Lead Engineer - Cyber Solutions

The pay range is $128,000.00 - $231,000.00

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 ;br>
About us:

As a Fortune 50 company with more than 350,000 team members worldwide, Target is an iconic brand and one of America's leading retailers.

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.

As a Lead engineer, you serve as the technical anchor for the engineering team that supports a product. You create, own and are responsible for the application architecture that best serves the product in its functional and non-functional needs. You identify and drive architectural changes to accelerate feature development or improve the quality of service (or both). You have deep and broad engineering skills and are capable of standing up an architecture in its whole on your own, but you choose to influence a wider team by acting as a "force multiplier". Core responsibilities of this job are described within this job description. Job duties may change at any time due to business needs.

About this team:

Mission and Overview of Cyber Solutions

Cyber Solutions is responsible for delivering the capabilities that secure access to Target resources globally for our Team Members, partners, and Guests. From authentication to encryption, from certificate management to identity management, from humans to workloads, we focus on leveraging robust engineering principles, open standards, common target tech patterns, and a passionate and motivated team of engineers to turn ideas into solutions and outcomes.

What We Do in Guest Security

Guest Security Platform team within Cyber Solutions powers the authentication and authorization experience for millions of guests every single day across Target's iOS, Android, and web platforms. Operating at massive scale and high TPS, this team sits at the heart of the guest journey, connecting Fraud & Abuse controls, Digital capabilities, 3rd-party integrations, and UI into a seamless, secure experience. We leverage a blend of integrating with industry-leading vendor tools, homegrown applications, and deep cross-organizational partnerships to deliver trustworthy and frictionless access for every guest.

As a Lead Engineer on our team, you will play a key role in developing new capabilities for Guest Security platform, becoming a critical contributor to the success of the company. The ideal candidate will be proficient in backend technologies such as Java, Kotlin and API development, with a strong understanding of database technologies and distributed systems. We are looking for a self-driven individual with a strong sense of ownership, ready to collaborate within a large, distributed team that values connection, inclusivity and drive.

Job Responsibilities:

- Develop backend Services: Design, develop, deploy, and maintain services, using technologies such as Kotlin, Java, Micronaut, Spring Boot, and more.

- API Development: Create secure APIs and manage them to facilitate seamless integration with various systems and services.

- Design and implement enterprise-grade authentication and authorization solutions leveraging OAuth2, OpenID Connect, SAML, and OWASP Top 10 best practices, with a strong understanding of agentic commerce OAuth flows, while advancing Zero Trust authentication initiatives.

- Building robust event driven distributed systems: Design and build robust, event-driven distributed systems using technologies like Kafka, ensuring high availability, horizontal scalability, and deterministic behavior.

- Debugging & Problem Solving: Apply strong debugging, analytical reasoning, and systems-thinking skills to diagnose complex issues, resolve production incidents, and ensure the reliability and stability of distributed systems.

- Build Caching systems: Implement effective caching techniques to optimize system performance, scalability, and reliability.

- Collaboration: Work closely with cross-functional teams, embracing a one-team culture to ensure alignment and integration across platforms.

- Inclusivity and Teamwork: Foster an inclusive environment where all team members feel valued and empowered to contribute.

- Curiosity and Innovation: Approach challenges with curiosity, seeking innovative solutions and being open to learning new technologies.

- Courage and Ownership: Demonstrate courage in tackling complex problems and take full responsibility for your work, from inception to deployment and maintenance.

About you:

• 4-year degree or equivalent experience
• 9+ years of software development experience

Tech skills:

• Proficiency in Java, Kotlin and frameworks like Spring, Micronaut is preferred.
• Strong experience in database technologies like Cassandra, PostgreSQL
• Strong understanding of OAuth2, OpenID Connect, SAML, OWASP Top 10 security principles, and agentic commerce OAuth flows; experience supporting enterprise-grade authentication and Zero Trust architectures.
• Strong experience with API development and integration.
• Strong debugging and analytical reasoning skills for diagnosing complex issues in distributed, event-driven systems.
• Knowledge of caching techniques, distributed systems and performance optimization.
• Experience with open-source technologies such as Kafka, CI/CD tools, GitHub, Open Telemetry, Grafana, InfluxDB

Soft skills:

• Excellent problem-solving abilities and attention to detail.
• Strong communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Ability to thrive in a large team environment.
• Inclusivity: Commitment to fostering an inclusive and collaborative team culture.
• Curiosity: to learn and explore new technologies and methodologies.
• Courage: Willingness to take on challenges and advocate for innovative solutions.
• Self-Starter: Proactive approach to identifying and solving problems.
• Extreme Ownership: Demonstrated responsibility and accountability for tasks and projects.

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: _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 Non-accommodation-related requests, such as application follow-ups or technical issues, will not be addressed through this channel.