Lead Technical Product Manager

Lead Technical Product Manager

LOCATION: Chicago/Cincinnati

COMPANY OVERVIEW:

84.51° knows customers, and we know how to connect you.

Using a sophisticated, proprietary suite of tools and technology, we turn customer data into actionable knowledge. With unparalleled customer data and predictive analytics capabilities, we deliver personalized marketing strategies and ensure the best experience for customers of Kroger and more than 300 consumer-packaged-goods companies. We put the customer at the center of everything we do, resulting in a more dynamic, informed and personal approach to driving customer loyalty.

SUMMARY:

The AI Enablement team builds foundational AI capabilities that transform Kroger and 84.51, including better solutions and outcomes for our shoppers and our associates. AI Gateway is a cross-functional team within AI Enablement responsible for the primary AI model and API infrastructure that powers these solutions and democratizes access to AI across the org. As the Product Manager for this team, you will work closely with the Director of Product, Tech Leads for the AI Gateway, and cross-functional design and development teams.

The LEAD PRODUCT MANAGER is the chief navigator, business champion, and team linguist that is accountable for setting team priorities and maximizing the value of the product results from the work of the development team. You own the details of the business and technical value delivered at the team level. You translate business requirements into product requirements to ensure that the product delivers on user needs. You own the measurement of the value delivered and other metrics for your product. This role requires excellent organizational and communication skills, technical acumen, and artificial intelligence domain knowledge.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Drive business value for the team by prioritizing and ordering product backlog items based on the product roadmap, inclusive of product, engineering, UX and data science roadmaps.
• Experienced in managing multiple teams' product backlogs in parallel and ensuring they're transparent, visible and clearly communicated.
• Partner with cross-functional engineering, UX and data science peers to translate business desires/requirements into effective features and stories that are ready for development.
• Outlines clear acceptance criteria, to clearly communicate the definition of "done".
• Partner with external contractors or technical support to ensure the delivery of the scope of work, within the agreed timeline, and in accordance to the stated acceptance criteria.
• Deep understanding of the business domain, stakeholders, business processes and constraints in which your product(s) play
• Deep understanding of customers/users' problems, how they think and operate and the platforms/technology they use. Ability to become familiar with new technology, business domains, and/or analytical practices that impact your product(s).
• Understand and communicate organization objectives, strategies and solution needs to the team to facilitate results (where collaborative/as colleague)
• Manage and communicate dependencies and risks.
• Stakeholder management – experienced in building and managing internal and external stakeholder relationships to influence and drive change.
• Experienced level knowledge in the development and use of product data to influence product decisions/roadmap – both quantitative and qualitative.
• Clearly communicate the value of the work being delivered

QUALIFICATIONS, SKILLS, AND EXPERIENCE:

• Professional work experience in artificial intelligence / Generative AI applications.
• Experience managing and/or developing an API-based product or developer tooling.
• Experience managing and/or developing cloud-based solutions in Azure or Google Cloud.
• Experience scaling apps or systems to meet high-availability and resiliency requirements for critical internal and customer facing solutions.
• Experience managing and/or working on a team that deploys AI/ML models in cloud-based settings.
• Technical acumen – possess the foundational technical knowledge needed to communicate with the technical team, understand blockers/trade-offs, and incorporate technical needs in the roadmap.
• Experience navigating corporate governance processes including Security, Cloud, Privacy, Data Sharing, and Legal.
• Skilled in managing cross-functional software development teams in an agile environment
• Skilled in managing business priorities against design/user needs while delivering against product roadmaps
• Skilled in managing end-to-end software product development.
• Stakeholder management skills – experienced in building and managing stakeholder relationships to influence and drive change.
• Problem solving, critical thinking and analytical skills
• Planning, organizational and time management skills
• Comfort with ambiguity – remains confident, positive and resourceful in the face of ambiguity and unexpected results; recovers quickly from setbacks.
• Exhibits qualities of and have proven to be a great teammate
• Verbal and written communication skills, ability to translate between business and technical
• 4-6 years relevant experience
• Education: Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience

ADDITIONAL SKILLS OF INTEREST (NOT REQUIRED):

• Prior experience as a software engineer or Technical Product Manager – many of our customers are software engineers and data scientists.
• Experience leveraging various Generative AI chat tools (ie M365 Copilot, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude) to simplify your life, work, or otherwise automate processes and accomplish previously impossible things.
• Experience developing AI Agents using an agent builder or agent framework.
• Experience developing or using MCP servers.
• Experience using coding agents (ie Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Github Copilot).

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