As a Distinguished Software Engineer at Walmart’s Search Runtime platform, you will provide technical leadership by shaping the long-term strategy and driving architectural decisions for scalable AI-powered search systems. Your day-to-day responsibilities include defining technical strategies, designing low-latency distributed systems, integrating ML models into production, and mentoring engineers to raise the bar on engineering practices. You will work with large-scale structured and unstructured data, leveraging advanced information retrieval and ranking algorithms to deliver personalized product discovery experiences. The role requires expertise in search architectures, distributed systems, and cloud-native technologies such as Java/Spring, along with a strong ability to influence cross-organizational teams to achieve high business impact at massive scale.
Define and drive the technical strategy for Search Runtime systems.
Design scalable, low-latency distributed systems for high availability.
Build AI-powered search capabilities including semantic search and ML ranking.
Integrate machine learning models into real-time production systems for improvement.
Lead large cross-functional initiatives to align engineering and product teams.
Mentor engineers across levels to enhance design quality and practices.
Identify and resolve system bottlenecks to optimize performance continuously.
What we're looking for
Extensive experience (12+ years) in software engineering with a focus on building and scaling large distributed systems.
Deep expertise in search architectures including retrieval, indexing, ranking, and system trade-offs.
Strong proficiency in backend technologies such as Java/Spring and modern cloud-native architectures.
Proven ability to lead cross-team initiatives and influence system design across organizations.
Experience designing and operating run-time orchestration systems for complex distributed workflows.
Ability to drive operational excellence with a focus on observability, reliability, performance, and cost efficiency.
Market check
Salary context
This
$169,000–$338,000
range sits above
99%
of similar postings on FindRole.
Peer median band
$117,000–$220,000
Median floor and ceiling across peers.
Typical midpoint (25–75%)
$135,000–$175,500
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.