below marketmost similar roles pay hereabove market
This role pays more than
87%
of similar roles. Most pay
$165,000–$214,500
— the blue band above.
At the midpoint, this role pays about
$214k
versus about
$190k
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
825 open roles
on FindRole.
Listed pay typically runs
$121,000–$242,000
across 473 roles with salary data.
The (USA) Principal, Software Engineer leads the design and delivery of scalable platform capabilities within a team focused on cloud-native AI-powered systems. This role involves driving technical execution across multiple teams to develop resilient distributed systems and integrate AI/ML solutions for intelligent automation. Day-to-day responsibilities include architecting intelligent software systems using AI agents, managing the full software development lifecycle, and providing strategic mentorship to engineers. The position requires expertise in cloud-native architecture, CI/CD, observability, real-time data processing, and model-driven design techniques. You will solve complex technical problems by ensuring high availability, fault tolerance, and system reliability while aligning engineering efforts with business goals. The work centers on building reusable tooling and modular solutions that support evolving platform needs and enhance customer experiences through advanced model-driven design.
What does a Software Engineer earn in California?
Median $214500 from 1193 postings across 76 companies.
Lead platform engineering efforts to deliver scalable, cloud-native infrastructure and reusable tooling for AI/ML frameworks.
Drive the full software development lifecycle to ensure high availability, fault tolerance, and real-time data processing.
Architect intelligent software systems integrating AI agents and advanced model-driven design techniques.
Provide strategic technical leadership and mentorship to promote engineering best practices across multiple teams.
Translate business needs into actionable technical requirements and measurable success metrics with stakeholders.
Maintain architectural documentation to ensure alignment with long-term platform strategies.
Foster continuous improvement through innovation, knowledge sharing, and the adoption of emerging technologies.
What we're looking for
Obtain a Bachelor's degree in computer science, computer engineering, computer information systems, software engineering, or a related area and 5 years of experience.
Possess 7 years of experience in software engineering or a related area.
Demonstrate extensive experience in platform engineering leadership, delivering scalable, cloud-native architectures and reusable tooling.
Prove ability to drive the full software development lifecycle, including CI/CD, testing, monitoring, and incident response.
Exhibit expertise in designing distributed systems optimized for real-time data processing and AI/ML integration.
Demonstrate skills in mentoring engineers and influencing cross-team architectural standards.
Show proficiency in applying model-driven design and leveraging AI agents to enhance development velocity.
Master’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, computer information systems, software engineering, or related area and 3 years of experience (preferred).
Python
Java
C++
AI/ML
Cloud-native Architecture
Distributed Systems
CI/CD
Platform Engineering
Software Development Lifecycle
Monitoring
Incident Management
Real-time Data Processing
WCAG) 2.2 AA
Cloud-native Architecture
Distributed Systems
AI/ML
CI/CD
Platform Engineering
Real-time Data Processing
Observability
Model-driven Design
AI Agents
WCAG) 2.2 AA