Commercial Lead Jobs in Illinois

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°!

As a Commercial Strategy Lead for In-Store Media at the G3 level, you shape the commercial strategy and market positioning for Kroger’s in-store screen portfolio. This role defines how emerging in-store capabilities translate into compelling advertiser value, scalable revenue streams, and differentiated shopper experiences. You will operate at the intersection of media strategy and commercialization, ensuring that new in-store capabilities are positioned effectively in market, adopted by internal & external teams, and monetized at scale.

This Role Is Responsible For

- Defining client value propositions and commercial viability for new in-store media capabilities
- Bringing a market, portfolio, and monetization lens to emerging products and pilots
- Driving go-to-market readiness, adoption, and sales enablement across the organization

Success looks like creating & optimizing a portfolio of in-store media products that are clearly positioned, commercially viable, and widely adopted by advertisers, sales teams, and internal partners.

Core Responsibilities

Commercial Portfolio Strategy

- Define the role of in-store media products within Kroger’s broader retail media portfolio.
- Evaluate new opportunities through the lens of client value, business viability, and strategic fit.

Product Marketing & Market Positioning

- Monitor retailer, DOOH, and retail media trends to identify whitespace opportunities.
- Evaluate emerging technologies, partnerships, and formats that expand Kroger’s in-store media offering.
- Provide recommendations on build vs. partner decisions that strengthen the portfolio.

Partner Governance

- Manage strategic vendor relationships (hardware, tech stack, installation, measurement).
- Develop performance scorecards and quarterly business reviews.

Go-to-Market & Adoption Strategy

- Design scalable go-to-market frameworks that move products from pilot to commercial adoption.
- Shape positioning, value props, and launch narratives for new in-store technology.
- Partner with sales leadership to enable sellers with training, packaging guidance, and objection-handling strategies.
- Ensure internal readiness across sales, campaign operations, and data science teams.

Monetization Strategy

- Develop pricing frameworks, packaging strategies, and commercial models for new in-store media capabilities.
- Partner with Finance to inform revenue targets and performance benchmarks.
- Ensure offerings integrate seamlessly with broader retail media packages across onsite and offsite channels.

Team Leadership & Development

- Manage, mentor, and grow commercial specialist, running weekly 1:1s, capacity planning, and talent reviews.
- Contribute to weekly team huddles, providing market intel and clear direction that aligns with KPM’s broader strategy.
- Design and deliver new-hire training and continuing-education curricula that sharpen strategic and technical skills.

Practice Development & Standardization

- Institutionalize a stage-gate framework that takes an idea from ideation → validation → pilot → commercial scale.
- Produce RACI matrices, documentation templates, and governance rituals that keep multi-team owners accountable.

Qualifications & Experience

- Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Retail Management, or related field (MBA preferred).
- 6–8+ years in retail media, in-store media, DOOH, merchandising strategy, or ad-tech.
- Experience managing capital-intensive rollouts or physical retail infrastructure.
- Proven ability to connect product capabilities with advertiser needs and revenue outcomes.
- Familiarity with retail data platforms (e.g., 84.51°), store operations, and cross-functional governance models.

KEY COMPETENCIES

- Enterprise Thinking – understands how in-store media impacts merchandising, operations, and brand relationships.
- Operational Rigor – can scale installs across hundreds of stores while maintaining execution standards.
- Financial Acumen – provides input into capital planning, pricing strategy and yield optimization.
- Strategic Vision – connects today’s tactics to a three-year growth horizon.
- Process Orientation – builds scalable playbooks that survive rapid growth.
- Cross-Functional Influence – rallies product, sales, analytics, and engineering around a shared roadmap.
- Influence Without Authority – aligns divisions, store design, merchandising, finance, and partners toward shared monetization goals.
- Analytical Rigor – leverages data to size markets, prioritize features, and prove ROI.
- Change Leadership – drives adoption of new ways of working across diverse teams.

Why Kroger Precision Marketing

- Leverage first-party shopper data from 60 MM households to create industry-leading media products.
- Join a culture that pairs experimentation with deep analytic horsepower.
- Competitive compensation, performance bonus, 401(k) match, flexible PTO, and professional-development stipend.
- Direct impact on the evolution of a top-five U.S. retail media network as it scales from product launch to enterprise maturity.

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 $102,000—$150,000 USD