Sr Applied Data Scientist - 1:1 Personalization, Audience and Experimentation (applied ML, PyToch, A/B testing)

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 SR DATA SCIENTIST – 1:1 PERSONALIZATION, AUDIENCE and EXPERIMENTATION

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. 

A role with Target Data Sciences means the chance to help develop and manage state of the art predictive algorithms that use data at scale to automate and optimize decisions at scale. Whether you join our Applied Data Sciences or Machine Learning teams, you’ll be challenged to harness Target’s impressive data breadth to build the algorithms that power solutions our partners in Digital Marketing, Supply Chain Optimization, Advanced AI, Search and Personalization rely on.  Every Scientist on Target’s Data Sciences team can expect modeling and data science, software/product development of highly performant code for model performance at scale.

As a Sr Data Scientist you will support the development of machine learning models that power one-to-one personalization at scale. In this role, you will design, build, and deploy advanced models that deliver highly relevant, individualized experiences across marketing and digital channels. You will collaborate with cross-functional partners in product, engineering, marketing, and analytics to define strategy, lead experimentation, and ensure that personalization drives measurable impact for our guests and business.

Responsibilities:

• Model Development: Design, build, and optimize ML models for one-to-one personalization, including recommendation systems, ranking models, customer propensity models, and reinforcement learning approaches
• Experimentation & Measurement: Develop testing frameworks (A/B, multi-armed bandits, causal inference) to rigorously measure the impact of personalization initiatives within marketing optimization
• Collaboration: Partner closely with product managers, engineers, and business stakeholders to translate business problems into data science solutions
• Scalability & Deployment: Ensure models are production-ready, scalable, and integrated into digital platforms with high reliability and performance
• Innovation: Stay current on advances in ML/AI (deep learning, embeddings, transformers, large language models, reinforcement learning) and evaluate their application for personalization use cases

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, Statistics) or equivalent industry experience
• 3+ years of applied data sciences experience, end to end with digital marketing and measurement teams
• Experience with statistical tools of A/B testing both at the customer level as well as matched–market testing
• Strong hands-on experience in personalization/recommendations, applied ML, NLP, and deep learning
• Experience with real-time systems, online learning, and recommendation algorithms at scale
• Demonstrated proficiency in Python, SQL, and modern ML libraries such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, Scikit-learn
• Experience with large-scale data platforms – GCP Vertex AI, Spark, Databricks, Snowflake, etc.
• Proven track record of building and deploying applied ML models in production environments
• Extensive problem-solving skills: develop creative and innovative solution to help solve real-world business problems using data sciences approaches
• Motivated, team player with ability to collaborate effectively across global team
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to clearly tell data driven stories through appropriate visualizations, graphs, and narratives

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. Click here if you are curious to learn more about Minnesota.

Benefits Eligibility

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.