Principal Engineer - Merchandising Capabilities

Target; Brooklyn Park (MN); Hybrid; USD 168,000 - 303,000; Full time

Job summary

Target is seeking a Principal Engineer to set the strategy for software development and infrastructure engineering across multiple portfolios. You will drive architecture, guide APIs, and lead technical direction while mentoring teams.

You’ll partner with product and business leaders to balance delivery with long-term maintainability, ensuring scalable, secure systems across merchandising capabilities. Hybrid work available.

Qualifications

• Four-year degree or equivalent experience in a related field.
• 12+ years of technology development experience.
• 4+ years of experience setting technical strategy and shaping architecture.
• Deep experience designing distributed systems and service-oriented architectures.
• Experience with cloud technologies, containers and orchestration (Kubernetes), CI/CD, observability, and production operations.
• Strong programming and data experience in Java, SQL/NoSQL, and Python.

Responsibilities

• Set long-term technical strategy and architecture for merchandising capabilities.
• Lead design and evolution of scalable, secure services and APIs.
• Drive domain and data architecture with clear boundaries and consistency.
• Establish API design, event-driven integration, and cloud-native standards.
• Partner with product, EA, and engineering to translate business strategy into technical direction.
• Mentor engineers and lead architecture reviews across teams.

Skills

Leadership

Distributed systems

Cloud technologies

Kubernetes

CI/CD

Java

SQL/NoSQL

Python

Architecture

Communication

Education

Four-year degree

Tools

Kubernetes

CI/CD

Docker

SQL

NoSQL

Job description

The pay range is $168,000.00 - $303,000.00.

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.

As a Principal Engineer you set the strategy for software development and/or infrastructure engineering at Target. You set the direction for how software and infrastructure engineering efforts will be designed, developed, and operationalized across multiple portfolios and drives adoption across Target Tech. You lead and approve software and infrastructure engineering efforts to meet functional and non-functional requirements. You are a thought leader and mentor for internal and external technical talent and actively contribute to the external technical community.

About This Team

The Merchandising Capabilities team builds and evolves foundational technology that enables Target to plan, manage, and execute merchandising experiences at scale as part of Target’s leading with Merch enterprise priority. We partner across product, engineering, data, and business teams to deliver reliable, secure, and high-performing capabilities that support core merchandising workflows, including pricing and promotions. Our focus is on reusable platforms and APIs, clear domain boundaries, consistent data and business rules, and architecture that can adapt as Target’s business needs evolve. Use your skills, experience and talents to be a part of groundbreaking thinking and visionary goals. As a Principal Engineer, you’ll take the lead as you…

• Set the long-term technical strategy and architecture for merchandising capabilities, aligning platform investments and engineering roadmaps to business priorities across multiple teams and portfolios.
• Lead the design and evolution of scalable, resilient, secure, and highly available services and APIs that support pricing, promotions, and other merchandising workflows across Target’s technology ecosystem.
• Drive sound domain and data architecture, including service boundaries, integration patterns, data contracts, business-rule ownership, and consistency across systems; guide teams toward solutions that are reusable and fit for enterprise scale.
• Establish engineering standards and reference architectures for API design, event-driven integration, cloud-native development, observability, performance, reliability, security, and operational readiness.
• Partner with product and business leaders, Enterprise Architecture, and engineering teams to translate business strategy into technical direction; evaluate trade-offs, quantify cost and risk, and use prototypes or proofs of concept to validate major decisions.
• Anticipate and address cross-platform technical risks, complexity, and technology lifecycle needs; lead modernization and simplification while balancing near-term delivery with long-term maintainability.
• Champion agile engineering and DevOps practices, including automated testing, continuous delivery, production health, incident learning, and measurable service-level objectives.
• Provide technical leadership across teams through architecture reviews, design guidance, coaching, and mentorship; build alignment without relying on direct authority and help grow technical talent.

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 in a related field or equivalent experience, with a commitment to continuous learning and staying current with relevant engineering practices and technologies.
• 12+ years of experience in technology development, software engineering, or technology services, including delivery of complex, production-grade systems.
• 4+ years of experience setting technical strategy, shaping architecture, and influencing engineering direction across teams or portfolios.
• Deep experience designing distributed systems and service-oriented architectures, including APIs, integration patterns, data modeling, and systems with demanding scalability, availability, performance, and reliability requirements.
• Experience with cloud technologies, containerized workloads and orchestration (such as Kubernetes), CI/CD, infrastructure automation, observability, and production operations.
• Strong programming and data technology experience, such as Java, SQL and NoSQL databases, and Python, along with the ability to assess technologies and select fit-for-purpose solutions.
• Ability to understand business fundamentals, connect technology choices to business outcomes, and communicate the financial, operational, and delivery trade-offs of architectural decisions.
• Demonstrated technical leadership, influence, collaboration, problem solving, planning, and organizational skills; able to build alignment across teams and mentor engineers at different levels.
• Excellent written, verbal, and presentation skills, including the ability to explain complex technical concepts and recommendations clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Experience in retail, merchandising, pricing, promotions, or other high-volume transaction and decisioning domains is a plus.

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.

Benefits Eligibility

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.