Walmart
About the Role
As the Director of Engineering for Walmart’s Agent AI Platform, you will lead the strategy, architecture, and execution of the core AI technologies powering Sparky and the next generation of customer experiences. You will drive the foundational platform capabilities—including agent orchestration, reasoning pipelines, retrieval systems, and real-time AI inference—that enable intelligent, scalable, and trustworthy AI across web, mobile, and in‑store experiences.
You will partner with Product, Design, Data Science, Research, and cross‑functional Engineering teams to shape the future of AI at Walmart. Your leadership will foster a culture of innovation, technical excellence, and high performance while delivering solutions that impact hundreds of millions of users.
What you will do Platform & Technical Leadership
Lead architecture and development of Sparky Agent AI Platform, powering conversational and task‑oriented agents.
Design and scale distributed systems supporting LLMs, retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG), knowledge bases, and agent orchestration.
Define platform capabilities such as context management, evaluation pipelines, safety/guardrails, observability, and cost‑efficient inference.
Drive technical strategy and platform roadmaps aligned with business goals and long‑term product vision.
Ensure excellence in performance, reliability, accessibility, and security of AI‑driven systems.
Execution & Delivery
Deliver production‑ready AI platform features used by multiple product and experience teams.
Establish engineering best practices, high code quality, and strong operational maturity (SLOs, incident management, performance monitoring).
Improve developer workflows, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud‑native deployment processes.
Ensure fast iteration loops for model integration, experimentation, and continuous improvement.
People Leadership
Lead, grow, and mentor a team of high‑performing backend and platform engineers (including managers and senior ICs).
Build a strong engineering culture centered on innovation, accountability, and learning.
Drive team planning, goal setting, career development, and performance management.
Cross‑Functional Collaboration
Partner with Product and UX to deliver intuitive, AI‑powered customer experiences.
Work closely with Applied AI/Data Science teams to productize models, optimize inference, and establish evaluation frameworks.
Collaborate with Security, Legal, and Responsible AI teams to ensure safe, compliant, and ethical AI deployment.
Innovation & Thought Leadership
Stay ahead of emerging AI technologies, agent frameworks, model architectures, and industry trends.
Champion experimentation and rapid prototyping to unlock new capabilities and improve user experiences.
Influence enterprise‑wide AI strategy through technical vision, architectural leadership, and platform standardization.
What you will bring
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field; Master’s preferred.
15+ years of software engineering experience, including
5+ years in engineering leadership roles .
Proven experience building and scaling large distributed systems (Java, Python, or similar).
Hands‑on experience with modern AI/ML platforms: LLMs, RAG, vector search, knowledge bases, orchestration frameworks.
Deep knowledge of cloud‑native architectures, micro‑services, CI/CD, and backend testing frameworks.
Experience working with data science or ML teams to bring models into production.
Track record of delivering platforms adopted by multiple product teams at enterprise scale.
Strong communication skills, strategic thinking, and ability to drive alignment across diverse stakeholders.
Experience in retail, e‑commerce, or other large‑scale consumer‑facing products is a plus.
About Walmart Global Tech Imagine working in an environment where one line of code can make life easier for hundreds of millions of people. That’s what we do at Walmart Global Tech. We are a team of software engineers, data scientists, cybersecurity experts and service professionals within the world’s leading retailer who make an epic impact and are at the forefront of the next retail disruption. People are why we innovate, and people power our innovations. We are people‑led and tech‑empowered. We train our team in the skillsets of the future and bring in experts like you to help us grow. We have roles for those chasing their first opportunity as well as those looking for the opportunity that will define their career. Here, you can kickstart a great career in tech, gain new skills and experience for virtually every industry, or leverage your expertise to innovate at scale, impact millions and reimagine the future of retail.
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.
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 unique styles, experiences, identities, and feelings—while being inclusive of all people.
Compensation The annual salary range for this position is $130,000.00 – $260,000.00. Additional compensation includes annual or quarterly performance bonuses. Additional compensation for certain positions may also include stock.
