(USA) Staff, Data Scientist

Walmart•Sunnyvale, CA

About The Position

As a Staff Data Scientist at Walmart, you will use advanced analytical techniques and machine learning to turn complex data into actionable business insights. You will contribute expertise in data strategy, model development, and validation to support decision-making across multiple domains. Working with cross-functional teams, you will design scalable solutions, develop predictive models, build autonomous research capabilities, communicate findings through data visualization, mentor junior colleagues, and drive end-to-end projects. The work is intended to advance innovation and operational excellence and ensure data-driven strategies align with business objectives and deliver measurable value. The team develops foundational models for Walmart’s e-commerce platform using large-scale user interactions to create detailed representations of users, products, and search queries. These models support scalable search, advertising, recommendations, and personalization. Team members apply data science, machine learning, and software engineering to optimize model performance, training, and deployment, with an emphasis on data quality, advanced analytics, visualization, cross-functional collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Statistics, Economics, Analytics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field and 4 years of experience in an analytics-related field; or a master’s degree in one of these fields and 2 years of analytics-related experience; or 6 years of experience in an analytics or related field.
Expertise in predictive analytics, machine learning algorithms, and statistical hypothesis testing.
Proficiency in Python programming and data visualization tools such as Matplotlib, Plotly, or Tableau.
Experience with model assessment, validation, and deployment in production environments.
Hands-on experience building or operating agentic or autonomous research systems, such as AI agents that iteratively tune hyperparameters and modify training code or architecture with minimal human intervention.
Experience running automated experimentation against defined objective metrics, including auto-generated evaluation reports and offline best-model selection.
Ability to translate complex business problems into data-driven solutions using advanced analytical modeling.
Effective communication skills to present insights and mentor junior team members.

Nice To Haves

Familiarity with MLOps practices and NLP techniques.
Experience in data science, machine learning, or optimization models.
PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Information Technology, Operations Research, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, or Econometrics.
Successful completion of one or more assessments in Python, Spark, Scala, or R.
Experience using open-source frameworks such as scikit-learn, TensorFlow, or Torch.
Knowledge of creating inclusive digital experiences, implementing WCAG 2.2 AA standards, using assistive technologies, and integrating digital accessibility in accordance with Walmart accessibility standards and guidelines.

Responsibilities

Identify and source relevant data from multiple business domains, ensuring data quality and suitability for analysis.
Collaborate with cross-functional teams to translate business problems into data-driven solutions.
Design, build, and validate predictive models using advanced statistical and machine learning techniques.
Implement autonomous research loops in which AI agents iteratively tune hyperparameters, modify training code or architecture, and run experiments against a defined objective metric with minimal human intervention.
Automatically identify and select the best-performing models during offline experimentation to reduce manual model-selection cycles.
Deploy and monitor models in production, ensuring scalability and consistent performance.
Mentor team members on analytical methods, coding best practices, and model development.
Communicate findings through effective data visualization and present insights to others.
Drive end-to-end projects and help build technical capability across the team.

Benefits

Competitive pay and performance-based bonus awards.
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, jury duty, 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.
Walmart-paid Live Better U education benefit for eligible full-time and part-time associates, covering tuition, books, and fees for eligible programs.