Staff, Software Engineer

Walmart•Sunnyvale, CA

23h

About The Position

Position Summary... What you'll do... We are looking for a highly experienced Staff Software Engineer to lead the design, development, and operational excellence of Walmart’s API-driven platforms and cloud-native services. You will join a small, nimble, and talented team focused on incubating and rapidly scaling innovative systems within Walmart’s massive ecosystem .The ideal candidate thrives in a startup-like culture—comfortable navigating ambiguity, pushing technical boundaries, and enabling teams to move with both speed and purpose—while simultaneously building systems that scale to support millions of users and enterprise-wide workloads. What you'll do: Technical Leadership End-to-end design and development of REST APIs, internal platform services, and microservices-based systems. Establish coding and design standards across teams (API patterns, schema design, logging/observability, scalability patterns). Evaluate and introduce technologies that improve system performance, developer experience, and operational efficiency. Provide hands-on technical guidance, perform design reviews, and mentor senior level engineers. API & Backend Engineering Build scalable, secure, low-latency REST APIs using JavaScript/TypeScript, Node.js, Python or related backend technologies. Own API lifecycle including design, deployment, versioning, monitoring, documentation, and governance. Implement robust authentication/authorization patterns (OAuth, JWT, service-to-service auth, etc.). Drive performance-focused code optimization across services. Cloud Native & Kubernetes Design and deploy containerized workloads using Kubernetes, Docker, and cloud orchestration systems. Lead efforts in improving reliability, scalability, and efficiency of Kubernetes clusters and API-based workloads. Collaborate with other technical staff to build mature CI/CD pipelines, automated rollouts, and observability (OpenObserve, Prometheus, Grafana). Data & Storage Design data models and scalable access patterns for SQL and NoSQL databases ((SQL Server/Postgres, Azure Cosmos DB/Cassandra). Improve DB performance via indexing, partitioning, schema tuning, and caching strategies. Design scalable data access patterns for microservices. Performance Optimization & Caching Use Redis or Memcached to design distributed caching strategies. Improve system performance through: Cache design & invalidation strategies Hot-path optimization Profiling & instrumentation Reducing API latency and improving throughput Identify and fix performance bottlenecks across compute, I/O, and data layers. Operational Excellence Drive incident resolution, root-cause analysis, and long-term resiliency improvements. Ensure services are well-instrumented: metrics, tracing, SLIs/SLOs, and health checks. Champion best practices in testing, quality assurance, and reliability engineering. What you'll bring: 8+ years of experience building large-scale backend systems or API platforms. Strong expertise in REST API design, Node.js/JavaScript/TypeScript, and distributed systems architecture. Deep hands-on experience with Kubernetes (pods, deployments, services, ingress controllers, Helm, autoscaling). Proficiency with SQL and NoSQL databases and designing scalable schemas. Expertise with Docker and modern containerization workflows. Strong understanding of API infrastructure: gateways, load balancers, service meshes, CI/CD, authN/authZ, rate limiting. Strong experience Proven track record influencing technical roadmaps across multiple teams. Ability to lead large initiatives with minimal oversight.

Requirements

8+ years of experience building large-scale backend systems or API platforms.
Strong expertise in REST API design, Node.js/JavaScript/TypeScript, and distributed systems architecture.
Deep hands-on experience with Kubernetes (pods, deployments, services, ingress controllers, Helm, autoscaling).
Proficiency with SQL and NoSQL databases and designing scalable schemas.
Expertise with Docker and modern containerization workflows.
Strong understanding of API infrastructure: gateways, load balancers, service meshes, CI/CD, authN/authZ, rate limiting.
Strong experience Proven track record influencing technical roadmaps across multiple teams.
Ability to lead large initiatives with minimal oversight.
Bachelor's degree in computer science, computer engineering, computer information systems, software engineering, or related area and 4 years’ experience in software engineering or related area.
6 years’ experience in software engineering or related area.

Nice To Haves

Experience with cloud platforms (e.g., GCP, Azure, or Walmart’s internal cloud environment).
Strong Python experience for scripting, tooling, backend services, or data workflows.
Full-stack experience with React (building dashboards, internal tools, developer portals, or admin UIs).
Robust experience support large scale internet (site facing) systems.
Experience building GraphQL APIs or hybrid REST/GraphQL platforms.
Experience with event-driven systems (Kafka, Pub/Sub, Streams).
Experience building internal and external developer platforms, SDKs, or API frameworks.
Experience with AI-assisted engineering workflows and tools for refactoring, code reviews, test generation, runtime monitoring.
Strong mentorship and cross-team communication skills.
Master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Computer Information Systems, Software Engineering, or related area and 2 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

End-to-end design and development of REST APIs, internal platform services, and microservices-based systems.
Establish coding and design standards across teams (API patterns, schema design, logging/observability, scalability patterns).
Evaluate and introduce technologies that improve system performance, developer experience, and operational efficiency.
Provide hands-on technical guidance, perform design reviews, and mentor senior level engineers.
Build scalable, secure, low-latency REST APIs using JavaScript/TypeScript, Node.js, Python or related backend technologies.
Own API lifecycle including design, deployment, versioning, monitoring, documentation, and governance.
Implement robust authentication/authorization patterns (OAuth, JWT, service-to-service auth, etc.).
Drive performance-focused code optimization across services.
Design and deploy containerized workloads using Kubernetes, Docker, and cloud orchestration systems.
Lead efforts in improving reliability, scalability, and efficiency of Kubernetes clusters and API-based workloads.
Collaborate with other technical staff to build mature CI/CD pipelines, automated rollouts, and observability (OpenObserve, Prometheus, Grafana).
Design data models and scalable access patterns for SQL and NoSQL databases ((SQL Server/Postgres, Azure Cosmos DB/Cassandra).
Improve DB performance via indexing, partitioning, schema tuning, and caching strategies.
Design scalable data access patterns for microservices.
Use Redis or Memcached to design distributed caching strategies.
Improve system performance through: Cache design & invalidation strategies Hot-path optimization Profiling & instrumentation Reducing API latency and improving throughput
Identify and fix performance bottlenecks across compute, I/O, and data layers.
Drive incident resolution, root-cause analysis, and long-term resiliency improvements.
Ensure services are well-instrumented: metrics, tracing, SLIs/SLOs, and health checks.
Champion best practices in testing, quality assurance, and reliability engineering.

Benefits

Beyond our great compensation package, you can receive incentive awards for your performance.
Other great perks include 401(k) match, stock purchase plan, paid maternity and parental leave, PTO, multiple health plans, and much more.
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.
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.