Principal, Software Engineer - GenAi

Walmart; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 143,000 - 286,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

Education programs (Live Better U)

Stock options

Job summary

Walmart is searching for a Principal AI Engineer to weave GenAI and LLMs into production e-commerce systems at massive scale. You will influence architecture across teams, ship AI-driven features, and craft experiences where AI anticipates and delights customers in a global retail ecosystem.

Lead technical strategy, guide frontend/backend integration with LLMs, and mentor engineers while delivering measurable business impact in Walmart International markets.

Job description

Position Summary…

What you’ll do…

We’re hiring a Principal Engineer to lead this frontier—not building foundation models from scratch, but expertly weaving GenAI and LLMs into production e-commerce systems that scale to billions of interactions. If you’re passionate about taking cutting-edge AI from prototype to real-world impact, influencing architecture across teams, and shipping features that redefine how the world shops—let’s talk.

About Team: Focusing on customer, associate and business needs, this team works with Walmart International, which includes more than 5,200 retail units, operating in 23 countries such as Canada, Central America, Chile, China, India, Mexico and South Africa to name a few.

About You

• You live for code that matters. You thrive on JavaScript, Node.js, and GraphQL, embracing JS’s quirks while crafting clean, functional, shippable magic. But now, you’re excited to layer GenAI on top—building intelligent frontends and services that feel alive.
• You obsess over great UX powered by AI. You don’t just code pixels; you design experiences where AI anticipates, delights, and empowers users—blending creativity, empathy, and technical precision.
• You’re a relentless learner. You dive into emerging tech (LLMs, agents, RAG, evaluation frameworks) and turn research into production reality—whether it’s frontend orchestration, backend integrations, or full-stack AI flows.
• You master balance at scale. Performance on unpredictable networks, A/B tests with AI variants, safety/quality guardrails, rapid ecosystem shifts—you juggle it all while shipping fast and fearlessly.
• You amplify others. You mentor, build shared AI tooling, contribute to open-source when it makes sense, and help teams level up in the GenAI era.

Things You Will Do: As a Principal AI Engineer in Walmart International, you’ll shape AI-driven shopping across diverse markets:

• Define and drive technical strategy for GenAI-powered experiences—architect scalable frontend/backend solutions that integrate LLMs intelligently, with rock-solid code quality, performance, security, and observability.
• Lead development of AI-infused features —craft React UIs with intelligent components, manage state in dynamic AI contexts (Redux + React Query), and build efficient GraphQL APIs that serve as the nervous system for LLM-powered services.
• Ship and optimize GenAI/LLM features at massive scale—design APIs and service architectures that seamlessly integrate AI/ML components, handle token costs/latency/safety, and deliver measurable delight to millions.
• Refactor and evolve codebases—make them modular, maintainable, and ready for the next wave of AI innovation.
• Collaborate cross-functionally—with product, design, UX, backend, and AI research teams—to create cohesive, magical customer experiences.
• Build internal AI best practices—create reusable tooling, evaluation frameworks, coding standards, and documentation that accelerate the entire org.
• Mentor and influence—lead code reviews, guide engineers, drive initiatives for developer productivity, and shape technical direction through influence, not just authority.
• Push boundaries—experiment with emerging GenAI techniques, contribute insights internally (and externally when possible), and own large-scale projects that impact global e-commerce daily.

What You’ll Bring:

• 12+ years of software engineering experience building and shipping large-scale, production systems.
• Proven track record shipping distributed systems in Java (or equivalent high-scale languages).
• Hands‑on experience shipping GenAI or LLM-powered features/services as part of larger production systems.
• Strong experience designing APIs and service architectures that integrate with AI/ML components.
• Deep expertise in modern JavaScript ecosystems (React, Node.js, GraphQL) and performance optimization, testing, CI/CD.
• Demonstrated ability to influence technical direction without direct authority—through expertise, collaboration, and vision.

Preferred Qualifications

• Expertise with GenAI tools/patterns (e.g., RAG, agents, prompt orchestration, evaluation pipelines).
• Experience operationalizing LLM evaluation frameworks —including offline benchmarks, automated + human review loops, production monitoring for quality, safety, and business impact (nice to have, but highly valued).
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS/GCP/Azure), containerization (Docker/Kubernetes), and micro-frontends/mono-repos (Nx).
• Track record in Agile environments with excellent communication skills.

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‑term disability, company discounts, Military Leave Pay, adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, and more. You will also receive PTO and/or PPTO that can be used for vacation, sick leave, holidays, or other purposes. The amount you receive depends on your job classification and length of employment. It will meet or exceed the requirements of paid sick leave laws, where applicable. For information about PTO, see https://one.walmart.com/notices. Live Better U is a Walmart‑paid education benefit program for full‑time and part‑time associates in Walmart and Sam’s Club facilities. Programs range from high school completion to bachelor’s degrees, including English Language Learning and short‑form certificates. Tuition, books, and fees are completely paid for by Walmart. Eligibility requirements apply to some benefits and may depend on your job classification and length of employment. Benefits are subject to change and may be subject to a specific plan or program terms. For information about benefits and eligibility, see One.Walmart.

The annual salary range for this position is $143,000.00 - $286,000.00 Additional compensation includes annual or quarterly performance bonuses. Additional compensation for certain positions may also include :

• Stock

Minimum Qualifications…

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

Option 1: Bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, computer information systems, software engineering, or related area and 5 years’ experience in software engineering or related area. Option 2: 7 years’ experience in software engineering or related area.

Preferred Qualifications…

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

Master’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, computer information systems, software engineering, or related area and 3 years’ experience in software engineering or related area., 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…

815 Eleventh Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94089-4731, United States of America

Walmart and its subsidiaries are committed to maintaining a drug‑free workplace and has a no tolerance policy regarding the use of illegal drugs and alcohol on the job. This policy applies to all employees and aims to create a safe and productive work environment.