Operations Manager Intern

All About Target

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 helping all families discover the joy of everyday life. We invest in the communities where we live, work, and play, and we prioritize relationships, fuel and develop talent by creating growth opportunities, and succeed as one Target team.

All About Our Supply Chain Operations Internship

Experience firsthand what it's like to lead a team within a Target Supply Chain Facility. This is a paid, 40-hour-per-week, hands-on training program designed to develop and prepare you for operations leadership. As an Operations Intern, you'll gain a realistic job preview into life as an Operations Manager. You'll work closely with other managers and team members to understand how Target's supply chain business works and what it takes to excel in a management role. You'll lead and support daily operations by working beside your team members, learning to lead, motivate, and influence a team, including the opportunity to lead a department.

This program teaches individuals how to lead within a supply chain facility. You'll work closely with a Mentor as you dive deeper into how they effectively lead their department while gaining insight into different business areas and functions. You'll spend your days learning to problem solve, lead and motivate a team, conduct real-time observations, and drive results, all while ensuring safety is a top priority and maximizing productivity to get products to guests as fast as possible. During your internship, you'll have the opportunity to step into leading your Mentor's work center, with guidance along the way. Your development is a top priority, and you can expect ongoing developmental conversations with your Mentor and Manager, supported by extensive training to help you grow as a strong operations intern.

What You Can Gain

At Target, we believe in leaders having meaningful experiences that help them build skills for a career. The role of an Operations Intern can provide you with:

• Experience in building and managing a team culture across the building
• Problem solving and change management skills
• Knowledge of retail business fundamentals
• Experience setting and planning department(s) daily/weekly workload to support business priorities and managing a team to deliver goals
• Experience managing a team of hourly team members and creating business strategies and goals
• Knowledge of departments within the distribution center, including Inbound, Outbound, and Warehousing

Responsibilities

As an Operations Intern, no two days are the same, but a typical day will likely include:

• Spending time on the facility floor, leading among team members and aligning the team on daily business priorities.
• Working alongside team members to lead through daily priorities.
• Maintaining high standards of quality and inventory accuracy through standardized processes (standard works, job breakdowns, quality risk analysis) while ensuring employee accountability.
• Tracking KPIs such as safety, teamwork, quality, and productivity to identify gaps and drive actions for consistent performance.
• Carrying out process improvement initiatives using CI methodologies like Gemba, Fish Bone Analysis, and 5 Whys to create a lean, defect-free operation.
• Administering communication between IT and Operations teams to address system issues and conduct testing in the WMS.
• Recruiting and mentoring team members to adopt a continuous improvement mindset and guide them toward leadership roles through engaging, inclusive leadership.
• Addressing team member concerns and removing operational hurdles to ensure smooth operations and goal attainment.
• Leading daily meetings for the operational team, sharing pertinent company and site-specific information.
• Leading or presenting at daily planning meetings with peer and leadership teams.
• Planning daily goals and organizing shift plans to achieve targets at the start of each shift.
• Providing summaries of results around plan attainment, sharing hurdles, successes, and key learnings at the end of the shift.
• Conducting audits on standard adherence with safety, quality, and productivity, sharing feedback and coaching team members on observations.
• Conducting safety walks to identify, resolve, and report findings.
• Following up on team member attendance and providing necessary coaching.
• Partnering with leaders on team member performance by teaching, coaching, training, and delivering timely feedback.
• Providing new ideas and recommending solutions for business or team opportunities.
• Taking initiative to learn how to be a Target leader by seeking growth and development opportunities.
• Committing to learning Target's expectations of leaders and using them for personal development by asking questions and seeking feedback.
• Actively participating in internship program training, developmental activities, and events.
• Demonstrating willingness to take risks, step out of your comfort zone, and take on new assignments.
• Demonstrating a culture of ethical conduct, safety, and compliance, leading the team to do the same and holding others accountable.
• Fostering an inclusive, safe, and secure culture.
• Carrying out principal duties and responsibilities through internship rotations as trained.
• Understanding business reporting and guest insights to troubleshoot and follow up on opportunity areas.
• Gaining an understanding of all business areas to develop business acumen.
• Working with building leaders each day to set goals and expectations.

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.
• You enjoy the idea of leading teams who work to get products to our stores and guests... That's the core of what we do.
• You aren't looking for a Monday through Friday job where you sit at a computer all day... We are busy, often working different shifts in a 24-hour building to get merchandise to our teams and guests.

The good news is that we have amazing training to teach you how to be an effective leader within our facilities. But there are a few skills you should have from the get-go:

• Participation in school or extracurricular activities and experience in leadership roles.
• Strong interest in working in retail, specifically within our supply chain facilities.
• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively.
• Problem-solving skills and strong initiative.
• Team-oriented thinking with enthusiasm for continuous learning.
• Ability to access all levels and areas of the facility to respond to team member issues.
• Ability to understand instructions, reports, and information.
• Ability to climb up and down ladders.
• Ability to scan, handle, and move merchandise efficiently and safely, including frequently lifting or moving merchandise up to 15 pounds and occasionally up to 40 pounds.
• Flexible work schedule (e.g., nights, weekends, and holidays) and regular work attendance are necessary.