Staff, Data Scientist - Conversational AI

Position Summary...

What you'll do...

Position Summary

The Cortex team is Walmart’s core AI conversational platform, powering the vision of delivering the world’s best personal assistants to Walmart customers. Cortex enables natural interactions through voice, chat, and multimodal interfaces across Walmart experiences including Sparky, customer care, mobile apps, and in-store tools.
We believe conversations are one of the most powerful user interfaces for interacting with technology. Our platform enables rich conversational experiences for millions of customers every day.
We are looking for Staff Data Scientists specializing in Conversational AI and Generative AI to help design and build the next generation of intelligent assistants. This role focuses on applying large language models, advanced NLP, and agentic AI architectures to solve real-world problems at massive scale.
This is a unique opportunity to shape production-grade conversational systems used by millions of customers, while working alongside a highly collaborative team of applied scientists, engineers, and product leaders.
 
What You'll Do

• Design and develop Generative AI and conversational systems powered by transformer-based LLM architectures (e.g., GPT, Claude, Gemini).
• Lead the development of agentic AI systems, including system design for multi-agent workflows, reasoning chains, tool use, and orchestration frameworks.
• Develop and optimize prompt engineering strategies, including system prompts, structured prompting, retrieval augmentation, and guardrail design.
• Build and deploy end-to-end conversational AI pipelines, from data preparation and model training to evaluation, and monitoring.
• Analyze conversational data to identify patterns, perform error analysis, and continuously improve model quality and user experience.
• Design evaluation frameworks and experimentation methodologies for conversational AI systems, including offline benchmarks and online A/B testing.
• Collaborate cross-functionally with engineering, product, and business teams to launch scalable AI-powered customer experiences.
• Help define architecture and best practices for LLM-based production systems at Walmart scale.
 
Minimum Qualifications

• Master’s degree in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, or related field
OR equivalent industry experience.
• 5+ years of experience in ML Data Science, Applied Machine Learning, or AI-related roles.
• Strong expertise in Natural Language Processing (NLP), Conversational AI, or Generative AI systems.
• Hands-on experience designing and deploying LLM-based applications using transformer architectures.
• Prompt engineering expertise is required, including structured prompting, RAG, system prompt design, and safety techniques.
• Experience building agentic AI systems and system design for multi-agent architectures.
• Strong programming skills in Python, and working knowledge of SQL.
• Strong understanding of ML evaluation metrics, statistical methods, and experimental design.
• Ability to drive projects from research and prototyping through production launch.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
 
Preferred Qualifications

• PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Physics, or related field.
• Experience building multimodal AI systems combining text, voice, images, and UI context.
• Experience with production-scale conversational agents or AI assistants.
• Familiarity with LLM serving optimization techniques, including LoRA and multi-LoRA.
• Experience designing LLM evaluation frameworks, error analysis pipelines, and model quality monitoring.
• Experience working in fast-paced, highly collaborative environments delivering high-impact AI products.

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’re a team of software engineers, data scientists, cybersecurity expert's 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.
  
Walmart’s culture is a competitive advantage, and it’s fostered by being together. Working together in person allows us to collaborate, align quickly and innovate with greater speed.  We use our campuses to create purposeful connection rooted in deepening understanding and investing in the development of our associates.  
Our hubs: Walmart is a global company with offices across the United States and around the world. Our global headquarters is in Bentonville, Arkansas, with primary hubs in the San Francisco Bay area and New York/New Jersey. 



Benefits:
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, ideas and opinions – while being inclusive of all people.

The above information has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed in the role. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all responsibilities and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job. The full Job Description can be made available as part of the hiring process.

  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 $132,000.00 - $264,000.00 Additional compensation includes annual or quarterly performance bonuses. Additional compensation for certain positions may also include :
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Minimum Qualifications...

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

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 Qualifications...

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

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.

Primary Location...

10900 Ne 4th St, Bellevue, WA 98004, 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.