{"id":2103744,"url":"https://alion.io/job/target-lead-data-scientist-network-planning-and-design-applied-ml-optimization-simulation","title":"Lead Data Scientist - Network Planning and Design (applied ML, optimization, simulation)","company":{"id":3684,"name":"Target","domain":"target.com","url":"https://alion.io/company/target","size_band":"5000+","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Workday","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":100,"open_postings":246,"ghost_share":0.028,"stale_share":0.016,"repost_share":0.053,"time_to_fill_p50_days":7,"computed_at":"2026-10-14T06:34:16Z"}},"role":"Data Science","role_family":"Data Science","seniority":"lead","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"hybrid","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["Minneapolis, United States","Sunnyvale, United States"],"countries":["US"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":{"min":132000,"max":286000,"currency":"USD","period":"year","gross":null,"usd_annual":286000},"salary_estimate":null,"experience_years_min":5,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"Digital Twin","optional":false},{"name":"Java","optional":false},{"name":"Kotlin","optional":false},{"name":"Machine Learning","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"SQL","optional":false},{"name":"Time Series Forecasting","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-10-08T19:33:11Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-10-08","last_verified_at":"2026-10-14T22:31:37Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":6,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":null,"flags":[],"days_open":6},"description":"The pay range is $132,000.00 - $286,000.00Pay 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.\nJOIN TARGET AS A LEAD DATA SCIENTIST - NETWORK PLANNING AND DESIGN\nAbout us:\nWorking 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.\nA 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 Sciences - Supply Chain Optimization team leverages operations research, simulation, and machine learning to help Target makes intelligent 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.\nJoin Target’s Last Mile and Operations Design team where your goal will be to accelerate omni-channel experimentation to foster a culture of continuous innovation at Target. We believe that continuous innovation is critical to delivering and exceeding our brand promise of “Expect More Pay Less” to Target’s guests irrespective of their preferred channel of engagement and commerce. You will enable continuous innovation and drive business performance in our Target Last Mile Delivery space.\nAs a Lead Data Scientist - Network Planning and Design, you will be responsible for building the analytical models and decision-support systems that shape Target’s long-term supply chain architecture and investment roadmap. This includes developing and evolving a portfolio of optimization models, simulations, digital twins, forecasting and capacity models as well as scenario-planning tools used to evaluate billions of dollars in potential network and capability investments.\nAs a Lead Data Scientist - Network Planning & Design you will drive:\nStrategic Problem Framing and Executive Influence:\nDefine and structure ambiguous supply chain problems into clear frameworks for decision-making in partnership with Network Design, Flow, and Capacity Planning teams\nSynthesize insights into compelling narratives for executive audiences and guide decision-making at scale\nInfluence senior stakeholders across Supply Chain, Operations, Finance, Technology, Strategy and Merchandising\nAdvanced Modeling and Decision Science:\nOwn the development of optimization, simulation, forecasting, digital twin, and machine learning capabilities supporting Target’s long-term network strategy\nApply operations research and advanced analytics to decisions including network footprint, capacity planning, inventory placement, product flow, automation, transportation, and reverse logistics\nEnsure models accurately represent real-world constraints, uncertainty, and operating dynamics while remaining scalable and actionable\nEstablish strong practices for scenario analysis, sensitivity testing, model validation, and decision support\nBuild reusable analytical capabilities that enable faster and more consistent strategic decision-making\nOwn, maintain, and continuously enhance strategic planning models to ensure accuracy, scalability, and alignment with evolving business needs\nCross Functional Alignment and Partnership:\nPartner across Supply Chain, Operations, Finance, Technology, Strategy, and Merchandising teams to maintain a strong pulse on customer needs, priorities, and decision contexts, aligning cross-functionally on assumptions, decisions, and business requirements\nDrive clarity across cross-functional teams regarding constraints, assumptions, and strategic implications\nTech, Data, AI and Innovation:\nPartner with Engineering, Product, and Technology teams to transform analytical models into scalable decision-support tools and products\nAdvance the use of modern optimization solvers, cloud computing, machine learning, and AI where they improve model performance or decision quality\nEstablish strong practices for model governance, reproducibility, testing, documentation, and auditability\nChampion experimentation and emerging methods that advance Target’s network planning capabilities\nMentor and coach data scientists and analysts in structured problem solving, systems thinking, and executive communication\nElevate modeling and analytical standards within the team\nCore responsibilities of this job are described within this job description. Job duties may change at any time due to business needs.\nAbout you:\nPhD/MS in Operations Research, Industrial Engineering, Computer Science, Mathematics, Statistics, Physics or related quantitative field\n5+ years of experience leading large-scale implementations of supply chain optimization, simulation and machine learning modeling end to end\nDemonstrated proficiency in one or more programming languages: Python, R, Kotlin or Java\nDemonstrated experience writing highly performant code and deploying algorithms in a production environment. Proficient in predictive/prescriptive algorithms and ML Ops\nExperience working with large event-driven distributed systems and multi-threaded applications\nExperience in application/software architecture (definition, process modeling, etc.)\nExperience writing production datasets in SQL/Hive or building internal/production data tools for research or experimentation in a scripting language like Python\nExperience working with mathematical optimization libraries or solvers (e.g. Gurobi)\nPassion for solving relevant real-world problems using a data science approach\nExperience in implementing advanced statistical techniques like regression, clustering, PCA, forecasting (time series), etc.\nExperience producing reasonable documents/narratives suggesting actionable insights\nExcellent communication skills with an ability to clearly tell data driven stories through appropriate visualizations, graphs, and narratives\nSelf-driven and results oriented; able to meet tight timelines\nCollaborative team player with ability to partner effectively across time zones\nThis 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 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.\nBenefits Eligibility\nPlease paste this url into your preferred browser to learn about benefits eligibility for this role: https://tgt.biz/BenefitsForYou_EAmericans with Disabilities Act (ADA)\nIn 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 -accommodation-relatedrequests, such as application follow-ups or technical issues, will not be addressed through this channel.\nApplication deadline is : 11/19/2026","description_format":"text","description_chars":7933,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":5,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":{"level":"master","optional":false},"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Life insurance"],"hiring_locations":[{"name":"United States","iso":"US","kind":"country"}],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["E-commerce Platforms","Online Groceries"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-08T19:33:11Z"}],"visa":[],"liveness":{"score":58,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.774,"p_room":0.75,"age_days":5,"expected_fill_days":7,"reasons":["conf:19","velocity","win:late","comp:brand"],"computed_at":"2026-10-14T06:34:16Z"},"pay":{"stated_usd_annual":286000,"is_top_pay":true},"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/target-lead-data-scientist-network-planning-and-design-applied-ml-optimization-simulation","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/target-lead-data-scientist-network-planning-and-design-applied-ml-optimization-simulation.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-10-15T01:27:52Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":1925,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-10-16T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":3684},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=3684"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Ftarget-lead-data-scientist-network-planning-and-design-applied-ml-optimization-simulation"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Ftarget-lead-data-scientist-network-planning-and-design-applied-ml-optimization-simulation"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Ftarget-lead-data-scientist-network-planning-and-design-applied-ml-optimization-simulation"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/target-lead-data-scientist-network-planning-and-design-applied-ml-optimization-simulation\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Ftarget-lead-data-scientist-network-planning-and-design-applied-ml-optimization-simulation"}]}