Staff, Data Scientist

Role summary

We are looking for a Staff Data Scientist to drive innovation across Walmart's BuyBox, Search & Personalization ecosystem. You will develop next-generation machine learning solutions spanning ranking, recommendation systems, Generative AI, and neural networks. You will lead high-impact initiatives from problem formulation and research through experimentation, deployment, and continuous improvement, partnering closely with Product, Engineering, and business stakeholders.

You will identify appropriate data sources, ensure data quality, and develop scalable models that support customer and business decisions. Your solutions will operate at Walmart scale, influencing millions of products, offers, sellers, and customer interactions while delivering measurable customer and business impact.

What you'll do

• Lead advanced ML solutions for BuyBox offer ranking, Variant Leader Selection, Search, and Personalization.
• Build and advance ranking and recommendation systems using Learning-to-Rank, deep learning, and modern ML techniques.
• Apply GenAI, LLMs, and neural networks to improve ranking, semantic understanding, personalization, and customer experience.
• Drive research and innovation, translating new ideas into scalable production solutions.
• Lead projects from problem definition and modeling through offline evaluation, A/B testing, production deployment, and impact measurement.
• Partner with Product, Engineering, Analytics, and business stakeholders on strategy and technical roadmaps.
• Provide technical leadership, establish ML best practices, and mentor Data Scientists.
• Deploy and monitor models in production environments, ensuring performance and scalability.

What you'll bring

• Proven expertise in machine learning, ranking, recommendation systems, information retrieval, and personalization.
• Proficiency in Python, BigQuery, PySpark, Hive, and data visualization tools.
• Deep understanding of Learning-to-Rank, neural networks, embeddings, representation learning, and modern recommendation techniques.
• Experience applying Generative AI and LLMs to real-world machine learning problems.
• Experience building and deploying data pipelines, MLOps and large-scale production ML systems.
• Strong knowledge of experimentation, A/B testing, statistical methods, and model evaluation.
• Ability to lead complex, ambiguous initiatives and influence technical direction across teams.
• Strong communication and cross-functional collaboration skills.
• Passion for innovation, applied research, and delivering measurable customer and business impact at scale.

Benefits

Beyond our great compensation package, you can receive incentive awards for your performance. Other great perks include 401(k) match, stock purchase plan, paid maternity and parental leave, PTO, multiple health plans, and much more.

Minimum Qualifications

Outlined below are the required minimum qualifications for this position. If none are listed, there are no minimum qualifications.

Option 1: Bachelors degree in Statistics, Economics, Analytics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Information Technology or related field and 4 years' experience in an analytics related field. Option 2: Masters degree in Statistics, Economics, Analytics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Information Technology or related field and 2 years' experience in an analytics related field. Option 3: 6 years' experience in an analytics or related field

Preferred Qualifications

Outlined below are the optional preferred qualifications for this position. If none are listed, there are no preferred qualifications.

Data science, machine learning, optimization models, PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Information Technology, Operations Research, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Econometrics, Successful completion of one or more assessments in Python, Spark, Scala, or R, Using open source frameworks (for example, scikit learn, tensorflow, torch), We value candidates with a background in creating inclusive digital experiences, demonstrating knowledge in implementing Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.2 AA standards, assistive technologies, and integrating digital accessibility seamlessly.

The ideal candidate would have knowledge of accessibility best practices and join us as we continue to create accessible products and services following Walmart's accessibility standards and guidelines for supporting an inclusive culture.

Primary Location

1395 Crossman Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94089-1114, United States of America