Lead Data Scientist - Applied AI (P4656)

84.51; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 125,000 - 207,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

401(k) matching

HSA with match

Paid time off: 5 weeks + wellness days

Job summary

84.51° is seeking a Lead Data Scientist for our Applied AI team to drive AI solutions, including Agents and embeddings, in collaboration with Kroger-related businesses.

You will mentor junior staff, accelerate proofs of concept, and ensure scalable production support with engineering partners, while adapting to evolving AI technologies.

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in Data Science, ML, CS or related field.
• 5+ years data science experience with 2+ years in senior role.
• Hands-on experience with LLMs, embeddings, and AI Agents.

Responsibilities

• Work with business teams to co-develop AI solutions, including AI Agents.
• Mentor and lead work for junior team members.
• Upskill on stakeholder domains, technologies, and ways of working.
• Identify and evaluate business use cases for AI; design rapid proofs of concept.

Skills

LLMs

Embeddings

AI Agents

Python

Communication

Stakeholder management

Cross-functional collaboration

Mentoring

Problem solving

Independence

Education

Advanced degree in Data Science/ML/CS

Tools

TensorFlow

PyTorch

Jupyter Notebook

Job description

Lead Data Scientist - Applied AI (P4656)

Cincinnati, OH; Chicago, IL

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°!

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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.

Pay Range

$125,000 - $207,000 USD

84.51° Demographic Questions

Together, we are stronger and can achieve more

At 84.51°, we believe a diverse and inclusive work environment is essential to the work we do as a data science company. Just as no two Kroger customers are alike, no two 84.51° associates are alike. We understand the importance of fostering an inclusive culture: to encourage our associates to bring their authentic selves to work – embracing who they are and celebrating what they can become.

We continually strive to ensure 84.51° is a place where all people feel like they belong, are respected and valued regardless of who they are, where they are from and what experiences they’ve had. By meeting our 3-year D&I roadmap goals and commitments, we will continue our journey towards becoming a destination for diverse, driven, and authentic minds.

Your responses will be used (in aggregate only) to help us identifyareas of improvement in our process.

Your responseswill notbe associated with your specific application andwill notin any way be used in the hiring decision.

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