This role pays more than
81%
of similar roles. Most pay
$157,525–$226,437
— the shaded band above.
At the midpoint, this role pays about
$240k
versus about
$192k
for comparable roles.
Based on 240 similar postings.
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
184 open roles
on FindRole.
Listed pay typically runs
$117,000–$234,000
across 180 roles with salary data.
Senior Director, Software Engineering: Colony leads a multidisciplinary team of engineers, data scientists, and program managers within the AI & Data organization. The role focuses on developing Code Puppy, an enterprise-grade builder platform designed to help global associates create AI-powered solutions quickly and safely. Responsibilities include defining the long-term product roadmap, establishing architectural standards for distributed systems, and managing AI pipelines and agent-based workflows. The position requires expertise in cloud-native, API-first design principles, as well as implementing responsible AI guardrails and governance frameworks. Key technical competencies include experience with AI/ML productionization, infrastructure scalability, and developer tooling. This role addresses the challenge of standardizing AI foundations and creating a secure, cost-effective ecosystem for internal builders to deploy scalable applications across global markets while ensuring high reliability through robust DevOps practices and operational excellence.
What does a Software Engineering Director earn?
Median $262275 from 30 postings across 13 companies.
Define and execute the long-term vision and roadmap for the Code Puppy AI builder platform.
Establish architectural standards for distributed systems, AI pipelines, and agent-based workflows.
Embed guardrails and governance patterns to ensure safe and compliant AI deployments.
Manage operational reliability by defining SLOs, KPIs, and optimizing costs for mission-critical platforms.
Translate complex technical trade-offs into clear business outcomes for executive leadership.
Lead and mentor a multidisciplinary team of engineers, data scientists, and program managers.
Drive the adoption of AI-first engineering practices across the global organization.
What we're looking for
Candidates must have 12+ years of progressive engineering leadership experience in platform or AI-enabled product organizations.
Candidates must have proven experience leading senior individual contributors, specifically Principal and Distinguished-level engineers.
Candidates must possess deep expertise in distributed systems, cloud-native architecture, and AI/ML productionization.
Candidates must have experience building internal platforms or developer ecosystems at an enterprise scale.
Candidates must demonstrate success embedding responsible AI and governance frameworks into platform designs.
Candidates must possess strong executive presence to influence leadership at the VP and SVP levels.
Candidates must meet one of two education/experience paths: a Bachelor's degree with 7 years of software engineering experience, or 9 years of software engineering experience.
Candidates should ideally have a Master’s degree in a related field and 5 years of software engineering experience.
Agentic AI
SDLC
TLM Automation
Cloud Native
Resilience Engineering
System Design
Release Governance
Security
Software Development Life Cycle
AI-assisted development