Principal Threat Detection Operations Engineer

Target • Brooklyn Park, NC

3d • Hybrid

About The Position

The Principal Engineer supporting Threat Detection Operations sets the technical strategy for detection engineering, platforms, services, integrations, and automations that enable Target to detect cyber threats. This role involves setting direction for how these capabilities are designed, developed, tested, deployed, and operationalized across multiple portfolios and driving adoption across Target. The position requires leading and approving engineering efforts to meet functional and non-functional requirements, including security, reliability, scalability, availability, performance, and maintainability. This role combines principal-level engineering leadership with deep detection engineering expertise. The engineer is expected to design, develop, and continuously improve scalable detection capabilities that identify sophisticated threats across complex environments, while applying strong investigative judgment to ensure detections are actionable, resilient, and aligned to evolving adversary behaviors. The role involves translating threat intelligence, incident learnings, and emerging attack techniques into durable detection strategies, engineering solutions, and process improvements. The Principal Engineer will act as a thought leader and mentor for detection engineers and partner teams, and actively contribute to the broader cybersecurity team and tech organization.

Requirements

• 4-year degree or equivalent experience.
• Continuing education to maintain thorough knowledge of technical and cybersecurity domains while staying current with relevant technologies and threats.
• 10+ years of experience in cybersecurity engineering, detection engineering, threat hunting, security operations, security analytics, or related services, including demonstrated ability to independently design, develop, validate, and improve detection capabilities in complex enterprise environments.
• Advanced Python programming and software engineering skills, including APIs, data structures, testing, code review, source control, packaging, error handling, and maintainable documentation.
• Demonstrated experience designing, developing, testing, deploying, and operating detection content and supporting services through modern CI/CD, detection-as-code, and DevSecOps practices, including automated testing, secure deployment, monitoring, rollback, versioning, and change governance.
• Strong hands-on experience SIEM and security analytics platforms and the development of production-grade detection rules, correlation logic, behavioral analytics, enrichment, and alerting workflows.
• Familiarity with adjacent technologies such as EDR, SOAR, threat intelligence, identity, cloud security, network security, case management, and malware analysis.
• Deep knowledge of detection engineering principles and the ability to analyze endpoint, network, identity, cloud, application, and other security telemetry; understand adversary techniques and behaviors; identify detection opportunities and gaps; and develop high-fidelity detections that are effective, explainable, and operationally sustainable.
• Strong understanding of secure systems design and operations, including authentication and authorization, secrets management, logging and telemetry, data handling, resilience, failure recovery, and reliable production operations.
• Demonstrated success solving complex technical problems across more than one technical or functional area.
• Experience with REST APIs, SQL/NoSQL data stores, Git, PowerShell or Bash, containers/Kubernetes, cloud technologies, and large-scale security data platforms.
• Understands business fundamentals and how technology can support business goals, translate business and cyber risk into technical strategy, and evaluate financial and operational implications.
• Proven leadership capabilities, influence, interpersonal skills, sound judgment, and calm decision-making in time-sensitive situations.
• Excellent verbal, written, and presentation skills to communicate complex technical and investigative findings clearly to technical teams, cybersecurity leaders, and business stakeholders.
• Strong team player with excellent planning and organizational skills and a demonstrated commitment to teamwork and team effectiveness.

Responsibilities

• Set and communicate the technical vision, architecture, and roadmap for detection engineering, aligning threat detection capabilities with Target's cybersecurity priorities, business risks, threat landscape, and technical environments.
• Architect and lead the development of scalable, reliable detection capabilities, services, integrations, and automations using Python, APIs, detection-as-code practices, event-driven patterns, and cloud-native technologies to identify malicious and anomalous activity across enterprise, cloud, identity, endpoint, network, and application environments.
• Establish and drive engineering standards for detection content, source control, peer review, automated testing, CI/CD, release management, observability, documentation, versioning, access controls, and resilient production operations.
• Lead the design, development, and lifecycle management of enterprise detection capabilities, including detection rules, behavioral analytics, correlation logic, detection pipelines, enrichment, alerting workflows, and analyst-facing tooling.
• Provide hands-on, principal-level leadership for complex detection and visibility challenges.
• Guide detection logic development, testing, tuning, validation, deployment, and continuous improvement to maximize detection effectiveness while reducing analyst workload.
• Partner with incident responders, threat hunters, threat intelligence, enterprise architecture, and technology teams to translate threat intelligence, adversary behaviors, investigative findings, and emerging risks into scalable and durable detection capabilities.
• Assess the viability, applicability, security, maintainability, and cost implications of detection technologies and technical solutions through proofs of concept, prototypes, architecture reviews, vendor evaluations, and build-versus-buy decisions.
• Define metrics and feedback loops that measure detection coverage, fidelity, precision, reliability, time to detect, alert quality, operational performance, and analyst expertise; use the results to identify detection gaps and drive continuous improvement.
• Influence telemetry and security data strategy by defining requirements for data quality, normalization, enrichment, retention, availability, and observability necessary to support effective and resilient detection capabilities.
• Work with engineering and cybersecurity leaders to build a high-performing team, provide technical leadership and coaching, mentor engineers and analysts, and participate in the selection and development of technical talent.

Benefits

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

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal
• Education Level: Associate degree