Target
Lead Data Scientist - Search and Ranking (NLP, LLMs, ML Ops)
Target, Sunnyvale, California, United States, 94087
Lead Data Scientist - Search and Ranking (NLP, LLMs, ML Ops)
Join to apply for the Lead Data Scientist - Search and Ranking (NLP, LLMs, ML Ops) role at Target.
The pay range is
$128,000.00 - $277,000.00 .
Target offers comprehensive health benefits and programs, including medical, vision, dental, life insurance, and more, as well as 401(k), employee discount, short‑term and long‑term disability, paid sick leave, holidays, and vacation. Find competitive benefits from financial and education to well‑being and beyond.
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.
Role Overview As a Lead Data Scientist on the Search & Browse Applied Data Science team, you’ll work with business partners to provide solutions for business problems in a fast‑paced and global environment. You’ll design quality, flexible, and performant data science systems and services at scale, architect solutions that capture, process, and mine huge datasets, and use cutting‑edge machine learning, NLP techniques to improve Mobile and Web Search systems.
Responsibilities
Develop and deploy scalable deep learning models to improve the search experience of guests.
Use LLM and agentic technologies to improve e‑commerce search experience.
Architect and implement large‑scale AI systems using test‑driven development practices.
Build NLP technology for query and document analysis, processing, and understanding.
Create data pipelines for feature/label extraction and generation.
Conduct data analysis to identify opportunities and improve models.
Conduct research to advance the state‑of‑the‑art ML, LLM, and NLP technologies.
Contribute to the operations/building of AI pipelines.
Adopt Target's infrastructural platforms and operationalize tools and systems around them.
Mentor and partner with other engineers to develop software that meets business needs.
Collaborate effectively with product and business partners to define and scope solutions.
Follow agile methodology for software development and technical documentation.
Innovate constantly and keep systems up to date with current technologies.
About You
4‑year degree in Quantitative disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) or equivalent experience.
PhD or MS in Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Physics or equivalent work or industry experience.
Research or industry experience in search indexing, information retrieval or ranking.
Demonstrated experience in NLP, LLMs, agentic systems or recommendation systems at scale.
5+ years of experience deploying machine learning algorithms into production environments with strong ML Ops experience.
Proficient in Python or Java with excellent coding and problem‑solving skills.
Exceptional hands‑on modeling skills using Python.
Extensive experience implementing and integrating ML models in production in high traffic/scale.
Experience querying large databases with SQL, HQL, or some variation.
Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills for partnering with global teams.
Has a strong growth mindset and ownership mentality.
This position will operate as a Hybrid/Flex for Your Day work arrangement based on Target’s needs. The core role will be performed both onsite at the Target HQ Sunnyvale, CA or MN location and virtually.
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 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.
Application deadline is: 01/15/2026.
Seniority level Mid‑Senior level
Employment type Full‑time
Job function Engineering and Information Technology
Industries Retail
Referrals increase your chances of interviewing at Target by 2x.
#J-18808-Ljbffr
The pay range is
$128,000.00 - $277,000.00 .
Target offers comprehensive health benefits and programs, including medical, vision, dental, life insurance, and more, as well as 401(k), employee discount, short‑term and long‑term disability, paid sick leave, holidays, and vacation. Find competitive benefits from financial and education to well‑being and beyond.
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.
Role Overview As a Lead Data Scientist on the Search & Browse Applied Data Science team, you’ll work with business partners to provide solutions for business problems in a fast‑paced and global environment. You’ll design quality, flexible, and performant data science systems and services at scale, architect solutions that capture, process, and mine huge datasets, and use cutting‑edge machine learning, NLP techniques to improve Mobile and Web Search systems.
Responsibilities
Develop and deploy scalable deep learning models to improve the search experience of guests.
Use LLM and agentic technologies to improve e‑commerce search experience.
Architect and implement large‑scale AI systems using test‑driven development practices.
Build NLP technology for query and document analysis, processing, and understanding.
Create data pipelines for feature/label extraction and generation.
Conduct data analysis to identify opportunities and improve models.
Conduct research to advance the state‑of‑the‑art ML, LLM, and NLP technologies.
Contribute to the operations/building of AI pipelines.
Adopt Target's infrastructural platforms and operationalize tools and systems around them.
Mentor and partner with other engineers to develop software that meets business needs.
Collaborate effectively with product and business partners to define and scope solutions.
Follow agile methodology for software development and technical documentation.
Innovate constantly and keep systems up to date with current technologies.
About You
4‑year degree in Quantitative disciplines (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) or equivalent experience.
PhD or MS in Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, Statistics, Physics or equivalent work or industry experience.
Research or industry experience in search indexing, information retrieval or ranking.
Demonstrated experience in NLP, LLMs, agentic systems or recommendation systems at scale.
5+ years of experience deploying machine learning algorithms into production environments with strong ML Ops experience.
Proficient in Python or Java with excellent coding and problem‑solving skills.
Exceptional hands‑on modeling skills using Python.
Extensive experience implementing and integrating ML models in production in high traffic/scale.
Experience querying large databases with SQL, HQL, or some variation.
Exceptional interpersonal and communication skills for partnering with global teams.
Has a strong growth mindset and ownership mentality.
This position will operate as a Hybrid/Flex for Your Day work arrangement based on Target’s needs. The core role will be performed both onsite at the Target HQ Sunnyvale, CA or MN location and virtually.
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 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.
Application deadline is: 01/15/2026.
Seniority level Mid‑Senior level
Employment type Full‑time
Job function Engineering and Information Technology
Industries Retail
Referrals increase your chances of interviewing at Target by 2x.
#J-18808-Ljbffr