(USA) Principal, Data Scientist

About the role

Join Walmart's Retail Intelligence Team as a Principal, Data Science Strategy and Product, and play a pivotal role at the intersection of AI innovation, product leadership, and operational transformation at the world's largest omnichannel retailer. In this high-impact position, you will lead the development of cutting-edge AI solutions-including Walmart's Store Digital Twin initiative-to optimize store operations, enhance associate productivity, and drive automation at scale. You will drive vertical and horizontal activity scoping, innovation mapping, and retail science intelligence development, delivering transformative activations within Walmart US. Your work will focus on revolutionizing Supply Chain and In-Store Operations, collaborating with cross-functional teams across Supply Chain, Store Operations, Merchandising, and Innovation to bring intelligent systems to life.

Responsibilities

• Lead the development of Walmart's Store Digital Twin: a 3D simulation platform modeling space, inventory, and operational workflows using agent-based modeling and autonomous decision-making.
• Drive AI/ML initiatives to improve store efficiency, reduce associate friction, and enable intelligent automation across key workflows (e.g., inventory management, shelf replenishment, task orchestration) from ideation to implementation.
• Leverage Generative AI and Agentic AI frameworks to build intelligent agents that simulate associate behavior, generate operational insights, and autonomously optimize store processes.
• Define and optimize objective functions such as reducing congestion, improving shelf availability, boosting VizPick Health Scores, and enhancing productivity.
• Own product strategy and roadmap for AI-driven store operations tools, focusing on agile prototyping and cross-functional collaboration.
• Partner with engineering, data science, and operations teams to integrate AI solutions into real-world decision engines and store systems.
• Pilot and validate AI models through agile experimentation and iterative improvement in live store environments.
• Mentor and guide data scientists and product managers, fostering a culture of innovation, rigor, and impact.
• You'll Sweep Us Off Our Feet If:
• You are passionate about applying AI/ML to solve complex operational challenges for a Fortune 1 company.
• You have experience with simulation modeling, agent-based systems, or digital twin technologies.
• You possess extensive experience in data science, machine learning, AI, and product management.
• You bring strong product thinking and can translate ambiguous business problems into scalable AI solutions, articulating strategies effectively in whitepapers.
• You are fluent in emerging AI paradigms, including Generative AI and Agentic AI frameworks, and can apply them to real-world operational use cases.
• You thrive in cross-functional environments and can influence without authority.
• You are a systems thinker who balances long-term vision with short-term execution.
• You are a creative problem-solver with an innovative, analytical mindset and strong attention to detail.
• You have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, able to tailor your message to technical and non-technical audiences, including senior leadership.
• You demonstrate strong product skills, including discovery, backlog curation, prioritization, road mapping, collaboration with data scientists, and ownership of key business outcomes.
• You excel at communicating horizontally and vertically across stakeholders to drive alignment.

Requirements

• Advanced degree in Computer Science, Operations Research, Applied Mathematics, or a related field.
• 8+ years of experience in data science, simulation modeling, or AI product leadership.
• Hands-on experience with agent-based modeling platforms (e.g., AnyLogic, Mesa, NVIDIA Omniverse) or reinforcement learning frameworks.
• Familiarity with Generative AI tools (e.g., LLMs, diffusion models) and their application in operational optimization.
• Strong understanding of retail operations, supply chain dynamics, or warehouse/store optimization.
• Proven ability to lead large-scale initiatives and influence across technical and business teams.
• You will also receive PTO and/or PPTO that can be used for vacation, sick leave, holidays, or other purposes

Additional Information

Position Summary... What you'll do... Principal, Data Science Strategy and Product - Retail Intelligence Team

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