Distinguished, Data Scientist

Walmart; Bellevue (WA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 280,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

401(k)

Stock purchase plan

Paid time off

Life insurance

Job summary

Walmart is seeking a Distinguished Data Scientist to shape AI strategy and lead cutting-edge AI initiatives within Customer Care Technology. This IC role emphasizes hands-on coding (about 80%) and mentorship of data scientists, driving scalable AI/ML solutions across global teams.

You'll collaborate with product, business, and UX partners to deliver measurable value while staying current with research and industry advances in generative AI and MLOps.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in AI Research.
• 15+ years of experience with full ML development lifecycle.
• Experience building machine learning models through all phases of development, from design through training, evaluation, validation, and implementation & monitoring.
• Experience with delivering very large models through the MLOps life cycle
• Experience with generative AI technology stack including prompt engineering, guardrails, advanced RAG, KAG, CAG, and fine-tuning.
• Extensive hands‑on experience of a broad stack of technologies — Python, Huggingface, VectorDB, Tensorflow, Pytorch, ElasticSearch, Azure, etc.
• Authored research publications in top peer‑reviewed conferences (NeurIPS/ICML/ICLR/AAAI), or industry‑recognized contributions.

Responsibilities

• Develop technical vision, long-term strategy and set direction for the team and the organization
• Drive execution of developing models and systems
• Communicate, collaborate, and build relationships with clients and peer teams to facilitate cross-functional projects.
• Remain up to date on ongoing research and development activities in the team, help work through technical challenges, and be involved in design decisions
• Guide and lead the organization data scientists to design, architect, and build AI/ML model and model systems.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and machine learning engineers to deploy, operate, and optimize scalable solutions

Skills

AI Research

ML Lifecycle

MLOps

GenAI

Prompt Engineering

Python

Huggingface

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Azure

Tools

VectorDB

ElasticSearch

Azure

Huggingface

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Job description

Position Summary…

What you’ll do…

Role summary:
We are seeking a hands‑on highly skilled and experienced Distinguished Data Scientist to join our team. In this individual contributor role, you will report directly to the Sr. Director of Engineering and GenAI. In this role, you will be actively shaping the organization’s AI strategies and provide thought leadership. You will be sought after to design and develop cutting‑edge AI solutions and algorithms while mentoring and guiding data scientists and fostering a culture of innovation and excellence. This is an IC role with an expectation to be hands‑on coding 80% of the time.
About the team:
The Customer Care Technology team develops advanced customer service solutions impacting millions globally. It includes software engineers, data scientists, and machine learning experts who drive innovative Generative AI applications within complex enterprise environments. As part of Walmart Global Tech’s Enterprise Business Systems, the team collaborates closely with product, business, and UX partners to deliver measurable business value. The team prioritizes scalable, secure, and maintainable software design while fostering continuous improvement and operational excellence to support Walmart’s mission of helping customers save money and live better.
What you’ll do:
Key responsibilities of this role include but are not limited to

• Develop technical vision, long-term strategy and set direction for the team and the organization
• Drive execution of developing models and systems
• Communicate, collaborate, and build relationships with clients and peer teams to facilitate cross-functional projects.
• Remain up to date on ongoing research and development activities in the team, help work through technical challenges, and be involved in design decisions
• Guide and lead the organization data scientists to design, architect, and build AI/ML model and model systems.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams and machine learning engineers to deploy, operate, and optimize scalable solutions

What you’ll bring:
Some of the skills needed for this role are but not limited to

• 10+ years of experience in AI Research
• 15+ years of experience with full ML development lifecycle.
• Experience building machine learning models through all phases of development, from design through training, evaluation, validation, and implementation & monitoring.
• Experience with delivering very large models through the MLOps life cycle
• Experience with generative AI technology stack including prompt engineering, guardrails, advanced RAG, KAG, CAG, and fine-tuning.
• Extensive hands‑on experience of a broad stack of technologies — Python, Huggingface, VectorDB, Tensorflow, Pytorch, ElasticSearch, Azure, etc.
• Authored research publications in top peer‑reviewed conferences (NeurIPS/ICML/ICLR/AAAI), or industry‑recognized contributions.

At Walmart, we offer competitive pay as well as performance‑based bonus awards and other great benefits for a happier mind, body, and wallet. Health benefits include medical, vision and dental coverage. Financial benefits include 401(k), stock purchase and company‑paid life insurance. Paid time off benefits include PTO (including sick leave), parental leave, family care leave, bereavement, jury duty, and voting. Other benefits include short‑term and long