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.
As a Staff, Data Scientist on the Applied AI Search & Personalization team, you will lead the architecture and technical direction for scalable machine learning systems. You will design and deploy intelligent retrieval, ranking, recommendation, and personalization algorithms to transform how customers discover products. Your daily responsibilities include mentoring senior scientists, reviewing technical designs, and establishing experimentation frameworks to drive measurable improvements in search relevance and customer engagement. You must possess deep expertise in learning to rank models, transformers, LLMs, and click-through rate prediction. The role requires proficiency in Python, Spark, Scala, or R, along with open-source frameworks like scikit-learn, TensorFlow, and Torch. You will solve complex problems in MLOps, distributed model deployment, and causal inference to create next-generation shopping experiences.
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 using the latest AI techniques.
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 for the organization.
Drive measurable improvements in customer engagement, search relevance, and key business metrics.
Lead cross-functional initiatives involving Product, Engineering, Platform, and Data Science teams.
What we're looking for
Obtain 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.
Possess extensive experience building production AI/ML systems at scale.
Demonstrate deep expertise in Search, Information Retrieval, Recommendation Systems, Personalization, or Ranking.
Have experience with learning to rank models, transformer/LLM, or click-through rate prediction models.
Maintain a strong understanding of ML system architecture, MLOps, and distributed model deployment.
Exhibit expertise in experimentation, causal inference, and performance evaluation.
Demonstrate excellent technical leadership, stakeholder management, and the ability to mentor technical teams.
Possess a PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Information Technology, Operations Research, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, or Econometrics (preferred).
Machine Learning
Generative AI
Large Language Models
LLMs
Python
Spark
Scala
R
TensorFlow
scikit learn
MLOps
Vector Search
Embeddings
Transformer Models
Information Retrieval
Recommendation Systems
Distributed Model Deployment
Causal Inference
WCAG) 2.2 AA
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