Principal, Software Engineer - Backend

Principal, Software Engineer - Backend

702 Sw 8th St Bentonville, AR  $110,000 - $220,000/yr Regular/ Permanent Salaried

Role summary:
As a Principal Software Engineer, you will lead the design and delivery of scalable platform capabilities, driving technical excellence across multiple teams. This role requires expertise in cloud-native architecture, distributed systems, and AI/ML integration to build intelligent software solutions that serve millions. You will provide strategic technical guidance, mentor engineers, and collaborate with stakeholders to align engineering efforts with business objectives.

Your leadership will ensure high-quality execution throughout the software development lifecycle while fostering innovation, continuous improvement, and operational excellence within a dynamic engineering environment.

About the team:
Our team develops the Store Fulfillment Platform, the core system enabling order fulfillment across thousands of stores through automation and associate support. This high-throughput, event-driven platform operates reliably at retail scale, supporting seamless customer experiences. We focus on scalable, cloud-native architecture and continuous improvement to meet evolving business needs. The team applies advanced engineering design processes and integrates AI agents to enhance system capabilities.

Collaboration and technical excellence drive our efforts to build and evolve a robust platform that supports Walmart's operational goals and delivers consistent, high-quality service.

What you'll do:

• Lead platform engineering efforts to deliver scalable infrastructure, reusable tooling, and AI/ML frameworks aligned with strategic roadmaps.
• Drive full software development lifecycle across multiple teams, ensuring high availability, fault tolerance, and real-time data processing.
• Architect and implement cloud-native distributed systems integrating AI agents and model-driven design principles.
• Provide technical leadership and mentorship, influencing architectural standards and promoting engineering excellence.
• Collaborate with stakeholders to translate business needs into actionable technical requirements and measurable success metrics.
• Maintain architectural documentation and ensure quality, reliability, and continuous improvement of software solutions.

What you'll bring:

• Extensive experience leading platform engineering initiatives, including shared infrastructure and scalable ML frameworks.
• Proficiency in cloud-native architecture and distributed system design ensuring high availability and fault tolerance.
• Strong expertise in full software development lifecycle management across multiple teams.
• Proven ability to architect AI-enhanced applications and integrate AI agents using languages such as Python, Java, and C++.
• Skilled in applying model-driven design and leveraging modern development tools to enhance quality and velocity.
• Demonstrated leadership in mentoring engineers and influencing architectural standards.
• Excellent collaboration and communication skills with cross-functional stakeholders.

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

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

702 Sw 8

Th St, Bentonville, AR 72716, 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.