Director Product Management

About us:
As a Fortune 50 company with more than 400,000 team members worldwide, Target is an iconic brand and one of America's leading retailers. Joining Target means promoting a culture of mutual care and respect and striving to make the most meaningful and positive impact. Becoming a Target team member means joining a community that values different voices and lifts each other up. Here, we believe your unique perspective is

important, and you'll build relationships by being authentic and respectful.

Team overview:

At Target, the Search and Recommendations (Recs) team is at the forefront of driving innovation in the product discovery experience. We build all in-house algorithms to power the #1 product-finding and discovery methods on our platform, where billions of searches happen every year. Our mission is to help guests discover products both online and in-store, assisting them in building their baskets with ease and delight. We are currently building the next-generation Search and Recs Platform, which will be multimodal, leveraging GenAI, Vector, document, and Hybrid stacks that combine both Search and Recommendations. This platform will not only enhance the guest experience but also set new industry standards in product discovery.
As a Director of Product Management in the Search and Recommendations Platform and Operations team, you will be part of a dynamic group of professionals who are passionate about creating cutting-edge solutions that drive Target's business forward. Our team collaborates closely with cross-functional partners, including engineering, data science, and operations, to deliver products that are easy to use, maintain, and scale. We operate with a shared backlog, ensuring that all product, technology, and design work is aligned and prioritized to achieve our business outcomes.

Key Experience & Skills:

• Search and Recommendations Platform: Proven experience in building and scaling Search and Recommendations platforms, with a deep understanding of the underlying technologies and user experience principles.

• Data Science & Machine Learning: Extensive experience working with Data Science and Machine Learning teams to develop algorithms that enhance search relevance and recommendation accuracy.

• Operational Leadership: A strong track record of leading operations and driving efficiency in a fast-paced environment, with a focus on delivering high-quality, reliable products.

• Expertise in AI and Search Technologies: Deep understanding of Search, Recommendations, AI, and Generative AI technologies, with practical experience in leading the development of products in this domain.

• Subject Matter Expertise: Expertise in large language model (LLM) development, vector search, document search, embeddings, and Natural Language Processing (NLP).

• Recommendations Systems: Experience in developing and optimizing recommendation systems that personalize the user experience, with a strong grasp of collaborative filtering, content-based filtering, and hybrid recommendation approaches.

As the Director of Product Management, you will:

• Set Strategic Vision: Define the overall strategic vision for the Search, Recommendations Platform, and Operations, aligning with Target's business goals and customer needs.

• Drive Product Success: Be accountable for the success of your product space, managing the budget and financials, setting both short- and long-term goals, and driving the quarterly Objectives and Key Results (OKRs).

• Lead & Mentor: Build, coach, and mentor a strong team of product owners, fostering a culture of progress, transparency, and efficiency across product teams.

• Collaborate Across Pyramids: Work closely with senior leadership and peers across various pyramids to negotiate and remove execution-related barriers, ensuring seamless product delivery.

• Innovate with Data: Leverage data and analytics to perform competitive analysis, drive decision-making, and assess the health and effectiveness of your products, delivering insights and recommendations to key stakeholders.

• Focus on Customer Validation: Lead product discovery with key stakeholders to validate hypotheses and concepts with customers before committing engineering resources.

About You:

• Educational Background: Four-year degree or equivalent experience.

• Experience: 10+ years of Product management experience or equivalent domain expertise, preferably in Search and recommendations platforms or related areas.

• Technology Savvy: Strong understanding of technology with the ability to facilitate communication between business and technology teams.

• Leadership & Communication: Exceptional communication skills with a proven ability to influence at both strategic leadership levels and cross-functionally.

• Retail or Similar Experience: An understanding of retail or similar industries, with relevant experience in driving innovative and scalable solutions.

• Expert in AI & Recommendations Systems: Practical experience in developing and leading products within AI, LLM, vector search, NLP, and recommendation systems, with a strong emphasis on optimizing user experience through personalized recommendations.

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