Director, Investment Optimization & Performance (P3664)

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°!

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As a Director, Investment Optimization & Performance at 84.51°, you will guide enterprise level investment strategies and activation plans that influence merchandising, retail media, and category decisions. You are responsible for leading a team of consultants and partnering with the broader cross-functional team that is critical for the mission’s success.

You will work across the Kroger enterprise, one of the world’s largest retailers and the third largest employer. This role requires building strong, trusted relationships with your Kroger stakeholders and influencing decisions that drive long-term customer loyalty and more effective use of supplier investment across the Kroger ecosystem.

Your primary area of focus is merchandising, leveraging our industry leading customer insights and intelligence to drive merchandising strategies that are relevant to our customers. This includes optimizing supplier investment across trade promotion and alternative profit - balancing customer impact, investment efficiency, and long-term category health.  To operate effectively in this domain, you are expected to know the current state of the business, the latest trends, and the innovations that are impacting and disrupting this area – all from a customer perspective and an enterprise investment perspective.

What you'll own:

• Leadership of a team that builds and maintains solutions to evaluate total supplier investment and its connection to retail performance across a major retailer
• Stakeholder management across merchandising, commercial sales, and analytics - communicating findings and recommendations to senior leaders
• Product and roadmap ownership for investment evaluation and recommendation capabilities
• Team development: hiring, coaching, and growing a team of analysts and consultants

What makes this role distinctive:

• You will work at the intersection of retail strategy, commercial investment, and applied analytics - connecting how investment decisions across multiple vehicles relate to business outcomes
• You will have access to rich first-party data assets that enable a uniquely comprehensive view of investment and performance
• Your work will directly inform how investment is planned and allocated across a large, complex retail organization

QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS, AND EXPERIENCE

Successful candidates will thrive in a fast‑paced environment that is a little unorthodox at times and will possess the following:

• 8–12 years of relevant experience in analytics, consulting, retail/CPG, merchandising, or related fields.
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior stakeholders
• Excellent communication and relationship management skills
• Strong business, commercial, and strategic acumen
• Demonstrated experience leading teams, driving change, and driving adoption of new tools, processes, or operating models
• Comfort with advanced analytics concepts and the ability to direct analytical teams and critically interpret model outputs.
• Experience working closely with retail, CPG, merchandising, sourcing, retail media or category leadership on investment or category strategy
• Education: Bachelor’s degree (master’s degree preferred but not required)