(USA) Principal, Software Engineer

Socket.dev; Denver (CO); On-site; USD 121,000 - 242,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits: medical, vision, and

401(k) and stock purchase program

Paid time off including PTO, parental,

Education benefits: Walmart LiveBetter

Job summary

Walmart is seeking a Principal Data Engineer/Tech Lead to drive the evolution of our Data Lake and enterprise data platform. You will architect and set standards for scalable, reliable data systems, and partner across teams to enable AI-driven experiences.

You will lead large, cross-functional engineering projects, mentor others, and contribute hands-on while shaping architecture and technical direction in a cloud-native environment.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, computer engineering, computer information systems, software engineering, or related field.
• 5+ years of software engineering or related experience.
• Master’s degree preferred in a related area with 3+ years experience.

Responsibilities

• Lead large, cross-functional engineering projects from requirements gathering through design and delivery.
• Provide technical leadership, collaboration, and clear communication across teams.
• Conduct design and code reviews to ensure quality and architectural alignment.
• Design scalable, high-availability, high-performance data platforms.
• Contribute hands-on while influencing architecture and technical direction.
• Solve complex technical problems across structured, semi-structured, and unstructured data.
• Work in cloud-native environments.
• Mentor others and drive continuous improvement.
• Build AI-ready, discoverable, context-rich data foundations.
• Apply AI tools in engineering workflows for code generation, pipeline acceleration, documentation, debugging, testing, or operational support.

Skills

Python

SQL

PySpark

Data engineering

ETL/ELT design

Data pipelines

AI readiness

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/CE/IS/SE

Master’s degree in CS/CE/IS/SE

Tools

Databricks

Snowflake

Spark

Kafka

Airflow

AWS

GCP

Job description

What you'll do...

Role summary: ThePrincipalSoftware(Data)Engineer–TechleadstheevolutionofourDataLakeandenterprisedataplatform.Thisroledefinesarchitecture,standards,andengineeringpracticesforscalable,reliable,andintelligentdatasystems.Itdesignsandoperatesdatapipelines,eventstreamingapplications,andlarge-scaleplatformsforanalytics,operations,andAI-drivenexperiences.Theengineerpartnerswithteamsacrossengineering,product,analytics,machinelearning,andinfrastructuretoensureatrusted,scalable,future-readydataecosystem.TherolealsoadvancesAI-readydataenablementandusesAItoolstoimproveproductivity,delivery,andoperationaleffectiveness.

About the team: The Data Engineering team for the Vizio Datalake drives a data-first approach to support key business and product goals. The team ensures data quality, governance, visibility, and accessibility to enable reliable analytics and faster decision-making. Collaborating across functions, members design and implement scalable technical solutions while maintaining strong standards for data integrity. Leveraging expertise in cloud architecture, system design, and problem-solving, the team delivers impactful results that advance organizational objectives and continuous improvement. This environment fosters innovation, technical excellence, and cross-functional collaboration.

What you'll do:

• Leadlarge,cross-functionalengineeringprojectsfromrequirementsgatheringthroughdesignanddelivery
• Providetechnicalleadership,collaboration,andclearcommunicationacrossteams
• Conductdesignandcodereviewstoensurequalityandarchitecturalalignment
• Designscalable,high-availability,high-performancedataplatforms
• Contributehands-onwhileinfluencingarchitectureandtechnicaldirection
• Solvecomplextechnicalproblemsacrossstructured,semi-structured,andunstructureddata
• Workincloud-nativeenvironments
• Mentorothersanddrivecontinuousimprovement
• BuildAI-ready,discoverable,context-richdatafoundations
• ApplyAItoolsinengineeringworkflowsforcodegeneration,pipelineacceleration,documentation,debugging,testing,oroperationalsupport

What you'll bring:

• Strongtechnicalleadership,communication,andcollaborationskills
• Stronganalyticalandproblem-solvingskills,withapassionformentoringothers
• ProficiencyinPython,SQL,andPySpark
• ExperiencewithSQL/NoSQLdatabases
• ExperiencedesigningandimplementingETL/ELTatscale
• Experiencemanagingbatch,streaming,andreal-timedatapipelines
• Hands-onexperiencewithAWS,GCP,Databricks,Snowflake,Spark,Kafka,andAirflow
• Understandingofdistributedprocessingandin-memorycomputation
• Strongsoftwareengineeringpractices
• Experiencewithdataobservability,schemadesign,andgovernance
• AstrongunderstandingofhowdatafoundationsenableAIatscale,includingAI-ready,discoverable,context-richdata
• ApragmaticapproachtousingAItoimproveengineeringproductivityandquality
• Comfortcontributinghands-onwhileshapingarchitectureandtechnicaldirection

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.
• 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.
• Additional compensation includes annual or quarterly performance bonuses.

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 $121,000.00 - $242,000.00. 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 5 years’ experience in software engineering or related area.

Option 2: 7 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 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

55 Madison St, Denver, CO 80206-5419, 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.