Lead Engineer - Target India

As a Fortune 50 company with more than 400,000 team members worldwide, Target is an iconic brand and one of America's leading retailers. At Target, we have a timeless purpose and a proven strategy and that hasn’t happened by accident. Some of the best minds from diverse backgrounds come together at Target to redefine retail in an inclusive learning environment that values people and delivers world-class outcomes. That winning formula is especially apparent in Bengaluru, where Target in India operates as a fully integrated part of Target’s global team and has more than 4,000 team members supporting the company’s global strategy and operations.

Joining Target means promoting a culture of mutual care and respect and striving to make the most meaningful and positive impact. Becoming a Target team member means joining a community that values diverse backgrounds. We believe your unique perspective is important, and you'll build relationships by being authentic and respectful. At Target, inclusion is part of the core value. We aim to create equitable experiences for all, regardless of their dimensions of difference. As an equal opportunity employer, Target provides diverse opportunities for everyone to grow and win.

About Team

Roundel is Target’s entry into the media business with an impact of $1.5B+; an advertising sell-side business built on the principles of first-party (people-based) data, brand-safe content environments, and proof that our marketing programs drive business results for our clients. We are here to drive business growth for our clients and redefine “value” in the industry by solving core industry challenges vs. copy current industry methods of operation. Roundel is a key growth initiative for Target and leads the industry to a better way of operating within the media marketplace. Target Tech is on a mission to offer the systems, tools, and support that our clients, guests, and team members need and deserve. We drive industry-leading technologies in support of every angle of the business, and help ensure that Target operates smoothly, securely, and reliably from the inside out.

Role Overview As a Lead Engineer (AdTech), you will serve as the Technical Architect and subject matter expert for our AdTech platform. You will operate as a high-level individual contributor and technical leader in an agile environment, defining the architectural runway for complex solutions. The key to the success of this position is possessing deep domain expertise in distributed systems, a mastery of AdTech protocols, and the ability to influence engineering strategy without necessarily managing people directly. You will collaborate with Product Managers, Engineering Managers, and Staff Engineers to deliver AdTech capabilities including DSP, SSP, and Ad Servers, ensuring our systems are highly scalable, low-latency, and fault-tolerant.

Use your skills, experience, and talents to be a part of groundbreaking thinking and visionary goals. As a Lead Engineer, you’ll take the lead as you…

Technical Leadership & Architecture

• Own the Architecture: Define and drive the end-to-end technical architecture for critical AdTech components, ensuring alignment with enterprise standards and future scalability.

• System Design: Architect high-throughput, low-latency systems capable of handling millions of transactions per second (TPS) required for Ad serving.

• Code Quality & Mentorship: Act as a bar-raiser for code quality; perform advanced code reviews, mentor senior engineers, and foster a culture of technical excellence and innovation.

• Technology Strategy: Evaluate and select appropriate tech stacks (Language, Database, Cloud Native services) to solve specific business problems; drive "build vs. buy" decisions.

• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partner with Data Science and Product teams to translate complex business requirements into robust technical specifications and architectural blueprints.

• Operational Excellence: Drive resolution of the most complex technology roadblocks, including deep-dive debugging of distributed systems, infrastructure bottlenecks, and latency issues.

• Innovation: Stay current with AdTech industry trends (e.g., Privacy Sandbox, OpenRTB updates) and advocate for the adoption of new technologies and design patterns that give Roundel a competitive edge.

Requirements

• Education: 4-year degree in Computer Science/Engineering or equivalent experience.

• Experience: 8+ years of software development experience with at least 3+ years in a Technical Architect or Lead Engineer role.

• Core Stack: Expert-level proficiency in Java/Kotlin, Spring Boot, and Microservices architecture.

• Big Data & Streaming: Deep experience with Hadoop, Spark, Kafka, Flink, or similar streaming/batch processing frameworks.

• AdTech Domain: Proven experience in AdTech/MarTech (DSP, SSP, Ad Exchanges) with a deep understanding of OpenRTB standards, VAST/VPAID, and identity resolution.

• Database: Experience with high-performance NoSQL databases (e.g., Cassandra, ScyllaDB, DynamoDB, Aerospike) and caching layers (Redis, Memcached).

• Cloud & DevOps: Hands-on experience with Cloud platforms (GCP preferred, or AWS/Azure) and Kubernetes/Docker.

• Architecture: Demonstrated ability to design distributed systems with strict SLA requirements (sub-millisecond latency).

Desired Qualifications

• Active contributor to the Open Source community.

• Experience with UI/Visualization frameworks (React, Angular) is a plus (to understand full-stack implications).

• Familiarity with Data Privacy laws (GDPR, CCPA) and their impact on system design.

• History of technical publications, blogs, or conference speaking is desirable.