---
title: 'Lead Data Scientist - Applied AI (P4656) at 84.51°'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/lead-data-scientist-applied-ai-p4656-84-51-cincinnati-nkjtv6f1hgr4'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-12'
---

# Lead Data Scientist - Applied AI (P4656) at 84.51° 

- **Company:** 84.51° 
- **Location:** Cincinnati, OH / Chicago, IL
- **Compensation:** $125k–$207k
- **Posted:** 2026-08-26
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/8451/jobs/8750678002

## Job description

84.51° Overview:

84.51° is a retail data science, insights and media company. We help The Kroger Co., consumer packaged goods companies, agencies, publishers and affiliates create more personalized and valuable experiences for shoppers across the path to purchase.

Powered by cutting-edge science, we utilize first-party retail data from more than 62 million U.S. households sourced through the Kroger Plus loyalty card program to fuel a more customer-centric journey using 84.51° Insights, 84.51° Loyalty Marketing and our retail media advertising solution, Kroger Precision Marketing.

84.51° follows a 5‑day in‑office work schedule to support collaboration, alignment, and team connection.

Join us at 84.51°!

__________________________________________________________

Lead Data Scientist, Applied AI, AI Enablement  (P4656)

Summary

We are seeking an experienced Lead Data Scientist to serve as an AI Engineer for our Applied AI team. The Applied AI team is a group of data scientists and engineers that drive co-development and integration of AI solutions throughout the Kroger and 84.51 businesses. We work with a variety of teams to build AI Agents, implement Embeddings-based solutions, and apply proprietary language models to enhance business processes.

## Responsibilities

- Work with business teams to co-develop AI solutions, including AI Agents, for their business
- Mentor and lead work for junior members of the team
- Quickly upskill on stakeholder domains, technologies, and ways of working
- Proactively identify and evaluate business use cases that can be solved with AI
- Design and execute rapid proof of concepts to demonstrate business value and feasibility for specific business problems to gain buy-in
- Democratize learnings from projects across the business via creation of cookbooks, trainings, and informal presentations
- Provide technical guidance for production implementations and troubleshoot integration challenges.
- Work cross-functionally with engineering partners and business teams to ensure solutions that are flexible and modular
- Stay up to date on changes in the Generative AI, Agents, and Embeddings spaces

## Qualifications and Experience

Required

- Advanced degree in Data Science, ML, Computer Science, or related field; 5+ years data science experience with 2+ years in senior role
- Hands-on experience with LLMs, embeddings, and AI Agents in a variety of Agent Harnesses.
- Strong understanding of AI Agent Tools, Skills, and Prompting
- Understanding of how to apply Embeddings to different AI projects
- Strong programming in Python
- Exceptional communication skills with ability to explain complex technical concepts to non-technical audiences
- Experience in stakeholder management, technical documentation creation, and cross-functional collaboration
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making skills
- High level of independence to develop and own toolkits, pipelines, and dashboards.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills to work with cross-functional teams.
- Ability to work in a highly collaborative environment
- Strong ability to quickly adapt to new business problems and technologies
- Desire to lead project work and mentor junior members of the team

## Preferred

- Experience deploying solutions for quick proof-of-concept work
- Experience building AI Agent Evaluations and Trace

## #LI-SSS

Pay Transparency and Benefits

- The stated salary range represents the entire span applicable across all geographic markets from lowest to highest.  Actual salary offers will be determined by multiple factors including but not limited to geographic location, relevant experience, knowledge, skills, other job-related qualifications, and alignment with market data and cost of labor. In addition to salary, this position is also eligible for variable compensation.
- Below is a list of some of the benefits we offer our associates:
- Health: Medical: with competitive plan designs and support for self-care, wellness and mental health. Dental: with in-network and out-of-network benefit. Vision: with in-network and out-of-network benefit.
- Wealth: 401(k) with Roth option and matching contribution. Health Savings Account with matching contribution (requires participation in qualifying medical plan). AD&D and supplemental insurance options to help ensure additional protection for you.
- Happiness: Paid time off with flexibility to meet your life needs, including 5 weeks of vacation time, 7 health and wellness days, 3 floating holidays, as well as 6 company-paid holidays per year. Paid leave for maternity, paternity and family care instances.

