Lead Engineer - Modernization Team

About the role

The Target Technology Modernization team is seeking a Lead Engineer to join our dynamic and innovative team. This role serves as the technical anchor for the engineering team supporting a product, driving architectural changes, and leading the design, lifecycle management, and total cost of ownership of services.

Responsibilities

• Evaluate new technologies and participate in decision-making, considering factors like viability within Target's technical environment, maintainability, and cost of ownership.
• Initiate and execute research and proof-of-concept activities for new technologies.
• Lead or set strategy for testing and debugging at the platform or enterprise level.
• Provide thought leadership to promote re-use and develop consistent, scalable patterns.
• Participate in planning services with enterprise impact.
• Provide suggestions for handling routine and moderately complex technical problems, escalating issues when appropriate.
• Gather information, data, and input from various sources; identify additional resources when necessary, engage with stakeholders, and conduct in-depth analysis of information.
• Develop plans and schedules, estimate resource requirements, and define milestones and deliverables.
• Maintain workflow and risks; play a leadership role in mitigating risks and removing obstacles.
• Lead and participate in complex construction, automation, and implementation activities, ensuring successful implementation with architectural and operational requirements met.
• Establish new standards and best practices to monitor, test, automate, and maintain IT components or systems.
• Serve as an expert resource in disaster recovery and disaster recovery planning.
• Stay current with Target’s technical capabilities, infrastructure, and technical environment.
• Develop fully attributed data models, including logical, physical, and canonical.
• Influence data standards, policies, and procedures.
• Install, configure, and/or tune data management solutions with minimal guidance.
• Monitor data management solution(s) and identify optimization opportunities.

Requirements

• A 4-year degree or equivalent experience.
• 7+ years of software development experience with at least one full cycle implementation.
• Strong domain-specific knowledge regarding Target’s technology capabilities, and key competitors' products and differentiating features.
• Proficiency in Java and Python.
• Hands-on experience with modern LLM ecosystems (OpenAI, Anthropic, Llama, Gemini, etc.) and productionizing GenAI capabilities.
• Experience with PostgreSQL, Open/Elasticsearch, Object Storage (S3/etc.).
• Broad and deep expertise in multiple computer languages and frameworks (e.g., open source).
• Designs, develops, and approves end-to-end functionality of a product line, platform, or infrastructure.
• Strong stakeholder communication and ability to lead through influence across teams and partners.
• Experience designing scalable, reliable systems with strong performance, cost, and operational health awareness.
• Stays current with new and evolving technologies via formal training and self-directed education.

Qualifications

• Experience with emerging GenAI patterns, frameworks, and use-cases, including: LangGraph / LangChain / Google GenAI, etc.

Skills

• Technical acumen and knowledge of current and emerging technologies within specialized areas of the technology domain.
• Ability to initiate and execute research and proof-of-concept activities for new technologies.
• Leadership and influence skills to guide the team towards achieving high-performance, scalable, repeatable, and secure deliverables.
• Strong stakeholder communication and ability to lead through influence across teams and partners.
• Experience designing scalable, reliable systems with strong performance, cost, and operational health awareness.
• Continuous learning and staying current with new and evolving technologies via formal training and self-directed education.

Benefits

Target offers a comprehensive benefits package, including:

• Comprehensive health benefits and programs, such as medical, vision, dental, life insurance, and more.
• 401(k) plan.
• Employee discount.
• Short-term and long-term disability insurance.
• Paid sick leave.
• Paid national holidays.
• Paid vacation.
• Access to competitive benefits from financial and education to well-being and beyond at https://corporate.target.com/careers/benefits.

About Us

At Target, we believe in helping all families discover the joy of everyday life. Our values and culture drive us to innovate and achieve our goals. Learn more about Target here.