As a Principal or Distinguished Data Scientist in Walmart’s Emerging Tech team, you will lead the strategic direction and system-level architecture of AI-driven decision systems, generative media foundations, and conversational AI evaluation. Your role involves shaping long-term vision for AI platforms, making critical architectural decisions, and serving as a technical advisor to senior leadership. You will establish standards and best practices while showcasing your expertise through external publications and open-source contributions. The ideal candidate has over 10 years of experience in building scalable ML systems, with a proven track record of influencing architecture-level decisions and translating business goals into technical strategies. Proficiency in advanced AI technologies and a strong background in generative models or conversational AI is essential for this role that impacts millions of customers globally.
Define long-term vision and strategy for AI systems and platforms.
Lead architectural decisions across agent-led decision systems, generative media, and conversational AI evaluation.
Serve as a technical advisor to senior leadership on AI strategies.
Establish standards and best practices for AI development teams.
Influence product goals by translating business needs into technical strategies.
What we're looking for
10+ years of experience in building and deploying advanced ML and AI systems at scale.
Proven ability to make architecture-level decisions for LLMs, agentic systems, evaluation frameworks, or generative platforms.
Deep expertise in one domain with influence over adjacent areas.
Track record of translating ambiguous goals into clear technical strategies.
Strong production impact and demonstrated technical leadership.
External credibility through publications, patents, open-source contributions, and speaking engagements.
Market check
Salary context
This
$143,000–$286,000
range sits above
70%
of similar postings on FindRole.
Peer median band
$128,800–$225,000
Median floor and ceiling across peers.
Typical midpoint (25–75%)
$133,750–$227,162
Middle half of comparable postings.
Based on 240 comparable postings.*
* 240 is the maximum number of comparable postings sampled.
Employer
About Walmart
Walmart Inc. is the world''s largest retailer by revenue, operating a chain of hypermarkets, discount department stores, and grocery stores, as well as a growing e-commerce presence through Walmart.com. Industry: General Merchandise & Grocery Retail
Walmart currently has
495 open roles
on FindRole.
Listed pay typically runs
$117,000–$234,000
across 487 roles with salary data.