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Walmart Canada · 1 month ago

Staff Data Scientist- MLE – Recommendations & Personalization

United States

Full-time

Remote

Senior Level, Lead/Staff

$143K/yr - $286K/yr

4+ years exp

Walmart Inc. is a leading retailer seeking a Staff Data Scientist to architect and lead the feature engineering ecosystem for large-scale recommendation and personalization systems. The role involves owning feature strategy, platform design, and cross-team alignment while being hands-on for high-impact systems.

DeliveryRetailShopping

Responsibilities

Design the end-to-end feature architecture supporting candidate generation, ranking, and re-ranking

Lead the design and evolution of feature stores (offline + online) optimized for recsys workloads

Define standards for feature versioning, lineage, freshness SLAs, and point-in-time correctness

Architect systems supporting real-time, near-real-time, and batch features

Drive feature engineering best practices across multiple recommendation teams

Partner with Product and ML leadership to align feature strategy with personalization goals

Mentor Senior engineers on recsys feature design and scalable data systems

Review and approve designs for complex, high-risk feature pipelines

Enable cross-surface feature reuse (home feed, search, cart, last call, etc.)

Lead efforts around feature observability, drift detection, and model health

Anticipate future needs such as contextual personalization, cold-start handling, and diversity controls

Own critical feature pipelines that directly impact revenue and engagement

Lead incident response for feature or data failures affecting ranking quality

Balance long-term platform investments with short-term business priorities

Explainability

Qualification

Feature platform architectureDistributed systemsLarge-scale data processingRecommendation systemsTechnical communicationData scienceMachine learningOptimization modelsPythonSparkScalaROpen source frameworksDigital accessibilityLeadership skills

Required

4+ years in data engineering, ML engineering, or recsys platform roles

Deep expertise in distributed systems and large-scale data processing

Proven experience architecting feature platforms for recommendation systems

Strong understanding of ranking architectures, candidate generation, and personalization patterns

Exceptional technical communication and leadership skills

Option 1: Bachelors degree in Statistics, Economics, Analytics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Information Technology or related field and 4 years' experience in an analytics related field

Option 2: Masters degree in Statistics, Economics, Analytics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Information Technology or related field and 2 years' experience in an analytics related field

Option 3: 6 years' experience in an analytics or related field

Preferred

Data science

Machine learning

Optimization models

PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Information Technology, Operations Research, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Econometrics

Successful completion of one or more assessments in Python, Spark, Scala, or R

Using open source frameworks (for example, scikit learn, tensorflow, torch)

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

Benefits

401(k) match

Stock purchase plan

Paid maternity and parental leave

PTO

Multiple health plans

Company-paid life insurance

Short-term and long-term disability

Company discounts

Military Leave Pay

Adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement

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.