Principal Engineer - AI Platform (Forward Deployed Engineering and AI Builder Experience)

Target; United States; Híbrido; USD 168.000 - 356.000; Jornada completa

Descripción de la vacante

Target is seeking a Principal Engineer – AI Builder Experience and Forward Deployed Engineering to lead the design and deployment of AI-powered applications at enterprise scale. You will architect production-grade systems, build reusable platform capabilities, and guide engineering teams across product, architecture, and applications.

You will mentor engineers, shape roadmaps, and ensure security, observability, and reliable deployments while collaborating with platform engineering and product

Formación

• MS or PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, or equivalent
• 8+ years designing and operating large-scale software platforms and AI/ML systems
• Hands-on software engineering with production-grade systems
• Experience delivering AI applications including LLM-powered or agentic systems
• Experience building developer-facing APIs, SDKs, frameworks or tooling
• Knowledge of modern AI engineering and platform tech including model APIs, CI/CD, cloud, containers
• Strong distributed system and platform architecture understanding
• Ability to translate complex problems into scalable technical solutions
• Excellent written and spoken communication with cross-functional influence

Responsabilidades

• Lead end-to-end AI developer experience strategy and delivery
• Architect and deliver production-grade AI solutions and reusable platform patterns
• Partner with product, architecture, and application teams to shape roadmaps
• Mentor senior engineers and influence engineering standards
• Evaluate new frameworks and tooling and publish reusable patterns
• Create reference architectures and self-service platform capabilities
• Ensure security, observability, and reliable production deployments
• Collaborate across functions and geographies to drive alignment
• Communicate technical direction clearly to diverse audiences

Conocimientos

AI platform leadership

Software engineering

System architecture

Developer experience

AI applications

Distributed systems

Mentoring

Technical communication

Cross-functional collaboration

Strategic planning

Educación

MS or PhD in Computer Science or related quantitative field

Herramientas

Model APIs

Agent development frameworks

CI/CD

Cloud platforms

Containers

Orchestration

Observability tooling

Descripción del empleo

The pay range is $168,000.00 - $356,000.00 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.

JOIN TARGET AS A PRINCIPAL ENGINEER –AI PLATFORMS, FORWARD DEPLOYED ENGINEERING and AI BUILDER EXPERIENCE

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’s AI Platform organization means the opportunity to build and evolve the foundational capabilities that enable teams across Target to develop, deploy, and operate AI‑powered products and experiences at enterprise scale. Our teams build platforms, frameworks, and developer experiences that make advanced AI technologies accessible, reliable, and scalable for engineers across the organization.

As a Principal Engineer – AI Builder Experience and Forward Deployed Engineering, you will provide technical leadership for how engineering teams across Target build, integrate, deploy, and operate AI‑powered applications. You will work at the intersection of AI platform engineering, developer experience, and forward deployed engineering, partnering directly with product and engineering teams to accelerate complex and high‑value AI initiatives while shaping reusable capabilities for the broader engineering community. You will help architect and deliver production‑grade AI solutions, including agentic and LLM‑powered applications, while establishing scalable patterns for model and agent integration, enterprise context, evaluation, observability, deployment, and production operations. You will bring deep platform expertise directly to engineering teams, helping them navigate complex technical challenges and successfully move AI solutions from experimentation into production. A critical part of this role is translating real‑world implementation experience into improvements to the AI platform. You will identify recurring challenges and patterns across forward deployed engagements and turn those learnings into reusable APIs, SDKs, frameworks, developer tooling, reference architectures, and self‑service platform capabilities. Through this feedback loop, you will help reduce bespoke engineering and continuously improve the experience for the next generation of AI builders.

You will also provide technical leadership for the end‑to‑end AI developer experience, including onboarding, development, experimentation, testing, evaluation, debugging, deployment, and observability. You will partner closely with platform engineering, product, architecture, and application teams to influence platform roadmaps, establish engineering standards, and create reference implementations that enable teams to adopt AI capabilities effectively and responsibly at scale.

Given the pace of change in AI, you will stay current on emerging technologies and engineering approaches, evaluate and recommend new frameworks and tooling, publish learnings and reusable patterns, mentor senior engineers, and influence technical direction across the broader AI engineering ecosystem. We utilize Agile principles, follow best‑practice software design, participate in code reviews, and create maintainable, well‑tested codebases with relevant documentation. Core responsibilities of this job are articulated within this job description. Job duties may change at any time due to business needs.

About you:

MS or PhD in Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Statistics, or another quantitative discipline or equivalent industry experience

8 plus years of experience designing, building, and operating large‑scale software platforms, developer platforms, AI/ML systems, or distributed systems in production environments

Strong hands‑on software engineering experience and demonstrated ability to architect and deliver production‑grade systems

Experience designing and delivering AI applications, including LLM‑powered or agentic systems, and understanding of model integration, context and retrieval patterns, tool integration, evaluation, and production operations

Experience building developer‑facing capabilities such as APIs, SDKs, frameworks, libraries, developer tooling, templates, or self‑service platform experiences

Experience with modern AI engineering and platform technologies, including model APIs, agent development frameworks, evaluation and observability tooling, cloud platforms, containers, orchestration, CI/CD, and operational monitoring

Strong understanding of distributed system design, platform architecture, scalability, reliability, performance optimization, security, and production deployment considerations

Demonstrated ability to partner directly with engineering and product teams, understand complex implementation challenges, and translate those challenges into scalable technical solutions and reusable platform capabilities

Ability to operate effectively across the full engineering lifecycle, from architecture and prototyping through implementation, production deployment, and operational maturity

Ability to translate ambiguous business and engineering problems into clear technical approaches and create strong technical documentation, reference architectures, narratives, and recommendations for a range of audiences

Excellent communication and influencing skills, with demonstrated ability to establish technical direction and drive alignment across engineering teams and organizational boundaries

Proven ability to mentor and provide technical leadership to senior engineers while influencing architecture and engineering standards without direct authority

Self‑driven and results‑oriented, with strong ownership, sound technical judgment, and the ability to balance near‑term delivery with long‑term platform scalability

Collaborative team player with experience working effectively across functions, organizations, and geographies, and with a demonstrated commitment to continuous learning and knowledge sharing

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 is 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_F

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.