Another day, another retailer interested in blockchain technologies. Target is entering the blockchain space with minimal fanfare, having posted a job advert for a blockchain engineer.
As originally reported by Coindesk, the job offers the winning candidate an opportunity to contribute to ConsenSource, an GitHub project from Target which is a certificate registry blockchain application, built with Hyperledger Sawtooth, as well as Hyperledger Grid.
Joel Crabb, vice president of architecture at Target, wrote a missive in April exploring the benefits of blockchain. Last year, the company began a proof of concept to help manage the certification of suppliers in branded paper product manufacturing. The result was that while setting up a blockchain was straightforward, working out what should live on the distributed ledger was less so.
Target is working with agribusiness provider Cargill on its Hyperledger blockchain initiative around the supply chain.
“Distributed ledgers will bring a new form of transactional ability and data storage to corporate enterprises – one in which the transactions are trusted and the data is verified by a group of companies working to solve problems that extend beyond their own borders,” wrote Crabb. “Maturity in this space will take time, but we’ll only get there when enterprise partners like Target and Cargill dive in together.”
Many of the largest retailers are moving on from exploration to use cases when it comes to blockchain. Last week, as this publication reported, Carrefour said it had reported an increase in sales after implementing ledger technology to track meat, milk and fruit from farms to stores. In the same week Walmart, a long-time believer, announced it was collaborating with MediLedger to track the provenance of pharmaceutical goods through blockchain.
Anyone wishing to try their luck with the Target job ad, posted on May 29, will need a minimum 12 months’ software development experience in more than one language, as well as of course knowledge in blockchain or distributed systems, UI/UX development, as well as continuous delivery and iteration.
You can take a look at the full advert here.
Interested in hearing more in person? Find out more at the Blockchain Expo World Series, Global, Europe and North America.
