Melissa Kremer

Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer Target

Last Reviewed: October 3, 2026

Executive Summary

Melissa Kremer has led human resources at Target since January 2019, covering a workforce the company puts at more than 400,000 people, from recruiting and development to engagement and pay and benefits. She joined Target in 2004 as a recruiter and built her career inside the company, partnering with its largest businesses and running its talent functions before taking the top HR job. Earlier she worked in human resources at Cargill. She is also active in the profession’s leadership bodies, including the board of the HR Policy Association. The arc from recruiter to chief human resources officer at one of the largest U.S. employers, within the same company, is the defining thread.

Career Highlights

• Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer of Target since January 2019.
• Joined Target in 2004 as a recruiter.
• Led Target’s recruiting, learning, leadership development, talent management and workforce planning functions.
• Board member of the HR Policy Association.

Professional Journey

Kremer earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and public relations at the University of North Dakota and worked in human resources at Cargill before joining Target in 2004 as a recruiter, according to her Target biography.

Over the following years she held HR leadership positions supporting Target’s largest commercial businesses, and earlier worked with business units including merchandising, marketing, digital, and strategy and innovation. She also led the key talent functions: recruiting, learning, leadership development, talent management and strategic workforce planning.

She became executive vice president and chief human resources officer in January 2019. In that role she leads every aspect of human resources for more than 400,000 team members, and Target credits her with the HR strategies behind its organizational transformation, including large-scale structural and operational changes and the building of global HR teams. She has held the role under two chief executives, Brian Cornell and, since February 2026, Michael Fiddelke.

Outside Target she serves on the board of the HR Policy Association, is a member of the Center on Executive Compensation, the Center for Executive Succession and the Gallup Retail CHRO Roundtable, and is governing body co-chair of the Evanta CHRO Executive Summit.

Target’s fiscal 2025 annual report lists strengthening its team and communities as one of four strategic priorities, including developing a future-ready workforce through skills, leadership and tools, which puts much of the HR agenda at the center of the company’s stated strategy. Her 10-K entry lists only the current role, which she has held since January 2019.

Education

University of North Dakota

Bachelor’s degree, Communications and Public Relations