About us:
Target is an iconic brand, a Fortune 50 company and one of America’s leading retailers. Target Technology Services is the behind-the-scenes powerhouse that fuels Target’s commitment to
cutting-edge
innovation
delivering incredible value to guests online and in stores through a strong technology framework and high-performing teams.
Target Tech Overview:
Every time a guest enters a Target store or browses
Target.com
, they experience the impact of Target’s investments in technology and innovation. We
a
re the technologists behind one of the most loved retail brands, delivering joy to millions of our guests, team members, and communities.
Our global in-house technology team of more than 5,000 engineers, data scientists,
architects
and product managers strive to make Target the most convenient,
safe
and joyful place to shop. We
leverage
open-source software to adapt and build best-in-class technology for our team members and
guests
and we do so with a focus on experimentation and continuous learning.
About Pyramid:
Merchandising is a Portfolio within
Target
Tech
that
provide
s
reliable data core to our enterprise retail operations, including foundational data and aggregation services at scale for retail and commerce platforms. We deal with data around Pricing, Promotions, Item, Supplier, Owned Brand, Merch Planning, Space Presentation &
Transitions (
SPT) & Intelligence Automation.
Job description
As a Principal Engineer in Merchandising (SPT), you are a thought leader and trusted partner to product and technology teams defining solutions to
highly complex
business and technology problems. You solve problems
impacting
multiple lines of business and technologies, define architecture strategies for new or evolving capabilities, align partners to those strategies, and drive delivery of the architectural solutions that evolve Merchandising products.
You
a
pply your abilities to solve large abstract problems, see the big picture, take partners, and drive outcomes as you define strategies to lead Merchandising into the future. Your strategic
visioning
directly contributes to Target’s business and technology.
SPT is a foundational growth enablement platform translating merchant intent into in-store execution. As Target accelerates AI-first ways of working and scale,
SPT
technology is at an inflection point. In this role, you will champion Agentic capabilities not only for SPT outcomes but by shaping reusable Agentic patterns, governance, and enablers that can scale across the broader Merchandising portfolio.
You clearly and concisely describe problems, opportunities, and vision in ways product and engineering partners and executive leadership understand
.
You
provide
clear guidance for teams to implement solutions and other PEs to understand and articulate vision to their partners as needed
.
You are a curious, active learner who seeks out and understands emerging technology and its implications to Target
.
You partner with your engineering team to drive proof-of-concepts as needed and clearly communicate findings to the organization. You also embody
industry
best engineering practices and create a culture for learning & growth.
You
possess
a broad understanding of Target’s technology, infrastructure,
security
and compliance landscapes and apply that as you define solutions and guide teams during implementation
.
You influence engineers to understand and follow
practices
, standards, and guidelines
established
to govern solutions.
You are a valued leader and team member who listens and understands other viewpoints, makes the right connections, and drives results that matter enabling Target to deliver exceptional experiences to guests and team members. You are expected to mentor, and coach leads into next in line P
Es.
About you:
Ability to
own the end-to-end technical strategy
for
microservices
based
and
AI/agentic capabilities, including roadmap, reference architectures, platform decisions, and adoption plan across multiple teams
Ability to
architect cloud-native microservices and event-driven systems
using Kafka and distributed patterns (resiliency, scalability, observability, performance, cost optimization)
Hands-on experience with core backend
stack
(Java
,
Kotlin
,
Python
,
etc
) and data stores (PostgreSQL
,
MongoDB
,
Cassandra
,
etc
) in high-scale environments
with
pr
oficiency
designing APIs and integrations for enterprise platforms
.
Experienced in search and retrieval architectures
leveraging
Elastic Search and vector/hybrid retrieval patterns
Experienced in
designing
A
gentic orchestration
& Flows
using
LangGraph
,
Google ADK
,
etc
, including routing, state management, retries,
idempotency, and human-in-the-loop controls
and
deliver
ing
production LLM solutions
(RAG, tool/function calling
via
MCP
) with measurable quality, latency, and cost outcomes
Ability to
establish
evaluation and quality gates
for LLM/agentic systems (golden datasets, automated regression, online monitoring)
Experienced in
implementing safety and governance controls
(
prompt injection defenses, data access controls, safe tool execution, auditability, PII handling)
Ability to
influence end-to-end product experience
by collaborating with frontend teams (ReactJS) and UX/product partners to deliver intuitive AI-assisted workflows
Experienced in
platform enablement and adoption at scale
, including developer experience, documentation/playbooks, and migration strategies from legacy
patterns
Ability to lead cross-team technical direction
through architecture reviews, ADRs,
stakeholder alignment, and mentorship of senior engineers/tech leads
Strong written and verbal
communication skills
and a
ble to communicate technical solutions to technical and non-technical partners
Track record
of driving outcomes in
self
-directed manner
.
Stay current with new and evolving technologies via formal and self-directed education
Develop
whitepapers, patents,
contribution to open-source community, attend/present in conferences
R
etail domain experience
applying AI/agentic capabilities to
real operational
workflows and exception handlin
g
will be a plus
Demonstrated
experience of 1
2
+ years
in software engineering with
3+ years
in architecture/technical leadership
Experienced in
delivering 2+ years
of production AI/ML
,
LLM-enabled
, Agentic AI
systems with
LLMOps
and
MLOps
practices
Life at Target-
https://india.target.com/
Benefits-
https://india.target.com/life-at-target/workplace/benefits
Culture-
https://india.target.com/life-at-target/belonging