Primary Location 805 Se Moberly Ln, Bentonville, AR 72712, United States of America
Walmart and its subsidiaries are committed to maintaining a drug‑free workplace and have a zero 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.
#J-18808-Ljbffr
You will partner with Product, Design, Data Science, Research, and cross‑functional Engineering teams to shape the future of AI at Walmart. Your leadership will foster a culture of innovation, technical excellence, and high performance while delivering solutions that impact hundreds of millions of users.
What you will do Platform & Technical Leadership
Lead architecture and development of Sparky Agent AI Platform, powering conversational and task‑oriented agents.
Design and scale distributed systems supporting LLMs, retrieval‑augmented generation (RAG), knowledge bases, and agent orchestration.
Define platform capabilities such as context management, evaluation pipelines, safety/guardrails, observability, and cost‑efficient inference.
Drive technical strategy and platform roadmaps aligned with business goals and long‑term product vision.
Ensure excellence in performance, reliability, accessibility, and security of AI‑driven systems.
Execution & Delivery
Deliver production‑ready AI platform features used by multiple product and experience teams.
Establish engineering best practices, high code quality, and strong operational maturity (SLOs, incident management, performance monitoring).
Improve developer workflows, CI/CD pipelines, and cloud‑native deployment processes.
Ensure fast iteration loops for model integration, experimentation, and continuous improvement.
People Leadership
Lead, grow, and mentor a team of high‑performing backend and platform engineers (including managers and senior ICs).
Build a strong engineering culture centered on innovation, accountability, and learning.
Drive team planning, goal setting, career development, and performance management.
Cross‑Functional Collaboration
Partner with Product and UX to deliver intuitive, AI‑powered customer experiences.
Work closely with Applied AI/Data Science teams to productize models, optimize inference, and establish evaluation frameworks.
Collaborate with Security, Legal, and Responsible AI teams to ensure safe, compliant, and ethical AI deployment.
Innovation & Thought Leadership
Stay ahead of emerging AI technologies, agent frameworks, model architectures, and industry trends.
Champion experimentation and rapid prototyping to unlock new capabilities and improve user experiences.
Influence enterprise‑wide AI strategy through technical vision, architectural leadership, and platform standardization.
What you will bring
Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field; Master’s preferred.
15+ years of software engineering experience, including
5+ years in engineering leadership roles .
Proven experience building and scaling large distributed systems (Java, Python, or similar).
Hands‑on experience with modern AI/ML platforms: LLMs, RAG, vector search, knowledge bases, orchestration frameworks.
Deep knowledge of cloud‑native architectures, micro‑services, CI/CD, and backend testing frameworks.
Experience working with data science or ML teams to bring models into production.
Track record of delivering platforms adopted by multiple product teams at enterprise scale.
Strong communication skills, strategic thinking, and ability to drive alignment across diverse stakeholders.
Experience in retail, e‑commerce, or other large‑scale consumer‑facing products is a plus.
About Walmart Global Tech Imagine working in an environment where one line of code can make life easier for hundreds of millions of people. That’s what we do at Walmart Global Tech. We are a team of software engineers, data scientists, cybersecurity experts and service professionals within the world’s leading retailer who make an epic impact and are at the forefront of the next retail disruption. People are why we innovate, and people power our innovations. We are people‑led and tech‑empowered. We train our team in the skillsets of the future and bring in experts like you to help us grow. We have roles for those chasing their first opportunity as well as those looking for the opportunity that will define their career. Here, you can kickstart a great career in tech, gain new skills and experience for virtually every industry, or leverage your expertise to innovate at scale, impact millions and reimagine the future of retail.
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.
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 unique styles, experiences, identities, and feelings—while being inclusive of all people.
Compensation The annual salary range for this position is $130,000.00 – $260,000.00. Additional compensation includes annual or quarterly performance bonuses. Additional compensation for certain positions may also include stock.
Primary Location 805 Se Moberly Ln, Bentonville, AR 72712, United States of America
Walmart and its subsidiaries are committed to maintaining a drug‑free workplace and have a zero 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.
#J-18808-Ljbffr