Lead Business Partner - Experiential Operations

Target; Minneapolis (MN); Hybrid; USD 95,000 - 171,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work arrangement

Health benefits

Job summary

Target is seeking a Lead Business Partner for Store Operations at our Minnesota HQ. You will shape the Back to College strategy, connect enterprise priorities with store and guest needs, and guide cross-functional work from planning to seasonal execution.

You will translate complex strategies into practical frontline experiences, influence decisions without direct authority, and foster strong relationships with HQ and field leaders while ensuring execution excellence.

Qualifications

• 6+ years in retail/operations/strategy in a large, matrixed organization.
• Strong ability to translate enterprise strategies into practical, executable frontline experiences.
• Proven track record leading cross-functional initiatives and influencing senior leaders.

Responsibilities

• Lead the Store Operations strategy for Back to College, aligning enterprise priorities with store and guest needs.
• Represent the store perspective in cross-functional decisions and drive seasonal and enterprise work.
• Translate complex strategies into simple, actionable store experiences while balancing sales and store capacity.
• Lead cross-functional planning routines with clear milestones, dependencies and accountability.
• Synthesize inputs and communicate recommendations to partners and senior leaders.

Skills

Store operations

Cross-functional leadership

Strategy & planning

Communication skills

Data-driven decisions

Project management

Education

Four-year degree or equivalent experience

Tools

Excel

PowerPoint

Job description

The pay range is $95,000.00 - $171,000.00

Pay is based on several factors which vary based on position. These include labor markets and in some instances may include education, work experience and certifications. In addition to your pay, Target cares about and invests in you as a team member, so that you can take care of yourself and your family. Target offers eligible team members and their dependents comprehensive health benefits and programs, which may include medical, vision, dental, life insurance and more, to help you and your family take care of your whole selves. Other benefits for eligible team members include 401(k), employee discount, short term disability, long term disability, paid sick leave, paid national holidays, and paid vacation. Find competitive benefits from financial and education to well-being and beyond at https://corporate.target.com/careers/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. Learn more about Target here.

Right on pace with Target’s distinctive retail brand, Target Store Operations & Enablement is continuing to transform the way it operates. Here, your work directly support and easy, inspiring and friendly guest experience through successfully developing and communicating processes, operating models, structures and technology that enable stores to deliver for our guests.

Store Operations & Enablement partners across the enterprise and with field teams to understand operational opportunities, develop solutions and ensure strategies can be successfully executed in stores. We bring the store perspective forward, challenge the status quo and continuously look for ways to simplify operations, improve the team member experience and deliver for our guests.

As a Lead Business Partner, You Will

• Lead the Store Operations strategy for Back to College, connecting enterprise priorities with store and guest needs and driving the work from early strategy through seasonal execution and recap.
• Represent the store perspective in cross-functional business decisions and broader seasonal and enterprise work, influencing strategies across merchandising, inventory, space and presentation, supply chain, workload and store execution, and making sure store implications are understood early enough to shape decisions.
• Translate complex business strategies into simple, executable store experiences, balancing sales opportunity with operational capacity, workload, timing and guest experience.
• Use business performance, store feedback and field insights to identify opportunities and influence decisions, including when differentiated strategies are needed to account for meaningful differences in store demand or operating conditions.
• Lead cross-functional planning routines and establish clear milestones, dependencies, decisions and accountability required to successfully deliver the season.
• Build strong relationships across HQ and the field, using influence rather than authority to align partners around shared business and guest outcomes.
• Maintain a strong connection to stores and field leaders through store visits, feedback routines and ongoing engagement to understand execution realities and identify opportunities to simplify or improve strategies.
• Anticipate execution risks and unintended consequences, frame tradeoffs and develop solutions that protect both the enterprise strategy and store experience.
• Synthesize complex inputs and clearly communicate recommendations, decisions and implications to partners and senior leaders.
• Lead post-season learning and translate insights into recommendations that influence future store execution, merchandising, inventory, space and operational strategies.
• Identify and champion new tools, technology, automation and ways of working that simplify planning, improve decision-making or increase store agility.

Core responsibilities of this job are described within this job description. Job duties may change at any time due to business needs.

About You

• Four-year degree or equivalent experience 6+ years of relevant experience in retail, operations, merchandising, strategy, planning or related disciplines in a large, matrixed organization
• Strong understanding of store operations and the ability to translate enterprise strategies into practical, executable experiences for frontline teams
• Proven ability to lead complex, cross-functional initiatives and influence partners and senior leaders without direct authority
• Strong strategic and critical thinking skills with an ability to connect business objectives, data, guest needs and operational realities, and to use quantitative and qualitative insights to frame problems, evaluate tradeoffs and make clear recommendations.
• Strong project and process management skills with experience managing multiple interconnected workstreams, milestones and dependencies
• Highly effective collaborator who builds trusted relationships across different functions and levels of the organization
• Confident communicator with strong written, verbal, presentation and storytelling skills
• Comfortable challenging existing strategies, surfacing risks and constructively advocating for stores and guests Demonstrated agility and comfort operating through ambiguity, changing conditions and tight timelines
• Strong judgment and problem-solving skills, including the ability to quickly assess issues and determine when to solve, influence or elevate

Preferred Experience

• Previous store or field experience
• Experience working across Store Operations, Merchandising, Inventory Management, Space & Presentation or Supply Chain
• Advanced proficiency in Excel and PowerPoint; experience using data and visualization to influence business decisions
• Experience leveraging AI, automation or emerging technology to improve business routines or operational execution

This position will operate as a Hybrid/Flex for Your Day work arrangement based on Target’s needs. A Hybrid/Flex for Your Day work arrangement means the team member’s core role will need to be performed both onsite at the Target HQ MN location the role is assigned to and virtually, depending upon what your role, team and tasks require for that day. Work duties cannot be performed outside of the country of the primary work location, unless otherwise prescribed by Target. Click here if you are curious to learn more about Minnesota.

Benefits Eligibility

Please paste this url into your preferred browser to learn about benefits eligibility for this role: https://tgt.biz/BenefitsForYou_E

Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)

In compliance with state and federal laws, Target will make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities. If a reasonable accommodation is needed to participate in the job application or interview process, please reach out to [e-mail]. Non-accommodation-related requests, such as application follow-ups or technical issues, will not be addressed through this channel.