Sr Applied Data Scientist - Search Ranking (Applied ML, NLP, LLMs))

• Develop and deploy scalable ML models for search ranking, browse personalization, semantic retrieval, and query understanding systems
• Design and execute offline and online experiments to improve relevance, engagement, conversion, and customer satisfaction
• Build scalable feature pipelines, evaluation frameworks, and ML workflows for production systems
• Apply modern ML techniques including embeddings, retrieval/ranking models, transformers, NLP, vector search, and GenAI/RAG systems
• Improve query understanding, catalog understanding, semantic retrieval, and long-tail search relevance across large retail catalogs
• Partner closely with Product, Engineering, and Infrastructure teams to align technical solutions with business priorities and operational requirements
• Drive data-informed decision making through deep analysis, experimentation, and business impact measurement
• Balance model quality with latency, scalability, reliability, and infrastructure efficiency in large-scale production systems
• Contribute to best practices in experimentation, ML engineering, and operational excellence
• Mentor junior scientists and collaborate across teams to improve Search and Browse experiences

Core responsibilities of this job are articulated within this job description. Job duties may change at any time due to business needs., 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 in Sunnyvale, CA or 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. 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 Please paste this url into your preferred browser to learn about benefits eligibility for this role: https://tgt.biz/BenefitsForYou_D

• PhD or MS in Computer Science, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, Physics or related quantitative discipline
• 3+ years of industry experience in Machine Learning, Data Science, Search, NLP, Personalization or related ML systems
• Exceptional experience and understanding with retrieval/ranking systems, semantic search, NLP, vector search, or related ML domains
• Strong demonstrated coding skills in Python and SQL with experience in distributed data processing ecosystems
• Demonstrated experience building and deploying end to end production ML systems
• Strong understanding of production ML system tradeoffs including latency, scalability, reliability, and operational excellence
• Experience with modern ML approaches such as embeddings, transformers, semantic retrieval, RAG systems, or GenAI technologies
• Experience designing experiments and interpreting online/offline metrics
• Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to independently drive projects in moderately ambiguous environments
• Very good communication and cross-functional collaboration skills
• Constant learner mentality who stays current with new and evolving AI technologies via formal training and self-directed education

Target offers comprehensive medical, dental and vision insurance plans. Plus, get free 24/7 virtual care and mental health support.

Financial well-being

Your financial future is bright with TGT 401(k) offering 5% eligible contribution matching and more discount and reimbursement programs.

Paid time off

Target encourages work-life balance by offering eligible team members vacation time and paid national holidays, sick time and family leave.

Education assistance

Target’s industry-leading education assistance benefit, Dream to Be, offers tuition-free programs to support your growth.

Market-leading pay

Target is a proud pay leader in retail and highly competitive with other large companies, providing equitable and competitive pay for all.

Team Target discount

Team members get a 10% discount at all Target stores and Target.com, along with 20% off wellness products and 20% off adult owned-brand apparel and accessories. Plus, get an additional 5% savings with a Target Circle Card. More about pay & benefits

Eligibility requirements may vary based on position, average hours worked, length of service and program requirements. Benefits are subject to change.

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 Applied Data Sciences team at Target 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 Search, RecSys, Supply Chain Optimization 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 Marketing, Supply Chain Optimization, Network Security 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, and to elevate Target’s culture and apply retail domain knowledge.

About our Search and Browse team:

The Search and Browse Applied Data Science team builds the core relevance, retrieval, ranking, and personalization systems that power Target’s Digital experience. We develop scalable ML systems that improve product discovery, semantic search, browse relevance, and customer engagement across Mobile and Web platforms.

E-commerce Search is rapidly evolving with advances in LLMs, semantic retrieval, and conversational AI. We are building next-generation discovery experiences that help millions of guests find the right products quickly and intuitively across massive and constantly changing retail catalogs.

Our team is solving large-scale Search challenges at enterprise scale, including natural language and long-tail search, semantic retrieval, zero-shot item understanding, and AI-native commerce discovery experiences operating at 10K+ QPS with strict latency and reliability requirements.