Lead Engineer - AI Security

Roundel; Brooklyn Park (MN); Hybrid; USD 132,000 - 238,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Remote or Hybrid work

Job summary

Target is seeking a Lead Engineer on the AI Security team to assess, validate, and continually improve the security of AI systems and platforms. You will identify risks, validate controls, and promote secure by design across products.

You will collaborate with AI platform, product, and engineering teams to develop risk-based security strategies, perform architectural reviews, and drive continuous improvements as AI capabilities are deployed enterprise-wide.

Qualifications

• 4-year degree or equivalent experience required.
• Strong software development experience across platforms.
• 7+ years in technology with deep cybersecurity knowledge.
• LLM security expertise and model safety focus.
• Solid understanding of AI/ML and prompt injection defense.
• Knowledge of MCP authentication patterns and RAG authorization patterns.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with AI platform, product, and engineering teams to evaluate security posture of AI systems.
• Define and evaluate security assessment methodologies for AI technologies.
• Develop and execute security validation strategies including threat modeling and testing.
• Conduct deep technical reviews of AI products and architectures for security improvements.
• Partner with engineering to validate secure deployment patterns across cloud and hybrid environments.
• Communicate security risks and remediation plans to stakeholders.
• Provide expert guidance on AI security best practices and governance.

Skills

4-year degree

Software developer

LLM Security

OWASP Top 10

AI/ML knowledge

Prompt injection

GCP security

Containerization

Cross-team collaboration

Communication skills

Education

4-year degree or equivalent experience

Tools

Vertex AI

GCP security tools

AWS/Azure

Job description

The pay range is $132,000.00 - $238,000.00 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. Target is one of the world's most recognized brands and one of America's leading retailers. But behind the brand our guests love, is a culture of continual innovation and right now, we are up to big things! Target's security team is a place where innovation happens daily. Interested in a culture that combines ongoing learning, engineering excellence, and stellar outcomes? We are too - that's why we work here. Join our team to improve Target's security and move the business forward.

As a Lead Engineer on the AI Security team, you’ll collaborate with technical and leadership teams across Target Tech to assess, validate, and continuously improve the security of AI systems and platforms. You will identify security risks and gaps in existing AI implementations, evaluate the effectiveness of security controls and mitigations, perform architectural and technical reviews, and provide actionable recommendations to strengthen the overall security posture of AI solutions. This role is highly technical, requiring deep expertise in AI security, threat modeling, security controls, testing methodologies, and industry standards. You will serve as a trusted advisor and hands-on expert, helping teams identify emerging risks, validate security assumptions, and drive continuous improvements as AI capabilities are deployed, scaled, and evolved across the enterprise. Beyond the deep technical expertise, you have great interpersonal skills: our Lead Engineers are called upon to collaborate across the enterprise and have exceptional communication skills that enable open and cooperative partnerships.

Expect to:

• Collaborate with AI platform, product, and engineering teams to evaluate the security posture of AI systems throughout their lifecycle
• Define and evaluate security assessment methodologies, testing frameworks, and assurance standards for AI technologies
• Develop and execute security validation strategies for AI systems, including threat modeling, attack simulation, and adversarial testing
• Conduct deep technical reviews of AI products, platforms, and architectures to identify opportunities for security improvement
• Partner with engineering teams to validate secure deployment patterns for AI workloads across cloud and hybrid environments
• Assess AI architectures, models, agents, and supporting infrastructure to identify security risks, vulnerabilities, and design weaknesses
• Evaluate the effectiveness of existing security controls, guardrails, and mitigations protecting AI applications and platforms
• Perform hands-on security analysis and testing of complex AI-enabled systems, identifying gaps in architecture, implementation, and operational controls
• Recommend risk mitigation strategies and prioritized remediation plans to improve the security and resilience of AI systems
• Provide expert guidance on AI security best practices, including model security, prompt injection defenses, agent security, supply chain security, and data protection
• Prioritize high-impact security improvements that measurably reduce risk while enabling innovation and business objectives
• Identify emerging AI-specific threats, attack techniques, and vulnerabilities, and communicate their potential business impact
• Collaborate with security, architecture, and engineering teams to continuously improve AI security controls and governance practices
• Efficiently assess and communicate security risks to stakeholders, balancing technical realities, business priorities, and organizational objectives
• Serve as a trusted advisor on AI security, helping teams make informed decisions as AI capabilities evolve across the enterprise

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

About You:

• 4-year degree or equivalent experience
• Software developer comfortable in several programming languages across different platforms
• 7+ years of hands-on experience in technology, with deep knowledge of multiple cybersecurity domains including Information Protection, Cloud Security (GCP strongly preferred), Networking Security, IAM, Automation, and SIEM
• LLM Security expertise (RAG, MCP, input validation, sandboxing etc.)
• In-depth understanding of OWASP Top 10 for Large Language Model Applications
• Solid understanding of AI and ML
• Understanding of prompt injection and its various styles (direct, indirect, RAG poisoning, etc.)
• Knowledge of MCP authentication patterns including dynamic client registration
• Knowledge of RAG authorization patterns
• Experience mitigating the security risks of local coding agents
• Solid understanding of containerization technologies and tools
• Seeks out cross-team collaboration opportunities
• Demonstrates curiosity and ability to learn
• Stays current on relevant technologies with self-directed learning
• Excellent written and verbal interpersonal skills with strong presentation abilities
• Proven history of effectively utilizing a variety of security tools and technologies across diverse environments.
• The ideal candidate will not be limited to specific vendors or solutions but will possess the technical depth to comprehend and implement an end-to-end solution that aligns with our reference security architecture's requirements
• Good understanding of security management workflows in large enterprise organizations and complex environments
• Good understanding of the current threat landscape and the challenges that most organizations are facing
• In-depth knowledge of security frameworks, standards, and best practices (e.g., NIST, ISO/IEC 27001)
• Strong understanding of network security, cryptography, and secure software development
• Experience with security technologies, such as firewalls, IDS/IPS, SIEM, and DLP
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills
• Preferred: GCP native security product experience
• Commercial security product experience
• LLM Security expertise
• Vertex AI experience
• AWS or Azure experience

This position may be considered for a Remote or Hybrid (known internally at Target as "Flex for Your Day") work arrangement based on Target's needs. A Remote work arrangement means the team member works full-time from home or an alternate location that's not a Target location, does not have a desk at a Target location and may travel to HQ up to 4 times a year. A Hybrid/Flex for Your Day work arrangement means the team member's core role may be performed either remote or onsite at a Target location 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.

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. Application deadline is : 09/30/2026 Target is one of the world's most recognized brands and one of America's leading retailers. We make Target our guests’ preferred shopping destination by offering outstanding value, inspiration, innovation and an exceptional guest experience that no other retailer can deliver. Target is committed to responsible corporate citizenship, ethical business practices, environmental stewardship and generous community support. Since 1946, we have given 5 percent of our profits back to our communities. Our goal is to work as one team to fulfill our unique brand promise to our guests, wherever and whenever they choose to shop. We'll contact you if you're selected for next steps. In the meantime, follow us at A Bullseye View for the latest news.

Our Benefits

We care about and invest 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.