Distinguished, Data Scientist

Build the technical direction for creative intelligence powering generative ad experiences at Walmart Ads. This onsite role in Sunnyvale, CA blends model development with evaluation, structured creative representations, and infrastructure that helps creative-AI capabilities scale across use cases.

As a Distinguished Data Scientist on the Walmart Ads Data Science team, you will set the roadmap for systems that generate, evaluate, and understand ad creative at scale, including video. You will help turn advertiser intent into measurable performance across Sponsored Products, Display, and agentic buying experiences.

What you’ll do

• Set the technical vision and roadmap for generative ad creative systems that produce images, copy, video, and other assets that are high-quality, on-brand, compliant, and performant at Walmart’s advertiser scale.
• Design and own automated evaluation systems for generated creative quality, using model-based judgment, calibration to human or advertiser preference, and defenses against failure modes such as distortion, hallucination, and policy violations.
• Build structured representations of creative content, including attributes, categories, and quality signals, so other teams can reuse them for targeting, recommendations, and performance measurement.
• Advance automated content composition and adaptation by combining computer vision and generative techniques to produce creatives across many formats and placements with reduced manual production effort.
• Architect shared infrastructure, including evaluation harnesses, generation pipelines, and quality signals, so capabilities compound instead of being rebuilt per project.
• Partner with Product and Engineering leadership to translate evolving creative-product goals into a concrete, sequenced technical roadmap.

Minimum qualifications

• Option 1: Bachelor’s degree in Statistics, Economics, Analytics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Information Technology or related field, plus 6 years of experience in an analytics related field.
• Option 2: Master’s degree in Statistics, Economics, Analytics, Mathematics, Computer Science, Information Technology or related field, plus 4 years of experience in an analytics related field.
• Option 3: 8 years of experience in an analytics or related field.

What you bring

• 10+ years of applied ML/DS experience with deep, hands-on expertise in generative AI (image, text, video, or multi-modal) and computer vision.
• Proven experience building automated model-evaluation systems for generative output (including model-as-judge approaches), with calibration, drift detection, and reliability at production scale.
• Strong computer vision background in areas such as image understanding, composition, matching/cropping, or artifact/distortion detection.
• A track record of taking generative ML systems from prototype to production at scale, with safety, moderation, and policy constraints designed in from the start.
• Demonstrated technical leadership at the Distinguished scope, setting direction across multiple workstreams and influencing without direct authority in ambiguous environments.
• Excellent communication, able to translate technical tradeoffs for senior product and business audiences.

Technologies you’ll use

Python, Spark, Scala, R, scikit learn, tensorflow, torch

Why this role stands out

• Competitive pay: USD 169,000 - 338,000 per year.
• Performance-based bonus awards.
• Medical, vision and dental coverage, plus 401(k) and stock purchase.
• Company-paid life insurance.
• Time off including PTO (including sick leave), parental leave, family care leave, bereavement, jury duty, and voting.
• Disability coverage: short-term and long-term disability.
• Company discounts, Military Leave Pay, and Adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement.
• Live Better U education benefit program.

About the team

At Walmart Global Tech, the Walmart Ads Data Science team drives innovation in digital advertising by powering a fast-growing, multi-billion-dollar ads business across Sponsored Products, Display, and agentic buying experiences. The team builds the intelligence behind recommendations, bidding, and generative ad creative, using real-time signals, generative AI, and deep integration across Walmart’s advertiser and customer platforms.

Preferred qualifications

• Background in data science, machine learning, optimization models.
• PhD in Machine Learning, Computer Science, Information Technology, Operations Research, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, or Econometrics.
• Publications or active peer reviewer in related journals or conference.
• Successful completion of assessments in Python, Spark, Scala, or R.
• Experience using open source frameworks such as scikit learn, tensorflow, and torch.
• Background creating inclusive digital experiences.
• Knowledge implementing WCAG 2.2 AA standards, assistive technologies, and integrating digital accessibility seamlessly.
• Knowledge of accessibility best practices aligned with Walmart’s accessibility standards and guidelines for supporting an inclusive culture.

Primary location: 1275 Crossman Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94089-1103, United States of America