Sr Applied Data Scientist - Supply Chain Optimization

Target
Sunnyvale, California, United StatesFull-timePosted Aug 27, 2026

About the role

JOIN TARGET AS SR DATA SCIENTIST – SUPPLY CHAIN OPTIMIZATION

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 and prescriptive algorithms that use data to automate and optimize decisions at scale. The Target Data Science – Global Supply Chain and Logistics team leverages operations research, simulation, and machine learning to help Target makes intelligent, end-to-end supply chain business decisions. This involves writing high-performant, scalable code as well as designing analytical solutions to extract insights and to prescribe best courses of action.

You’ll work in an environment that provides the freedom and agility of a startup - with the security and vast resources of a large established company with continuous learning opportunities provided.

In this role at Target as a Sr Data Scientist – Global Supply Chain and Logistics, you will:

Work closely with fellow data scientists to review and iterate on optimization and machine learning algorithms and develop state of the art mathematical models

Collaborate with engineers to design and deploy algorithms in production at scale. Our models run many times a day for millions of combinations of stock keeping units and distribution networks

Work with business partners to learn about the retail business and processes in play

Ideate and resolve tradeoffs between model granularity and features as well as performance, reliability, and usability of our codebase. Improve engineering standards, tooling, and processes

What we're looking for:

Strong knowledge of supply chain optimization – inventory, transportation, sourcing, distribution, fulfillment, planning, etc.

Strong computer science fundamentals and love rock-solid, well-structured, and efficient code: data structures, algorithms, programming languages, and information retrieval

Strong technical and communication skills to deliver with quality and evangelize technical solutions to business, product and engineering partners

Ability to write understandable, testable code with an eye towards maintainability

You constantly think about the end-user for solutions you develop, and prioritize business impact over technical sophistication

Ability to deal with ambiguity, and prioritize progress over perfection

You have an eye for detail, and relentless curiosity for supply chain problems

You have a knack for answering open questions with data

You understand that simplicity is hard but key to achieving maintainability and to being able to continually deliver value to the business

Core responsibilities of this job are described within this job description. Job duties may change at any time due to business needs.

About you:

PhD or MS in Operations Research, Industrial Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, or related quantitative fields

3+ years of experience leading large-scale implementations of optimization, simulation, machine learning and deep learning modeling at scale

Demonstrated experience writing highly performant code and deploying algorithms in a production environment. Proficient in predictive and prescriptive algorithms

Proficient in one or more programming languages: Python, R, Kotlin, or Java

Expert at formulating and implementing mathematical models ranging from mixed-integer programming, stochastic dynamic programming and reinforcement learning

Experience in implementing advanced statistical techniques like regression, clustering, PCA, time series forecasting, etc.

Proficient in application/software architecture (definition, process modeling, etc.)

Experience writing production datasets in SQL/Hive or building internal/production data tools for research or experimentation in a scripting language like Python

Able to produce reasonable documents and narratives suggesting actionable insights

Excellent communication skills with an ability to clearly tell data driven stories through appropriate visualizations, graphs, and narratives

Self-driven and results oriented; able to meet tight timelines

Collaborative team player with ability to partner effectively across time zones

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 Sunnyvale 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.

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.

Responsibilities

  • Review and iterate on optimization and machine learning algorithms
  • Collaborate with engineers to design and deploy algorithms in production
  • Work with business partners to learn about retail business processes
  • Ideate and resolve tradeoffs between model granularity and performance

Qualifications

  • PhD or MS in Operations Research, Industrial Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Physics, or related fields
  • 3+ years of experience in optimization, simulation, machine learning
  • Proficient in programming languages like Python, R, Kotlin, or Java
  • Experience with advanced statistical techniques and production datasets

Skills mentioned

PythonRMachine LearningDeep LearningPredictive ModelingTime-Series ForecastingStatistical ModelingSQLData ScienceSystem Design

About Target

Target is one of the world’s most recognized brands and one of America’s leading retailers. We make Target our guests’ preferred shopping destination by offering outstanding value, inspiration, innovation and an exceptional guest experience that no other retailer can deliver. Target is committed to responsible corporate citizenship, ethical business practices, environmental stewardship and generous community support. Since 1946, we have given 5 percent of our profits back to our communities. Our goal is to work as one team to fulfill our unique brand promise to our guests, wherever and whenever they choose to shop. For more information, visit corporate.target.com. Beware of Hiring Scams: Target will never ask you to submit personal information via a text message for a position. Target will only ask you to apply for positions through corporate.target.com/careers, or Workday, our applicant tracking system.

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