Lead Machine Learning Engineer - Merchandising AI (ML Ops)

Target; United States; Hybrid; USD 132,000 - 238,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k)

employee discount

short term disability

long term disability

paid sick leave

paid national holidays

paid vacation

Job summary

Target is hiring a Lead Machine Learning Engineer – Merchandising to shape data-driven merchandising decisions at scale. You will design, implement, and optimize production ML solutions while collaborating with data scientists, software engineers and product managers to deliver impactful models and APIs.

You’ll drive code quality, maintainability and documentation, mentor engineers, and help establish best practices for AI/ML in a cloud-native environment, including Docker, Kubernetes and CI/CD.

Qualifications

• 4-year degree in Quantitative disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) or equivalent experience.
• MS in Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Physics or equivalent work or industry experience in applied machine learning.
• 5+ years of experience in end-to-end machine learning application development, including data pipelining, model optimization, deployment and API design.
• Extensive experience with applied machine learning frameworks and the ability to developing highly distributed machine learning systems at scale.
• Highly proficient in Python programming.
• Strong understanding of CI/CD practices for machine learning systems and ML Ops principles.
• Extensive experience with Google Cloud’s Vertex AI and/or the broader cloud-based ML ecosystem.
• Demonstrated knowledge of various testing frameworks and containerization like Docker and Kubernetes.
• Lead the development of agentic AI solutions that connect data, tools, APIs and business rules into end‑to‑end decisioning workflows.
• Demonstrated experience in REST API design and development.
• Extensive understanding of Big Data technologies including Hadoop, Spark and Kafka.
• Proven ability to collaborate with data scientists, software engineers and product managers to deliver scalable machine learning solutions.
• Excellent communication skills with an ability to tell data‑driven stories through visualizations and narratives.
• Ability to mentor engineers and help establish engineering standards, architecture patterns, and best practices for AI/ML and cloud‑native development.
• Self‑driven, results‑oriented and able to meet tight deadlines.
• Motivated team player who thrives in a collaborative global environment.

Responsibilities

• Designing, implementing, and optimizing production machine learning solutions.
• Collaborating with data scientists, software engineers and product managers to deliver scalable ML solutions.
• Building maintainable, well-tested codebases with documentation.
• Lead development of agentic AI solutions that connect data, tools, APIs and business rules into end‑to‑end decisioning workflows.
• Mentoring engineers and helping establish engineering standards, architecture patterns, and best practices for AI/ML and cloud‑native development.

Skills

Python programming

CI/CD for ML

ML Ops

REST API design

Big Data (Hadoop/Spark/Kafka)

Cloud ML (Vertex AI)

Docker

Kubernetes

Communication

Mentoring engineers

Education

Bachelor's degree in Quantitative disciplines

MS in Computer Science / Applied Mathematics / Statistics / Physics

Tools

Vertex AI

Docker

Kubernetes

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
• paid vacation

Find competitive benefits from financial and education to well‑being and beyond at https://corporate.target.com/careers/benefits.

JOIN US AS A LEAD MACHINE LEARNING ENGINEER – MERCHANDISING AI

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.

A role with Target Data Sciences means the chance to help develop and manage state of the art predictive algorithms that use data at scale to automate and optimize decisions at scale. Whether you join our Applied Data Sciences or Machine Learning teams, you’ll be challenged to harness Target’s impressive data breadth to build the algorithms that power solutions our partners in Digital Marketing, Supply Chain Optimization, Advanced AI, Search and Personalization rely on. Every Scientist on Target’s Data Sciences team can expect modeling and data science, software/product development of highly performant code for model performance at scale.

As the Lead Machine Learning Engineer – Merchandising, you will join a Data Sciences team responsible for creating and optimizing the data and models used to build a world‑class merchandising product.

You will play a crucial role in designing, implementing, and optimizing production machine learning solutions. We will also expect you to understand best practice software design, participate in code reviews, and create a maintainable well‑tested codebase with relevant documentation.

At an organizational level, you may conduct training sessions, present work to technical and non‑technical peers/leaders, build knowledge on business priorities/strategic goals and leverage this knowledge while building requirements and solutions for each business need.

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

About you:

• 4-year degree in Quantitative disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) or equivalent experience
• MS in Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Physics or equivalent work or industry experience in applied machine learning
• 5 plus years of experience in end-to-end machine learning application development, including data pipelining, model optimization, deployment and API design
• Extensive experience with applied machine learning frameworks and the ability to developing highly distributed machine learning systems at scale
• Highly proficient in Python programming
• Strong understanding of CI/CD practices for machine learning systems and ML Ops principles
• Extensive experience with Google Cloud’s Vertex AI and/or the broader cloud-based ML ecosystem
• Demonstrated knowledge of various testing frameworks and containerization like Docker and Kubernetes
• Lead the development of agentic AI solutions that connect data, tools, APIs and business rules into end‑to‑end decisioning workflows
• Demonstrated experience in REST API design and development
• Extensive understanding of Big Data technologies including Hadoop, Spark and Kafka
• Proven ability to collaborate with data scientists, software engineers and product managers to deliver scalable machine learning solutions
• Excellent communication skills with an ability to tell data‑driven stories through visualizations and narratives
• Ability to mentor engineers and help establish engineering standards, architecture patterns, and best practices for AI/ML and cloud‑native development.
• Self‑driven, results‑oriented and able to meet tight deadlines
• Motivated team player who thrives in a collaborative global environment

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.

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.

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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.