Principal Software Engineer, Backend

Company: Walmart
Location: Sunnyvale
Posted on: January 28, 2026

Job Description:

Position Summary What you'll do Immigration Sponsorship is not available in this role About Team The Walmart Emerging-Tech group is a group charted to drive the creation of the next generation retail and shopping experiences for both online and in-store. The group leads Walmart’s efforts in the areas of Emerging Content, XR, Conversational AI, Voice Assistants, and more. As the Emerging Content team, we are building completely new capabilities to allow our customers discover and interact with products online. In addition to the end-user experiences the group also builds platform APIs and tools to enable other teams leverage next-generation content. What you'll do: Stay abreast with technical advancements and drive system architecture and software development processes. Lead and mentor teams in the implementation of complex systems, fostering a culture of technical excellence and innovation. Be hands-on in prototyping, researching, and coding scalable, consumer-facing systems. Collaborate with business and product teams to achieve our long-term business goals. Champion operational and engineering excellence. Participate in code reviews, operational reviews, architectural discussions, and troubleshooting sessions to ensure the highest standards of development. Provide mentorship to engineers, managers, and others to help develop great talent. What you'll bring: At least 12 years of software engineering experience in building highly available systems. BS or MS in Computer Science or related degree. Programming languages, particularly Java. Data engineering and handling large datasets. Databases, including vector and big data technologies. Distributed computing, containerization (Docker/K8s), and multi-cloud. Proven track record of building successful software systems from inception to deployment. Proven track record of building solutions that solve highly complex business problems. Outstanding problem-solving skills, with the ability to make design trade-offs, balancing long-term "big picture" considerations with short-term implications of design decisions. Expertise in distributed systems, service-oriented architecture, CI/CD, and operational excellence best practices. Effective communication and collaboration skills, including consensus building, conflict resolution, influence, and persuasion skills. Proven track record of mentoring and coaching engineers in technical problem-solving and career development. Curiosity and strong ability to learn new domains and technologies. Preferred experience with GenAI technologies such as LLMs and RAG and Cloud-based AI platforms like GCP Vertex AI or Azure. 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. Were a team of software engineers, data scientists, cybersecurity experts 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 its 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. Your Career Journey at Walmart At Walmart, we want to make sure your experience connecting with us is seamless and straightforward. Here’s what to expect when interacting with us as recruiters: We’ll reach out via verified LinkedIn profiles or emails ending in "@walmart.com.” or “@samsclub.com”. All job opportunities and applications are hosted on our official careers site: http://careers.walmart.com . There is no cost or payment required to apply or be considered for a position. If you have any doubts about a communication, feel free to visit our careers page to verify authenticity. Thank you for exploring opportunities at Walmart! ? ? ? ? ? Minimum Qualifications 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. Preferred Qualifications 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. Primary Location 1375 Crossman Ave, Sunnyvale, CA 94089-1114, 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.

Keywords: Walmart, Watsonville , Principal Software Engineer, Backend, IT / Software / Systems , Sunnyvale, California