Leadership

Maren Waggoner is a Senior Vice President and Chief People Officer for Associate Experience and Digital at Walmart. In this role, she leads People strategy for Walmart’s Global Technology and AI Acceleration, Product and Design organizations, focused on shaping Walmart’s future as a people-led, tech-powered omnichannel organization. She also oversees global centers of excellence that support organizational transformation, associate experience, and labor relations at Walmart.

Prior to this role, Maren led the People team supporting Global Technology and Corporate Functions at Walmart, partnering with executive committee members for technology, finance, global governance and corporate affairs to create a culture of growth, well-being, and belonging, all underpinned by world-class digital experiences.

Since joining Walmart in 2017, Maren has spent the majority of her time in Walmart US, where she served as a Senior Vice President and people partner to Walmart U.S., leading a team focused on creating good jobs, great careers and better lives for the company’s ~1M frontline associates across Walmart’s stores, supply chain, transportation & delivery, and real estate businesses.  During her tenure at Walmart, she has led multifaceted teams focused on organizational effectiveness & design, workforce strategy, leadership development and talent management over periods of unpresented change in the retail industry including being part of the company’s COVID taskforce during the pandemic. 

Before joining Walmart, Maren worked at Ticketmaster, AT&T and DIRECTV in various human resources business partner and center of excellence leadership roles, gaining progressive experience in technology, entertainment and omnichannel retail industries. 

Maren is an adjunct professor at Claremont Graduate University, where she teaches graduate level courses in human resources.  She earned her Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from Claremont Graduate University, and her Master’s in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the University of West Florida.  Her undergraduate degree is in Psychology from the University of Kiel, Germany. Maren is currently a board member of the Northwest Arkansas Community College Foundation.