Sr. Product Engineer- Paper products

Pay range: $95,000.00 - $171,000.00. Pay is based on several factors including labor markets, education, work experience, and certifications.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health benefits and programs for eligible team members and their dependents, including medical, vision, dental, and life insurance
• 401(k) retirement plan
• Employee discount
• Short-term and long-term disability coverage
• Paid sick leave, national holidays, and vacation

Find competitive benefits from financial and education to well-being and beyond at Target Benefits.

About Us

Working at Target means helping all families discover the joy of everyday life. We bring that vision to life through our values and culture. A role with Engineering and Technical Design means being on a team of engineers and technical designers who create products that truly embody the intent of Target-owned brands. You’ll partner with quality and compliance teams to understand performance testing protocols and develop products that meet them, while identifying technical specifications and quality standards like raw materials, fit and function, construction details, and dimensions. You’ll leverage collective expertise to suggest improvements to cost of goods, assembly, sustainability, and ROI, and collaborate with vendors to ensure the brand vision is clearly understood and successfully brought to life.

Responsibilities

Product & Technical Leadership

• Lead product development, innovation, quality improvement, cost optimization, and supplier initiatives
• Apply strong knowledge of materials, manufacturing, product performance, specifications, testing, and supplier capabilities
• Translate consumer insights, product performance, and business needs into clear product and technical requirements
• Identify technical risks, challenge assumptions, and use data and judgment to solve complex product and manufacturing problems
• Bring forward new product, technology, supplier, and performance opportunities

Cross-Functional Leadership

• Lead work across Product Development, Sourcing, Merchandising, Quality, Packaging, Supply Chain, Finance, Insights, and suppliers
• Drive ideas from concept through decision and execution
• Build alignment and influence decisions without direct authority
• Navigate competing perspectives and organizational complexity while keeping work moving
• Communicate complex technical topics clearly to both technical and business audiences

Business & Consumer Thinking

• Understand the business behind product decisions, including consumer needs, competitive positioning, cost, margin, and supplier economics
• Use consumer feedback, research, competitive benchmarking, and product data to inform product decisions and identify opportunities
• Balance performance, cost, speed, sustainability, manufacturability, and supply risk
• Partner with business teams to help shape category, innovation, and supplier strategies

Prioritization & Execution

• Independently manage a high-volume portfolio of projects, quality issues, and supplier initiatives
• Determine what requires immediate attention, what creates the greatest value or risk, and what can wait
• Maintain clear visibility to priorities, milestones, risks, and decisions
• Proactively surface resource constraints, escalate risks, and ask for support when priorities cannot reasonably be met

Requirements

• Four-year degree in Manufacturing, Industrial Engineering, Product Development, or related field, or equivalent experience
• 8+ years of relevant experience
• Advanced expertise in a specific category or business
• Knowledge of testing, safety, and legal requirements for consumer products
• Knowledge of raw materials and manufacturing processes
• Strong knowledge of various 2-D and/or 3-D CAD software packages
• Advanced knowledge of product manufacturing processes
• Ability to build relationships to successfully work in a team environment
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong experience in paper products, tissue, towels, nonwovens, absorbent products, converting, packaging, fiber-based materials, or a related manufacturing field
• Strong business judgment and ability to connect technical decisions to consumer and financial outcomes
• Proven ability to influence cross-functional teams and drive decisions without formal authority
• Strong prioritization, project management, and problem-solving skills
• Experience working directly with suppliers and manufacturing partners
• Clear, concise communication and a collaborative, low-ego leadership style
• Ability to operate independently and create clarity in ambiguous situations
• Tissue, towel, paper converting, embossing, fiber, or related manufacturing experience
• Consumer products, retailer-owned brands, or private-label product development experience
• Experience using consumer research, benchmarking, or product testing to guide product decisions
• Quality investigations, supplier qualification, value engineering, or cost optimization experience
• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in paper science, engineering, materials science, packaging, or a related technical field

Schedule

This role works in-office 4 days per week from Target’s Downtown Minneapolis, MN campus.