Principal, Data Scientist - Digital Twin Systems Architect

Position Summary...

As a Principal Data Scientist and Core Solution Architect, you will be the visionary lead responsible for defining the technical backbone of Walmart’s Retail Digital Twin ecosystem. You will move beyond being a "user" of tools to becoming an architect of systems—selecting and integrating best-in-class simulation engines, 3D frameworks, and agentic AI to build a high-fidelity, scalable platform that optimizes the world’s largest retail operation.

What you'll do...

What you’ll do:

• Architect End-to-End Systems: Lead the design of a modular, distributed digital twin architecture that balances simulation fidelity with computational efficiency across diverse retail use cases.
• Select & Optimize the Tech Stack: Evaluate and deploy the most effective simulation paradigms (Agent-Based, DES, Physics-based) and tools—whether leveraging AnyLogic, NVIDIA Omniverse, or building custom C++/Python-based engines from the ground up.
• Drive Software Engineering Excellence: Build production-grade, scalable applications that integrate real-time IoT data streams, ensuring the digital twin platform is performant and maintainable at an enterprise scale.
• Lead Agentic AI Strategy: Design the orchestration layer for agentic workflows, enabling intelligent entities within the twin to perform complex reasoning and autonomous optimization.
• Standardize Digital Assets: Define the schema and governance for reusable process blocks (XML/JSON) and 3D CAD assets (USD/gLTF) to ensure interoperability across the organization’s pillars.
• Cross-Functional Technical Leadership: Serve as the primary technical liaison between software engineering, data science, and retail operations to align the simulation roadmap with global business objectives.

What you’ll bring:

• System Architecture Mastery: 8+ years of experience designing complex, large-scale software systems or simulation environments with a focus on modularity and high-performance computing.
• Tool-Agnostic Expertise: Deep proficiency in a variety of simulation environments and the ability to determine when to use commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) versus building bespoke solutions.
• Advanced Software Engineering: Expert-level coding skills in C++, Java, or Python, with a strong background in data structures, algorithms, and distributed systems.
• Agentic AI & Optimization: Proven track record of implementing Reinforcement Learning (RL), Multi-Agent Systems (MAS), or Large Action Models (LAMs) within a simulation context.
• Academic Pedigree: PhD or MS in Computer Science, Robotics, Computational Physics, or Industrial Engineering.

You’ll sweep us off our feet if: You have built a proprietary or highly-customized digital twin platform that successfully synchronized a massive physical footprint with a virtual one in real-time. You are a "Polyglot Architect" who can talk shaders and ray-tracing with graphics engineers in Unreal or NVIDIA Omniverse, discuss Java-based process logic with AnyLogic developers, and architect a Kubernetes-based backend for scaling simulations—all in the same afternoon. At Walmart, we offer competitive pay as well as performance-based bonus awards and other great benefits for a happier mind, body, and wallet. Health benefits include medical, vision and dental coverage. Financial benefits include 401(k), stock purchase and company-paid life insurance. Paid time off benefits include PTO (including sick leave), parental leave, family care leave, bereavement, jury duty, and voting. Other benefits include short-term and long-term disability, company discounts, Military Leave Pay, adoption and surrogacy expense reimbursement, and more. You will also receive PTO and/or PPTO that can be used for vacation, sick leave, holidays, or other purposes. The amount you receive depends on your job classification and length of employment. It will meet or exceed the requirements of paid sick leave laws, where applicable. For information about PTO, see https://one.walmart.com/notices. Live Better U is a Walmart-paid education benefit program for full-time and part-time associates in Walmart and Sam's Club facilities. Programs range from high school completion to bachelor's degrees, including English Language Lear