Engineer - Email and Data Protection (Cybersecurity)

Target is seeking an Engineer to support the Email and Data Protection function within its cybersecurity organization. The role focuses on building and operating backend services, data pipelines, and APIs that power a real-time enterprise email data platform for security analysis, scanning, enrichment, and alerting.

Role Location and Work Arrangement

Location: Brooklyn Park, MN (onsite)

Work arrangement: Hybrid/Flex for Your Day. This means the core role may require work both onsite at Target HQ in Minnesota and virtually, depending on team needs and day-to-day tasks.

Compensation

Salary: USD 75,400 - 135,700 per year

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, test, and maintain backend services using Java, Spring Boot, and other modern languages and frameworks.
• Contribute to distributed and event-driven services that ingest, process, scan, enrich, and route enterprise email data in real time.
• Build and enhance integrations with vended email security products, Target’s Strelka platform, Google Security Operations, and related detection and alerting capabilities.
• Develop and maintain RESTful APIs, event-streaming components, data models, and service integrations using established engineering patterns.
• Write clean, maintainable code and participate in code reviews, design discussions, sprint ceremonies, and technical documentation.
• Create and maintain automated unit, integration, contract, and regression tests to improve software quality and delivery confidence.
• Investigate and resolve recurring production issues involving application behavior, data processing, and system integrations, escalating complex issues as needed.
• Monitor service health and contribute to improvements in reliability, performance, observability, and operational efficiency using logs, metrics, alerts, and capacity signals.
• Support database schema changes, data migrations, API updates, and backward-compatible service enhancements.
• Participate in CI/CD, infrastructure automation, release and change-management, incident-management, and disaster-recovery activities.
• Partner with engineers, cybersecurity analysts, product partners, vendors, and other stakeholders to deliver effective technical solutions.
• Contribute to research and proof-of-concept efforts involving emerging technologies, including responsible use of AI-assisted engineering tools.
• Build knowledge of email processing and Target’s cybersecurity ecosystem through hands-on engineering, formal training, and self-directed learning.

Required Qualifications

• Four-year degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 1+ years of software development experience via professional work, internships, co-ops, substantial academic projects, or equivalent hands-on experience.
• Proficiency in at least one modern programming language, with experience or interest in developing Java applications.
• Familiarity with object-oriented programming, common data structures, algorithms, APIs, and software design fundamentals.
• Understanding of distributed programming concepts and ability to apply them with guidance within the area of responsibility.
• Experience writing automated tests and debugging using logs, development tools, and structured problem-solving techniques.
• Familiarity with relational databases, SQL, and basic data modeling concepts.
• Ability to learn an existing codebase, follow established engineering patterns, and deliver maintainable software components.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with curiosity about how complex systems behave.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills and ability to collaborate with technical and non-technical partners.
• Commitment to software quality, security, operational excellence, and continuous learning.
• Familiarity with current and emerging technologies and demonstrated ability to build domain-specific knowledge through training and self-directed education.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Java and Spring Boot through professional work, internships, coursework, or personal projects.
• Exposure to messaging or event-streaming technologies such as Kafka, Pub/Sub, RabbitMQ, or JMS.
• Familiarity with cloud-native development in Google Cloud Platform, AWS, or Azure.
• Exposure to Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, or infrastructure automation.
• Experience developing RESTful APIs or backend services.
• Familiarity with observability concepts, including logs, metrics, tracing, alerting, and service health monitoring.
• Interest in cybersecurity, email security, or highly available production systems.
• Familiarity with email or enterprise messaging concepts such as SMTP, MIME, message routing, or email authentication controls.
• Experience using AI-assisted software engineering tools responsibly to support learning, development, testing, or documentation.

Technologies

Java, Spring Boot, RESTful APIs, event-streaming components, Kafka, Pub/Sub, RabbitMQ, JMS, Google Cloud Platform, AWS, Azure, Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD pipelines, SQL, AI-assisted software engineering tools, Google Security Operations

Team Overview

The Email and Data Protection team builds and operates capabilities that help protect Target’s team members, guests, applications, and information from malicious email content and data-related threats. The team owns and advances a layered email security platform that includes vended security products, internally developed services, and integrations across Target’s cybersecurity ecosystem.

A key focus is Target’s real-time email data platform, which ingests, processes, scans, enriches, and routes enterprise email telemetry for security analysis. The platform integrates with Target’s Strelka file-scanning platform and Google Security Operations to deliver streaming data, detections, alerts, and investigative context to security teams. Engineers in this role help maintain and enhance backend services, data pipelines, APIs, automated tests, and operational capabilities that make the platform reliable and effective.

Benefits

• Comprehensive health benefits, which may include medical, vision, dental, life insurance, and more
• 401(k)
• Employee discount
• Short term disability
• Long term disability
• Paid sick leave
• Paid national holidays
• Paid vacation

Accessibility (ADA)

• Target provides reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities in compliance with state and federal laws.
• To request an accommodation for the application or interview process, email [email protected].
• Non-accommodation-related requests, such as application follow-ups or technical issues, are not handled through this channel.