Store Executive Intern (Store Leadership Intern) - Santa Barbara & Ventura, CA (Starting Summer 2025)

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.

Working at Target means the opportunity to help all families discover the joy of everyday life. Caring for our communities is woven into who we are, and we invest in the places we collectively live, work, and play. We prioritize relationships, fuel and develop talent by creating growth opportunities, and succeed as one Target team. At our core, our purpose is ingrained in who we are, what we value, and how we work. It’s how we care, grow, and win together.

ALL ABOUT THE STORES EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP INTERNSHIP
Experience firsthand what it’s like to lead a retail team within a Target store. This internship is a paid 40 hr/week, hands-on training program to develop and prepare for your store leadership. As a Stores Executive Intern, you will get a valuable realistic preview of the Executive Team Leader role (Assistant Store Manager) over a defined period of time. Within this store management internship, you will work closely with other managers and team members to develop an understanding of how Target’s retail business works and what it takes to excel in a management role. You will be introduced to multiple areas of the store’s business, but the majority of your time will be spent leading amongst the team, identifying and working towards store priorities, and delivering great guest service.  

This program is designed to teach individuals how to lead within a retail store amongst the store team:

• You’ll learn about how to drive guest experience and how to impact your store’s financial, team, and operational performance.
• You’ll work alongside a mentor and learn how they effectively lead their department within the store.
• You will have the opportunity to step into leading your Mentors departments- of course, we will be there to guide you and help you learn along the way!
• You will spend your days learning to lead and motivate a team, drive sales results, merchandise products, and provide an exceptional experience for our guests.
• Your development will be a top priority of ours, and to ensure you’re feeling supported, you can expect ongoing developmental conversations.
• While you’ll lead and support the execution of daily operations by working beside your team members, your leadership will build the culture and guide your team to grow and achieve goals.

Hear more from past Interns, Mentors, and Managers here.

At Target, we believe in our leaders having meaningful experiences that help them build and develop skills for a career. The goal of the Stores Executive internship is to provide a realistic job preview of an ETL role. The role of a Stores Executive Intern can provide you with the skills and experience of:

• Guest service fundamentals and experience building and managing a guest first team culture across the store
• Guest engagement; problem-solving and resolution
• Retail business fundamentals
• Setting and planning department(s) monthly/quarterly workload to support business priorities and managing a team to deliver service and sales goals
• Managing a team of hourly team members, team leaders and creating business strategies and goals
• Recruiting, selecting and talent management of hourly team members and leaders

As a Stores Executive Intern, no two days are ever the same, but a typical day will most likely include the following responsibilities:

• Spending time on the store salesfloor and backroom leading amongst team members and aligning the team on daily business priorities 
• Working alongside your Executive Team Lead (ETL) mentor and other leaders in the building to gain an understanding of their roles.
• Leading through daily priorities (stocking shelves, ensuring a safe and welcoming environment that’s inviting to guests, helping build displays within the store, etc.).
• Partnering with leaders regarding team member performance by teaching, coaching, training, and delivering timely performance feedback
• Addressing team member concerns and removing hurdles to ensure smooth operations and goal attainment.
• Leading/presenting at daily huddles with peer/leadership team
• Planning daily goals and organize plans within the building.
• Providing summary of results and priorities with peer/leadership team.
• Working with store leaders each day to set goals and expectations
• Understanding business reporting and guest insights to understand, troubleshoot and follow up on opportunity areas. Work with store leaders each day to set goals and expectations
• Delivering an exceptional guest experience by ensuring team members are knowledgeable and empowered to make it right for guests
• Providing new ideas and recommend solutions to business or team opportunities
• Taking the initiative to learn how to be a Target leader by seeking out opportunities for growth and development; continuously learn throughout the internship experience
• Commit to learning Target’s expectations of leaders and use them to personally develop by asking questions and seeking feedback
• Actively participate in internship program training activities, developmental opportunities and events.
• Demonstrate a willingness to take risks; step out of comfort zone and take on new assignments
• Demonstrate a culture of ethical conduct, safety, and compliance; lead the team to work in the same way and hold others accountable to this commitment
• Work in a safe manner at all times to benefit yourself and others; identify and correct hazards; comply with all safety policies and best practices.
• Foster an inclusive, diverse, safe, and secure culture
• Carry out principal duties and responsibilities by the department
• Gain an understanding of all business areas to develop business acumen

Core responsibilities of this job are described within this job description. Job duties may change at any time due to business needs.

ALL ABOUT YOU
We might be a great match if:

• Working in a fun and energetic environment makes you excited… we work efficiently and as a team to deliver for our guests
• Providing service to our guests that makes them say “I LOVE TARGET!” excites you… that’s why we love working at Target
• Leading teams who are stocking, setting, and selling Target products sounds like your thing… that’s the core of what we do
• You aren’t looking for Monday thru Friday job where you are at a computer all day… We are busy all day (especially on the weekends) walking the store, engaging with team members, and making it easy for the guest to feel welcomed, inspired, and rewarded.

The good news is that we have some amazing training that will help teach you how to be an effective leader within our stores. But there are a few things you need from the get-go:

• Previous retail experience preferred, but not required
• Strong interest in working in retail, specifically within our stores in management
• Leadership skills and team-oriented thinking
• Learn and adapt to current technology needs
• Work independently and as part of a team
• Manage workload and prioritize tasks independently
• Welcoming and helpful attitude
• Effective communication skills

We are an awesome place to work and care about our teams, so we want to make sure we are clear on a few more basics that we expect:

• Access all areas of the building to respond to guest or team member issues
• Interpret instructions, reports, and information
• Accurately handle cash register operations as needed
• Climb up and down ladders as needed
• Scan, handle and move merchandise efficiently and safely, including frequently lifting or moving merchandise up to 10 pounds and occasionally moving merchandise up to 40 pounds
• Ability to communicate on multiple frequency devices and operate handheld scanners, and other technology equipment as directed
• Flexible work schedule (e.g., nights, weekends and holidays); reliable and prompt and regular attendance necessary

Find competitive benefits from financial and education to well-being and beyond at https://corporate.target.com/careers/benefits.

Target will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the San Francisco and City of Los Angeles Fair Chance Ordinances.

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Target will provide reasonable accommodations with the application process upon your request as required to comply with applicable laws. If you have a disability and require assistance in this application process, please visit your nearest Target store or reach out to Guest Services at 1-800-440-0680 for additional information.