customer-centric metrics to measure success and value delivery.

Technical Ownership: Demonstrates responsibility for deliverables, ensuring solutions meet quality standards and business objectives. Takes initiative to resolve issues and drive projects to completion.

Technical Judgment: Applies sound reasoning to make informed technical decisions, balancing trade-offs and considering long-term impacts on system architecture and business goals.

Change Agility: Adapts quickly to change, embraces new technologies, and understands the broader system context. Anticipates the downstream effects of technical choices and integrates feedback to improve outcomes.

Collaboration: Works effectively across teams, openly shares knowledge, and communicates complex ideas clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Innovation & Continuous Improvement: Proactively seeks opportunities to enhance processes, tools, and products. Encourages experimentation and learning to drive ongoing improvement.

Drives the execution of multiple business plans and projects by identifying customer and operational needs; developing and communicating business plans and priorities; removing barriers and obstacles that impact performance; providing resources; identifying performance standards; measuring progress and adjusting performance accordingly; developing contingency plans; and demonstrating adaptability and supporting continuous learning. Provides supervision and development opportunities for associates by selecting and training; mentoring; assigning duties; building a team-based work environment; establishing performance expectations and conducting regular performance evaluations; providing recognition and rewards; coaching for success and improvement; and promoting a belonging mindset in workplace. Promotes and supports company policies, procedures, mission, values, and standards of ethics and integrity by training and providing direction to others in their use and application; ensuring compliance with them; and utilizing and supporting the Open Door Policy. Ensures business needs are met by evaluating the ongoing effectiveness of current plans, programs, and initiatives; consulting with business partners, managers, co-workers, or other key stakeholders; soliciting, evaluating, and applying suggestions for improving efficiency and cost effectiveness; and participating in and supporting community outreach events.

Requirements

• Software Development
• Software Architecture
• Solution Design
• Continuous Integration
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, computer engineering, computer information systems, software engineering, or related area and 5 years’ experience in software engineering or related area.
• 7 years’ experience in software engineering or related area.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, computer information systems, software engineering, or related area and 3 years' experience in software engineering or related area.
• Creating inclusive digital experiences, demonstrating knowledge in implementing Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standards, assistive technologies, and integrating digital accessibility seamlessly.
• 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

• Delivers platform capabilities across a technical area or sub-organization, including shared infrastructure, reusable tooling, and scalable ML frameworks (for example, CI/CD pipelines, SDKs, model runtimes, feature stores).
• Aligns engineering efforts with roadmap milestones and domain strategies, ensuring execution supports long-term platform evolution.
• Applies cloud-native architecture principles and best practices in distributed system design to enable high availability, scalability, and fault tolerance.
• Drives the full software development lifecycle across multiple teams—including coding, testing, CI/CD deployment, observability, monitoring, incident response, and maintenance.
• Implements distributed architectures optimized for real-time data processing, AI/ML integration, and cross-service reliability.
• Maintains architectural decision records (ADRs) to ensure traceability, alignment, and transparency in technical planning and tradeoffs.
• Architects and builds intelligent software systems and AI-enhanced applications that serve millions of customers and associates.
• Leads the integration of AI agents capable of multi-step reasoning and tool-augmented tasks using technologies such as Python, Java, JavaScript, Dart, Rust, and C++.
• Applies model-driven design and leverage tools like GitHub Copilot to increase development velocity and quality.
• Provides strategic technical guidance and mentorship to Engineers and their teams, fostering engineering excellence and innovation.
• Influences architectural decisions and design patterns across teams to promote standardization, maintainability, and system interoperability.
• Showcases Walmart’s engineering vision through knowledge sharing, community leadership, and by publishing technical articles and insights internally and externally.
• Engages with cross-functional stakeholders to deeply understand business and user needs.
• Breaks down ambiguous problems into actionable technical requirements and defines clear operational, engineering, and customer-centric metrics to measure success and value delivery.
• Demonstrates responsibility for deliverables, ensuring solutions meet quality standards and business objectives.
• Takes initiative to resolve issues and drive projects to completion.
• Applies sound reasoning to make informed technical decisions, balancing trade-offs and considering long-term impacts on system architecture and business goals.
• Adapts quickly to change, embraces new technologies, and understands the broader system context.
• Anticipates the downstream effects of technical choices and integrates feedback to improve outcomes.
• Works effectively across teams, openly shares knowledge, and communicates complex ideas clearly to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Proactively seeks opportunities to enhance processes, tools, and products.
• Encourages experimentation and learning to drive ongoing improvement.
• Drives the execution of multiple business plans and projects by identifying customer and operational needs; developing and communicating business plans and priorities; removing barriers and obstacles that impact performance; providing resources; identifying performance standards; measuring progress and adjusting performance accordingly; developing contingency plans; and demonstrating adaptability and supporting continuous learning.
• Provides supervision and development opportunities for associates by selecting and training; mentoring; assigning duties; building a team-based work environment; establishing performance expectations and conducting regular performance evaluations; providing recognition and rewards; coaching for success and improvement; and promoting a belonging mindset in workplace.
• Promotes and supports company policies, procedures, mission, values, and standards of ethics and integrity by training and providing direction to others in their use and application; ensuring compliance with them; and utilizing and supporting the Open Door Policy.
• Ensures business needs are met by evaluating the ongoing effectiveness of current plans, programs, and initiatives; consulting with business partners, managers, co-workers, or other key stakeholders; soliciting, evaluating, and applying suggestions for improving efficiency and cost effectiveness; and participating in and supporting community outreach events.

Benefits

• competitive pay
• performance-based bonus awards
• medical coverage
• vision coverage
• dental coverage
• 401(k)
• stock purchase
• company-paid life insurance
• PTO (including sick leave)
• parental leave
• family care leave
• bereavement
• jury duty
• voting
• short-term disability
• long-term disability
• company discounts
• Military Leave Pay
• adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement
• PTO and/or PPTO that can be used for vacation, sick leave, holidays, or other purposes.
• Tuition, books, and fees are completely paid for by Walmart (Live Better U program).

What This Job Offers

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