Lead Machine Learning Engineer - Personalization/Recommender Systems (Python, ML Ops, Vertex AI)

Job Id: R0000423166

This job is also available for the following locations

• 7000 Target Pkwy N, Brooklyn Park, MN

The pay range is $128,000.00 - $277,000.00

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 LEAD MACHINE LEARNING ENGINEER

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.

Join our global in-house Tech and Data Sciences team of more than 5,000 software engineers, applied data scientists, ML engineers and product managers striving to make Target the most convenient, safe and joyful place to shop. We use agile practices and leverage open-source software to adapt and build best-in-class technology for our team members and guests. We do so with a focus on diversity and inclusion, experimentation and continuous learning.

As Lead Machine Learning Engineer, you will join a Data Sciences team responsible for creating personalized recommendations on Target.com and the Target App. 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 will 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

• 5 plus years' of experience in end-to-end Machine Learning application development, including data pipelining, model optimization, deployment, and API design
• Highly proficient programming in Python
• Experience with ML frameworks such as Pytorch, TensorFlow, xgboost, sklearn, and ONNX
• Experience with one or more cloud ML services such as Vertex AI, Azure ML or Sagemaker
• Experience using distributed training frameworks like Spark, Ray, TensorFlow Distributed
• Experience with serving frameworks such as TorchServe/TensorFlow or Serving/FastAPI
• Good understanding of Big Data tech, specifically Hadoop ecosystem – Spark, Kafka, Hive, etc.
• Experience creating and maintaining CI/CD pipelines for automated model deployment and testing
• Work in partnership with applied data scientists, software engineers and product managers to understand the business requirements - translate to machine learning solutions at scale
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to clearly tell data driven stories through appropriate visualizations, graphs, and narratives
• Self-driven and results oriented; able to meet tight timelines
• Motivated, team player with ability to collaborate effectively across global team
• Experience in mentoring the junior team members ML Ops skillsets and career development

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 location in Sunnyvale or 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.

Target will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the San Francisco and City of Los Angeles Fair Chance Ordinances.

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 candidate.accommodations@HRHelp.Target.com. Non-accommodation-related requests, such as application follow-ups or technical issues, will not be addressed through this channel.  

Application deadline is : 12/18/2025