Product Manager - Search Ontology

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. At Target, we have a timeless purpose and a proven strategy and

that hasn’t happened by accident. Some of the best minds from diverse backgrounds come together at Target to redefine retail in an inclusive learning environment that values people and delivers world-class outcomes.

That winning formula is especially apparent in Bengaluru, where Target in India operates as a fully integrated part of Target’s global team and has more than 4,000 team members supporting the company’s global

strategy and operations.

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 diverse backgrounds. We believe your unique perspective is important, and you'll build relationships by being authentic and respectful. At Target, inclusion is part of the core value. We aim to create equitable experiences for all, regardless of their dimensions of difference. As an equal opportunity employer, Target provides diverse opportunities for everyone to grow and win.

Product Teams at Target Corporation are accountable for the delivery of business outcomes enabled through technology and analytic products that are easy to use, easily maintained and highly reliable.  Product teams have one shared backlog that is inclusive of all product, technology and design work.

Team overview:

The Search team at Target is dedicated to helping guests find the right products quickly and effortlessly by continuously refining our search capabilities. As part of this team, the Search Ontology function plays a critical role in enhancing product categorization, ensuring our vast and diverse assortment is easily discoverable. With Target’s growing catalog, including the expanding Target+ third-party assortment, building a structured and scalable ontology framework is essential to deliver an intuitive, relevant, and personalized search experience that aligns with customer needs and drives business growth.

Responsibilities:

• Assess: Conduct technical reviews of search data flows, product categorization structures, and search architecture to identify ways to improve search relevancy and product discoverability. Identify and resolve issues, ensuring the ontology framework consistently enhances the customer’s search experience.

• Guide: Partner closely with engineering, data science, and UX teams throughout the development process, providing subject matter expertise in search ontology to align feature design with Target’s broader search goals.

• Ensure Compliance: Collaborate with privacy and compliance teams to maintain data integrity, creating guidelines that ensure the search ontology meets Target’s data standards and legal regulations, while enhancing customer trust.

• Anticipate: Stay up-to-date on industry trends and competitors to proactively guide feature teams on developing scalable, future-proof search solutions that resonate with our guests.

• Innovate: Drive the adoption of AI/ML techniques to make search experiences more intuitive and relevant, enabling personalized recommendations and helping guests discover products that meet their needs.

• Drive to Resolution: Work with cross-functional teams to identify and escalate issues as needed, aligning with leadership to ensure timely and effective solutions that support Target’s strategic objectives.

• Implement: Translate customer feedback, search data insights, and new policies into actionable requirements for the engineering and UX teams, ensuring the implementation aligns with Target’s goal of delivering a seamless and accurate search experience.

Role overview:
As a Product Manager for Search Ontology, you will be at the forefront of helping Target guests find the products they need by developing a comprehensive ontology strategy and product roadmap. You’ll use customer insights, search performance data, and industry trends to prioritize initiatives, build business cases, and shape the search experience. Acting as the “voice of the product,” you will ensure that our search features meet guest needs and support the product team with clear direction and impactful collaboration. You’ll maintain a roadmap and backlog focused on improving product discoverability, search relevancy, and personalization, fostering a culture of innovation and cross-functional teamwork within Target’s Search team.

Core responsibilities of this job are outlined here; however, duties may evolve based on business needs.

About you:

• Four-year degree or equivalent experience.

• 4+ years of Product Management experience, ideally within Search, taxonomy, or ontology.

• Proven experience in product management practices, including developing use cases, business requirements, and product roadmaps.

• A track record of leading complex, cross-functional projects and working within a matrixed organizational structure.

• Experience working with legal and privacy teams to translate regulatory requirements into actionable product specifications.

• Strong communication skills, able to adapt content for various audiences, including internal teams, stakeholders, and leadership.

• Ability to make data-driven decisions, influence across teams, and drive results in a fast-paced, customer-focused environment.

Useful Links:

• Life at Target - https://india.target.com/

• Benefits - https://india.target.com/life-at-target/workplace/benefits

• Culture - https://india.target.com/life-at-target/diversity-and-inclusion