below marketmost similar roles pay hereabove market
This role pays more than
87%
of similar roles. Most pay
$160,102–$214,500
— the blue band above.
At the midpoint, this role pays about
$214k
versus about
$187k
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
719 open roles
on FindRole.
Listed pay typically runs
$117,000–$234,000
across 592 roles with salary data.
JOB TITLE: (USA) Staff, Data Scientist
The Staff Data Scientist provides technical leadership for the Search and Personalization team, driving the design and deployment of advanced AI solutions across multiple products. This role involves leading architecture and technical direction for machine learning systems, specifically designing scalable retrieval, ranking, recommendation, and personalization algorithms. You will drive the adoption of Generative AI, Large Language Models, embeddings, and semantic search capabilities while mentoring senior scientists and establishing experimentation frameworks. Key technical requirements include expertise in transformer models, vector search, MLOps, distributed model deployment, and causal inference. The work focuses on solving complex customer discovery problems by improving search relevance and customer engagement through production-scale AI systems that integrate seamlessly into global retail platforms to enhance the overall shopping experience.
What does a Data Scientist earn in California?
Median $214500 from 134 postings across 32 companies.
Lead the architecture and technical direction for Search and Personalization machine learning systems.
Design scalable retrieval, ranking, recommendation, and personalization algorithms.
Drive the adoption of Generative AI, Large Language Models, embeddings, and semantic search.
Establish experimentation frameworks and best practices for model development and evaluation.
Mentor senior scientists and review technical designs across multiple initiatives.
Influence long-term AI strategy and technology investments.
Drive measurable improvements in customer engagement, search relevance, and business metrics.
What we're looking for
Meet one of the following: a Bachelor's degree in a related field with 4 years of analytics experience, a Master's degree with 2 years of experience, or 6 years of experience.
Extensive experience building production AI/ML systems at scale.
Deep expertise in Search, Information Retrieval, Recommendation Systems, Personalization, or Ranking.
Experience with transformer models, embeddings, vector search, LLMs, or Generative AI applications.
Strong understanding of ML system architecture, MLOps, and distributed model deployment.
Expertise in experimentation, causal inference, and performance evaluation.
Excellent technical leadership and stakeholder management skills.
PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Information Technology, Operations Research, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Econometrics (preferred).
Generative AI
Large Language Models
LLMs
MLOps
Python
Spark
Scala
R
TensorFlow
scikit learn
transformer models
vector search
Embeddings
Information Retrieval
Recommendation Systems
causal inference
distributed model deployment
semantic search
Optimization Models
NLP
Large Language Models
Multimodal AI
Python
Deep Learning
Machine Learning
Spark
TensorFlow
scikit learn
Scala
R
Prompt Optimization
Fine-tuning
Predictive Analytics
Optimization Models