Sr Applied Data Scientist - 1:1 Personalization, Audience and Experimentation

Target

Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, United States · HybridFull-time$98,000–$176,000Posted Oct 21, 2026

About the role

The pay range is $98,000.00 - $176,000.00

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

Please paste this url into your preferred browser to learn about benefits eligibility for this role: https://tgt.biz/BenefitsForYou_D

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.

Responsibilities

  • Design, build, and optimize machine learning models for one-to-one personalization, including recommendations, ranking, and customer propensity.
  • Develop experimentation and measurement approaches such as A/B testing, multi-armed bandits, and causal inference.
  • Collaborate with product, engineering, marketing, and business stakeholders to develop data science solutions.
  • Deploy scalable, reliable models integrated with digital platforms.
  • Evaluate emerging machine learning and AI methods for personalization use cases.

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in a quantitative discipline or equivalent industry experience.
  • At least 3 years of applied data science experience working end to end with digital marketing and measurement teams.
  • Experience with customer-level A/B testing and matched-market testing.
  • Hands-on experience with personalization, recommendations, applied machine learning, NLP, and deep learning.
  • Experience with real-time systems, online learning, and recommendation algorithms at scale.
  • Proficiency in Python, SQL, and machine learning libraries such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, or Scikit-learn.
  • Experience with large-scale data platforms such as GCP Vertex AI, Spark, Databricks, or Snowflake.
  • Track record of building and deploying applied machine learning models in production.

Benefits

  • Medical, vision, dental, and life insurance
  • 401(k)
  • Employee discount
  • Short-term and long-term disability
  • Paid sick leave and national holidays
  • Paid vacation
  • Financial, education, and well-being programs

Skills mentioned

PythonSQLMachine LearningRecommendation SystemsStatistical AnalysisDeep LearningTensorFlowPyTorchScikit-learnModel Deployment

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.

Retail10,001+ employeesMinneapolis, MN

H-1B sponsorship history

Historical employer filing data was found for Target. The employer record includes 1,639 historical certified applications. This is employer-level history, not a guarantee that this role currently offers sponsorship.