(USA) Staff, Data Scientist

Walmart • Sunnyvale, CA

2d • Onsite

About The Position

The Staff Data Scientist provides technical leadership for large-scale Search and Personalization initiatives, driving the design and deployment of advanced AI solutions across multiple products. This role influences technical strategy, mentors senior scientists, and partners across engineering and product organizations to deliver scalable machine learning systems that improve customer discovery and business outcomes. The Search & Personalization team develops state-of-the-art AI systems spanning Search, Retrieval, Ranking, Recommendations, Personalization, and Generative AI. We solve challenging customer discovery problems using modern machine learning techniques while operating production systems at global scale.

Requirements

• Extensive experience building production AI/ML systems at scale.
• Deep expertise in Search, Information Retrieval, Recommendation Systems, Personalization, or Ranking.
• Experience with transformer models, embeddings, vector search, LLMs, or Generative AI applications.
• Strong understanding of ML system architecture, MLOps, and distributed model deployment.
• Expertise in experimentation, causal inference, and performance evaluation.
• Excellent technical leadership and stakeholder management skills.
• Proven ability to influence architecture and mentor technical teams across organizations.
• Bachelors degree in Statistics, Economics, Analytics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Information Technology or related field and 4 years' experience in an analytics related field.
• Masters degree in Statistics, Economics, Analytics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Information Technology or related field and 2 years' experience in an analytics related field.
• 6 years' experience in an analytics or related field

Nice To Haves

• Data science, machine learning, optimization models
• PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Information Technology, Operations Research, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Econometrics
• Successful completion of one or more assessments in Python, Spark, Scala, or R
• Using open source frameworks (for example, scikit learn, tensorflow, torch)
• 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

• Lead architecture and technical direction for Search and Personalization machine learning systems.
• Design scalable retrieval, ranking, recommendation, and personalization algorithms.
• Drive adoption of Generative AI, Large Language Models, embeddings, and semantic search capabilities.
• Lead cross-functional initiatives involving Product, Engineering, Platform, and Data Science teams.
• Establish experimentation frameworks and best practices for model development and evaluation.
• Mentor senior scientists and review technical designs across multiple initiatives.
• Influence long-term AI strategy and technology investments.
• Drive measurable improvements in customer engagement, search relevance, and business metrics.

Benefits

• 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
• Live Better U (Walmart-paid education benefit program for full-time and part-time associates)

What This Job Offers

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