Director, Yield Analytics

Director, Yield Strategy

Walmart Connect is looking for an experienced Yield professional to fill our Director, Yield Strategy role, leading a high-performing team of data scientists and analysts responsible for developing and executing the strategy behind pricing, inventory forecasting, and inventory packaging for ad inventory. You will drive the vision and roadmap for how we price, package, and forecast our ad inventory, ensuring we maximize revenue, margin, and advertiser value across all platforms, partnering closely with Yield Analytics, Sales, Product, and other cross‑functional teams to inform leadership decisions and shape the future of Walmart’s retail media business.

• Lead, mentor, and develop a team of data scientists and analysts focused on ads pricing, inventory forecasting, and packaging strategy.
• Set the strategic direction for ad pricing, inventory packaging, and promotional opportunities, leveraging historical trends, inventory availability, and revenue/margin targets.
• Oversee the development and implementation of advanced machine learning models for ad inventory forecasting, including annual plan inventory calculations and 1‑to‑5‑year outlooks with significant seasonality.
• Guide the creation of advertising packages and promotional opportunities for Sales, ensuring alignment with business goals and market demand.
• Establish and refine the framework for annual Joint Business Partnership (JBP) discounts and credit benefits across all advertiser tiers, balancing spend maintenance and growth objectives.
• Collaborate with Yield Analytics and other cross‑functional teams to drive holistic monetization and inventory strategies.
• Present strategic recommendations and insights to executive leadership, influencing business decisions and long‑term planning.
• Stay abreast of industry trends, emerging technologies, and best practices in retail media, programmatic advertising, and data science.
• Foster a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement within the team.

• Advanced degree in a quantitative field (e.g., Data Science, Statistics, Economics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Engineering, Computational Biology, or related discipline).
• 8+ years of quantitative or data science working experience.
• 6+ years of online advertising industry working experience preferred with an understanding of advertising KPIs.
• Deep understanding of retail media, programmatic advertising, and digital ad inventory management, with fluency in the language of digital media and online measurement: impressions, CTR, CPM, STR, fill rates, unique users, page views, visits, viewability, demo comps, etc.
• Strong business communication skills, both written and verbal; ability to communicate and present to Sales teams and express complex technical topics clearly and easily.
• Experience with common machine learning techniques and forecasting models, especially time series forecasting and a strong understanding of probability and statistical models.
• Experience in data science programming languages (Python or R) and experience with SQL and relational databases (e.g., Hive, Big Query) and business intelligence platforms (Tableau, Power BI, etc.).
• Strong analytical, problem‑solving, and data visualization skills.
• Proven track record of building and leading high‑performing analytics and data science teams.
• Familiarity with Joint Business Partnerships, discount frameworks, and advertiser incentive programs is a plus.
• Option 1:
  Bachelor's degree in data science, machine learning, computer science, mathematics, operations research, economics, statistics, marketing analytics, or related area and 5 years’ experience in yield management, pricing strategy, business analysis, business planning, database management, optimization, or related area.
• Option 2: 7 years’ experience in yield management, pricing strategy, business analysis, business planning, database management, optimization, or related area.
• Preferred Qualifications:
  
  6 years’ experience in media analytics in a digital advertising environment, leading cross‑functional teams, Master’s degree in data science, machine learning, computer science,…