---
title: 'Lead Forward Deployed Engineer (P4570) at 84.51°'
canonical: 'https://feeny.ai/job/lead-forward-deployed-engineer-p4570-84-51-cincinnati-fe5rf0byjbqs'
type: 'job'
last_seen: '2026-09-12'
---

# Lead Forward Deployed Engineer (P4570) at 84.51° 

- **Company:** 84.51° 
- **Location:** Cincinnati, OH / Chicago, IL
- **Compensation:** $125k–$207k
- **Posted:** 2026-08-28
- **Last confirmed live:** 2026-09-12
- **Apply:** https://job-boards.greenhouse.io/8451/jobs/8760741002

## 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°!

__________________________________________________________

## PLEASE NOTE:

Applicants for employment in the US must have work authorization that does not now or in the future require sponsorship of a visa for employment authorization in the United Stated and with the Kroger Family of Companies (i.e. H1-B visa, F-1 visa (OPT), TN visa or any other non-immigrant status).

Lead Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) (P4570)

We are seeking a Lead Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) to join our AI Software Development Lifecycle (SDLC) team and enable evolution of software development using AI tooling across Kroger and 84.51˚. The AI SDLC team provides access to Agentic Coding harnesses and agentic coding best practices in collaboration with Security, functional SDLC advisors, and development teams across the enterprise. The AI SDLC team also helps maintain an internal marketplace of Plugins for AI tooling, in tandem with teams offering other supporting services for AI Agents. This role provides an opportunity to shape how thousands of developers adopt AI within a large enterprise. As a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE), you will spend time embedded directly with delivery teams and collaborating with platform and security stakeholders. Success for this role means accelerating AI-enabled SDLC - writing code alongside developers, finding where our AI tooling or policy falls short in their workflows, and turning that friction into platform improvements which scale across Kroger and 84.51˚. This is a generalist Software Engineer role spanning the Software Development, Observability, DevOps, Security, and Developer Experience domains. This role is hands-on and is expected to both provide technical leadership and to produce code.

## RESPONSIBILITIES:

- Exemplify best-practice for software delivery with Agentic Coding tools (such as Claude Code
- Regularly document and present learnings gleaned from embedded work or experiments to the AI Enablement organization
- Ensure accurate observability of adoption and usage patterns of agentic Coding tools using Datadog, Dynatrace or other related observability tools
- Bridge the gap between Platform offerings and User adoption or usage patterns, discovering and documenting any gaps in capability and experience
- Closely monitor and maintain our internal Plugin Marketplaces or similar to enhance usability of offerings
- Ensure we hit SLAs and lead incident management procedures
- Engage with other technology, infrastructure, and product teams as necessary to complete tasks
- Participate routinely in team on-call rotation and customer support during business hours

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS, AND EXPERIENCE

- 4-year degree in a technology related discipline (Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Information Systems, etc.) or equivalent work experience
- 5+ years of experience producing high-quality software on Agile development teams. (Python and Java preferred)
- 5+ years of experience with public cloud technologies (Azure preferred)
- 3+ years of experience in Platform Engineering, DevEx, or related roles
- Demonstrable experience working with Coding Agent Harnesses and related tooling in an enterprise setting (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, etc.)
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills with demonstrated experience leveraging these skills with technical teams and non-technical business units
- Desire to learn new technology and grow across different areas of technology
- Familiarity with AI-related concepts such as LLMs, Agents, Model Context Protocol (MCP)

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS, AND EXPERIENCE

- Strong technical writing, documentation, or functional research skills
- Experience developing AI-powered features or applications
- Experience developing CI/CD workflows or other similar automations contributing to code safety and reliability
- Experience working with IAC systems, eg. Terraform/Spacelift, Kubernetes, Helm, etc.
- Demonstrated ability to prioritize own workload with multiple responsibilities and adaptability to changes in those priorities

## #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)

## Other roles at 84.51° 

- [Senior Client Success Manager- Insights (Cincinnati) (P4648)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-client-success-manager-insights-cincinnati-p4648-84-51-cincinnati-s0n74gqb5nek) — Cincinnati, OH
- [Lead Agile Delivery- Merchandising Capabilities (P3081) - Cincinnati](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-agile-delivery-merchandising-capabilities-p3081-cincinnati-84-51-cincinnati-fannmpyc62fy) — Cincinnati, OH
- [Lead Data Scientist - Applied AI (P4656)](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-data-scientist-applied-ai-p4656-84-51-cincinnati-nkjtv6f1hgr4) — Cincinnati, OH / Chicago, IL
- [Solution Architect (P4643)](https://feeny.ai/job/solution-architect-p4643-84-51-cincinnati-jg323fwzcb2d) — Cincinnati, OH / Chicago, IL
- [Lead Software Engineer, AI (P4577)](https://feeny.ai/job/lead-software-engineer-ai-p4577-84-51-cincinnati-es4xnbk6rvya) — Cincinnati, OH / Chicago, IL
- [Senior Client Success Manager- Activation ( P4649)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-client-success-manager-activation-p4649-84-51-cincinnati-a51y0wnmaky6) — Cincinnati, OH / Chicago, IL
- [Senior Manager, AI Reliability Engineering -Kroger Technology & Digital (P2498)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-manager-ai-reliability-engineering-kroger-technology-digital-p2498-84-51-qw16s783zz0p) — Cincinnati, OH
- [Manager, Client Success (P4142)](https://feeny.ai/job/manager-client-success-p4142-84-51-cincinnati-4y4z1y1j0n8m) — Cincinnati, OH / Chicago, IL / New York, NY
- [Sr. Client Success Manager - Media, Insights & Incentives (P3775)](https://feeny.ai/job/sr-client-success-manager-media-insights-incentives-p3775-84-51-cincinnati-s9g2tfbfjr7v) — Cincinnati, OH / Chicago, IL
- [Senior Client Partnerships Executive (P572)](https://feeny.ai/job/senior-client-partnerships-executive-p572-84-51-cincinnati-03sv88335xv6) — Cincinnati, OH / Chicago, IL / New York, NY