Base Pay Range $125,000—$207,000 USD

## About 84.51° 

## Company Overview
- **One-liner**: A retail data science, insights and media company that leverages first-party data from over 62 million U.S. households to help The Kroger Co. and consumer goods brands create personalized shopping experiences.
- **Entity Type**: Private (wholly-owned subsidiary of The Kroger Co.)
- **Headquarters**: Cincinnati, Ohio, United States
- **Founded**: 2015
- **Founders**: Not publicly available (formed from Kroger’s acquisition of dunnhumby’s North American operations)

## Core Business
- **Primary industries**: Retail data science, consumer insights, retail media, loyalty marketing
- **Target customers**: B2B – consumer packaged goods companies, agencies, publishers, and business-affiliated partners; also serves Kroger’s internal business units
- **Mission statement**: “We create results-driving shopper insights and activation strategies that build measurable value for our clients.” (via [8451.com](https://www.8451.com/who-we-are/))

## Products & Services
- **84.51° Insights**: Custom research and analytics to understand the shopper’s path to purchase.
- **84.51° Loyalty Marketing**: Targeted and personalized marketing programs leveraging Kroger’s loyalty card data.
- **Kroger Precision Marketing (KPM)**: Retail media advertising solution on Kroger-owned and partner properties, offering addressable, actionable audiences.
- **84.51° Stratum**: A breakthrough analytics solution for deep customer intelligence.
- **84.51° Collaborative Cloud**: A platform for collaborative data sharing and insights.
- **84.51° In-Queries**: In-store analytics and query tools.

## Market Standing
- **Valuation / Market Cap**: Not publicly available (private subsidiary of Kroger, a public company – NYSE: KR)
- **Key Metric**: Data covers **over 62 million households** and **2 billion+ transactions** in the U.S. (per [8451.com](https://www.8451.com/) and [linkedin.com](https://www.linkedin.com/company/84-51))
- **Notable Investors/Partners**: The Kroger Co. (parent); works with **1,500+ consumer packaged goods brands** and agencies.
- **Growth Signals**: LinkedIn reports **57,238 followers** (yearly growth +9.8%). Active job postings: **60 positions** as of mid-2025. Headquartered in Cincinnati with ~1,400 employees (LinkedIn breakdown).

## Competitive Advantages
- **Exclusive first-party data**: Access to Kroger’s loyalty card data from nearly one in two U.S. households, providing granular purchase behavior across grocery, health, beauty, and personal care.
- **Integrated ecosystem**: Combines data science, loyalty marketing, and retail media under one roof, creating a “repeatable infinite loop” of engagement.
- **Scale**: Serves over 1,500 CPG clients and has deep relationships with the largest U.S. grocery retailer.
- **Advanced AI & analytics**: Heavy investment in AI, data science, and engineering to derive actionable insights at scale.

## Strategic Focus
- **AI integration**: Under Chief Data & AI Officer Milen Mahadevan, the company is expanding AI integration across customer intelligence, decision-making, and personalization.
- **Enterprise AI program**: Building reusable tools, services, and patterns to make AI “safer, faster, better, and more cost-effective.”
- **Retail media growth**: Growing Kroger Precision Marketing as an alternative profit portfolio and expanding addressable media audiences.

## Why Work Here
- **Culture**: Described as “Limitless Minds, Fearless Hearts, Relentless Delivery” with employee resource groups such as ITOPiA (introverts), Women’s EDGE, Allyship In Action, and Men for Equality.
- **Career paths**: Clear tracks in Data Science, Engineering, Product & Design, Consumer Research, Consulting, and Corporate functions. Emphasis on meaningful, challenging work from day one.
- **Perks**: Competitive medical, dental, vision; 401(k) with matching; paid time off (vacation, health/wellness days, floating holidays); paid parental and family leave; health savings account with matching.
- **Work environment**: Hybrid presence in Cincinnati; collaborative, tech-forward office culture. The company values “naturally curious” people and supports long tenure (many employees stay 10+ years).
- **Compensation examples** (from LinkedIn): Business Analyst ~$95,442/yr; Intern ~$39,963/yr; Senior Account Executive ~$90,274/yr.

## Sources
1. [8451.com – Homepage](https://www.8451.com/)
2. [8451.com – Who We Are](https://www.8451.com/who-we-are/)
3. [8451.com – Careers](https://www.8451.com/careers/)
4. [linkedin.com – 84.51° Company Page](https://www.linkedin.com/company/84-51)

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