Senior Director, Software Engineering

Wal-Mart•Sunnyvale, CA

41d•$208,000 - $416,000

About The Position

Join the Revenue and Marketing Technology team at Walmart Global Tech, where we're reinventing how millions of customers discover, engage, and shop every day. Our team of world-class engineers and data scientists builds the intelligent systems that connect Walmart's suppliers and sellers with shoppers - across digital and physical experiences. We work at unparalleled scale, applying state-of-the-art machine learning, optimization algorithms, and experimentation to billions of ad impressions powered by Walmart's unique omni-channel data. From real-time ad serving and personalization to performance measurement and marketplace innovation, our mission is to build the next-generation omni-advertising platform that delivers impact for advertisers and value for customers. We are seeking a Senior Director of Engineering to lead the design, development, and evolution of our Sponsored Search Ad Serving Platform - the core system powering billions of ad impressions and real-time decisions across our digital ecosystem. This leader will drive the technical vision, execution, and innovation roadmap for sponsored search, ensuring best-in-class relevance, scalability, and advertiser ROI. As the head of the Sponsored Search Ad Server organization, you'll tackle some of the most complex challenges in distributed systems, real-time inference, and large-scale optimization and partner closely with Product, Data Science, and Infrastructure teams to shape the next generation of high-performance, ML-driven ad serving systems, setting new standards for latency, personalization, and efficiency. About Team: Our team works closely with our US stores and eCommerce business to better serve customers by empowering team members, stores, and merchants with technological innovation. From groceries and entertainment to sporting goods and crafts, Walmart U.S. offers an extensive selection that our customers value, whether they shop online at Walmart.com, through one of our mobile apps, or in-store. Focus areas include customers, stores and employees, in-store service, merchant tools, merchant data science, and search and personalization.

Requirements

Technical Depth in Large-Scale Distributed Systems - Deep expertise in designing and operating ultra-low-latency, high-throughput systems that handle billions of real-time ad requests, with mastery of modern serving, caching, and data pipelines.
Strategic Product & Platform Vision - Ability to translate complex business goals and advertiser needs into a clear multi-year technical roadmap that drives measurable impact across performance, relevance, and monetization.
Leadership & Talent Development - Proven track record of building, mentoring, and scaling high-performing engineering teams, fostering a culture of ownership, innovation, and cross-functional collaboration.
Data-Driven & Experimentation Mindset - Skilled at integrating machine learning, auction models, and experimentation frameworks into core ad serving logic, continuously optimizing for outcomes and efficiency.
Operational Excellence at Scale - Strong focus on reliability, observability, and cost efficiency; able to establish and enforce high standards for engineering rigor, system health, and execution velocity.
Option 1: Bachelor's degree in computer science, computer engineering, computer information systems, software engineering, or related area and 7 years' experience in software engineering or related area.
Option 2: 9 years' experience in software engineering or related area.
4 years' supervisory experience.

Nice To Haves

Master'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.
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

Lead a system that is at the core of our advertising and commerce ecosystem.
Shape the future of search monetization and retail media innovation.
Collaborate with world-class engineers, data scientists, and product leaders.
Opportunity to operate at scale - impacting millions of users and thousands of advertisers daily.
Define and execute the multi-year technical and organizational strategy for Sponsored Search Ad Serving.
Partner with Product and Science leadership to align platform capabilities with business goals, advertiser needs, and user experience.
Lead and grow multiple engineering teams across serving, bidding, ranking, and auction systems.
Oversee the architecture of large-scale, low-latency distributed systems handling real-time ad selection and delivery.
Drive innovation in auction algorithms, dynamic bidding, contextual relevance, and ML model integration.
Ensure the ad server meets the highest standards for reliability, scalability, data integrity, and regulatory compliance.
Champion the use of advanced experimentation and measurement frameworks to continuously improve performance and relevance.
Establish strong engineering rigor, including code quality, observability, SLOs, and incident management.
Partner with Infra and SRE teams to optimize performance, cost efficiency, and capacity planning at scale.
Manage cross-functional dependencies, prioritize investments, and ensure timely delivery of critical initiatives.
Build and mentor a high-performing, diverse team of engineering managers and technical leads.
Foster a culture of ownership, innovation, and continuous learning.
Serve as a visible technology leader - internally and externally - representing the company's ad tech vision.

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.
The amount you receive depends on your job classification and length of employment.
It will meet or exceed the requirements of paid sick leave laws, where applicable.
For information about PTO, see https://one.walmart.com/notices.
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.