(USA) Staff, Machine Learning Engineer

Walmart • Bentonville, AR

8d • Onsite

About The Position

As a Staff Machine Learning Engineer at Walmart, you will lead the design and deployment of scalable, production-grade ML solutions that address critical business challenges. This role involves overseeing the full ML lifecycle, from data engineering to model monitoring, while driving platform alignment and operational excellence across cloud environments. You will provide technical leadership, mentor engineering teams, and foster innovation through advanced techniques such as AutoML and NLP. Your expertise will ensure robust, maintainable systems that deliver measurable impact, supporting Walmart’s commitment to continuous improvement and technical excellence. Walmart Data Ventures powers the data and AI platform supporting the world’s largest retailer’s suppliers. The Walmart Scintilla team transforms extensive data into actionable insights, recommendations, and innovations that enhance customer, merchant, and supplier outcomes. This team leads advancements in generative AI, agentic intelligence, machine learning, measurement, and causal inference to redefine retail experiences, optimize operations, and develop new business models. Joining this team offers the opportunity to lead cutting-edge AI initiatives that set industry standards and drive significant impact across the retail ecosystem.

Requirements

• Strong software engineering fundamentals with proficiency in Python, SQL, system design, testing, CI/CD, and production operations.
• Extensive experience designing and operating large-scale ML systems across training, evaluation, batch and real-time inference, monitoring, and continuous improvement.
• Strong understanding of MLOps, distributed systems, cloud-native architectures, APIs, containers, and relational/NoSQL data platforms.
• Experience building reusable ML infrastructure, frameworks, and observability capabilities.
• Strong foundation in algorithms, data structures, and machine learning methods.
• Experience with LLM and agentic systems, including retrieval, tool calling, orchestration, and evaluation.
• Ability to balance model quality, latency, throughput, reliability, scalability, maintainability, and cost effectively.
• Demonstrated technical leadership, mentorship, and effective cross-functional communication.
• Bachelor's degree in computer science, computer engineering, computer information systems, software engineering, or related area and 4 years’ experience in software engineering, machine learning engineering, AI systems or related area.
• 6 years’ experience in software engineering, machine learning engineering, AI systems or related area.

Nice To Haves

• Master’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, computer information systems, software engineering, or related area and 2 years' experience in software engineering, machine learning engineering, AI systems or related area.
• Prior work experience in accessibility best practices.
• Prior work experience 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.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and delivery of scalable, production-grade ML and AI systems.
• Translate business problems into technical requirements, architectures, and measurable success criteria.
• Productionize DS prototypes across batch, real-time, and agentic workloads.
• Own ML lifecycle, SDLC, CI/CD, versioning, testing, deployment, evaluation, observability, and monitoring.
• Design systems balancing model quality, latency, throughput, reliability, scalability, maintainability, and cost.
• Build reusable ML infrastructure, frameworks, and platform capabilities.
• Lead production LLM/agentic systems including retrieval, tool calling, orchestration, and state management.
• Establish offline and online evaluation practices to detect regressions, drift, quality degradation, and production failure modes.
• Drive architecture reviews, engineering standards, mentorship, and continuous innovation.

Benefits

• 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
• 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