(USA) Distinguished, Software Engineer

Walmart; Sunnyvale (CA); On-site; USD 169,000 - 338,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical, vision, and dental coverage

401(k) and stock purchase options

Paid time off including parental leave

Job summary

A leading retail corporation is seeking a Distinguished Software Engineer in Sunnyvale, California. This role focuses on providing technical leadership for AI-powered search systems that handle billions of queries. The ideal candidate should have strong expertise in distributed systems and search technologies, with at least 12 years of experience in software engineering. The position offers competitive pay, benefits, and opportunities for impactful work within cross-functional teams.

Qualifications

• Strong product and engineering mindset linked to customer experience.
• Experience designing run‑time orchestration systems.
• Proven ability to lead large engineering initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Define technical strategy for Search Runtime platform.
• Lead design of scalable distributed systems.
• Build and evolve AI‑powered search capabilities.

Skills

Experience in e-commerce or marketplace platforms

Deep expertise in search architectures

Proficiency in backend technologies (Java/Spring)

Education

Bachelor’s degree in computer science or related field with 12+ years of experience

Master’s degree with 10+ years of experience

Job description

Position Summary

We are seeking a Distinguished Software Engineer to provide hands‑on, domain‑level technical leadership for Walmart’s Search Runtime platform. This role owns the technical vision and architecture, driving the design of scalable, AI‑powered search systems that serve billions of queries. You will shape long‑term strategy, lead critical architectural decisions, and influence multiple teams to deliver high‑impact solutions that improve product discovery and business outcomes. This role requires deep expertise in distributed systems, search technologies, and AI/ML‑driven relevance, along with a proven ability to operate across organizational boundaries to deliver impact at scale.

About the Team

The Search team powers product discovery across Walmart’s global platforms, handling massive scale with strict latency and availability requirements. Whether a customer is searching for a specific item or browsing through categories, our platform powers the intelligence behind product discovery. We leverage large‑scale structured and unstructured data – combined with advanced information retrieval, machine learning, and ranking algorithms – to deliver highly relevant, personalized, and seamless discovery experiences.

What You’ll Do

• Define and drive the technical strategy and architecture for Search Runtime across retrieval, ranking, indexing, and serving systems.
• Lead the design of scalable, low‑latency, high‑availability distributed systems.
• Build and evolve AI‑powered search capabilities including semantic search, vector retrieval, and ML‑driven ranking.
• Integrate ML/AI models into real‑time production systems to improve relevance and conversion.
• Drive operational excellence including observability, reliability, performance, and cost efficiency.
• Lead large cross‑org initiatives and align engineering, product, and data science teams.
• Mentor and develop engineers across levels and raise the bar for design, code quality, and engineering practices.
• Identify and resolve system bottlenecks; drive continuous optimization and innovation.

What You’ll Bring

• Bachelor’s degree with 12+ years (or Master’s with 10+ years) in software engineering, building and scaling large distributed systems.
• Strong product and engineering mindset, linking system design decisions to customer experience and business outcomes.
• Deep expertise in search architectures, including retrieval, indexing, ranking, and system trade‑offs.
• Experience designing and operating run‑time orchestration systems for complex, distributed workflows and services.
• Strong experience with low‑latency, high‑availability services, performance optimization, and reliability at scale.
• Proficiency in backend technologies (Java/Spring or similar) and modern cloud‑native architectures.
• Proven ability to lead large, cross‑team engineering initiatives and influence system design across organizations.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in e‑commerce or marketplace platforms at scale.
• Experience working with global or multi‑region systems and teams.
• Experience building 0→1 products or launching new product surfaces.
• Background in fast‑scaling consumer technology companies.

Benefits

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 benefits and eligibility, see One.Walmart (https://one.walmart.com/).

The annual salary range for this position is $169,000.00 - $338,000.00. Additional compensation includes annual or quarterly performance bonuses. Additional compensation for certain positions may also include: Stock.

Minimum Qualifications

• Option 1: Bachelor's degree in computer science, computer engineering, computer information systems, software engineering, or related area and 6 years’ experience in software engineering or related area.
• Option 2: 8 years’ experience in software engineering or related area.

Preferred Qualifications

Master’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, computer information systems, software engineering, or related area and 4 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

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

Equal Opportunity Employer

Walmart, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer – By Choice. We believe we are best equipped to help our associates, customers, and the communities we serve live better when we really know them. That means understanding, respecting, and valuing diversity – unique styles, experiences, identities, abilities, ideas and opinions – while being inclusive of all people.