Lead Data Engineer - Finance Technology; Hadoop, PySpark, Scala​/Java

The pay range is $ - $.

Target offers comprehensive benefits, including medical, vision, dental, life insurance, 401(k), employee discount, short‑term and long‑term disability, paid sick leave, paid national holidays, and paid vacation. For more information, visit

As a Lead Data Engineer, you will serve as the technical lead for the engineering team, designing and developing scalable, high‑performance data solutions. You will drive the evolution of our data architecture, ensuring it meets both functional and non‑functional business requirements while delivering reliability, efficiency, and scalability. Your expertise in big data technologies, distributed systems, and cloud platforms will help shape the engineering roadmap and establish best practices for data processing, analytics, and real‑time data services.

You will play a key role in architecting and optimizing data pipelines using Hadoop, Spark, Scala/Java, and cloud technologies to support enterprise‑wide data initiatives.

• Architect and build scalable, high‑performance data pipelines and distributed data processing solutions using Spark, Scala/Java and cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure).
• Design and implement real‑time and batch data processing solutions, ensuring data is efficiently processed and readily available for analytical and operational use.
• Develop APIs and data services that provide low‑latency, high‑throughput access to data for downstream applications, enabling real‑time decision‑making.
• Optimize and enhance data models, workflows, and processing frameworks to improve performance, scalability, and cost efficiency.
• Drive data governance, security, and compliance best practices.
• Collaborate with product teams and business stakeholders to understand requirements and deliver data‑driven solutions.
• Lead the design, implementation, and lifecycle management of data services and platforms.
• Stay current with emerging technologies and promote the adoption of best practices in big data engineering, cloud computing, and API development.
• Provide technical leadership and mentor engineers to foster engineering excellence and best practices.

• BS or MS in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Applied Mathematics, or a related technical field (preferred).
• 7+ years of experience in data engineering, software development, or distributed systems.
• Expertise in Big Data technologies such as Hadoop, Spark, and distributed processing frameworks.
• Strong programming skills in PySpark, Scala, and/or Java.
• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure) and associated data services (e.g., S3, Big Query, Databricks, EMR, Snowflake).
• Proficiency in API development using REST, GraphQL, or gRPC to support real‑time and batch data access.
• Experience with real‑time and streaming data architectures like Kafka, Flink, or Kinesis.
• Strong knowledge of data modeling, ETL pipeline design, and performance optimization.
• Understanding of data governance, security, and compliance in large‑scale data environments.
• Strong problem‑solving skills and the ability to thrive in complex, evolving environments.
• Excellent communication and collaboration skills, with experience working across cross‑functional teams.

This position will operate as a Hybrid/Flex for Your Day work arrangement based on Target’s needs. The core role will need to be performed both onsite at the Target HQ MN location the role is assigned to and virtually, depending on the day’s requirements. Work duties cannot be performed outside of the country of the primary work location unless otherwise prescribed by Target.

Target is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Target will make reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other applicable laws. If a reasonable accommodation is needed for the application or interview process, please contact candidate.acc