[Hiring] Applied AI Lead @Instinct Pet Food

Role Description

The Applied AI Lead owns applied AI for Instinct. This is a hands-on builder seat within Data Hub & Analytics, responsible for delivering agents, automation, and high-ROI tools that partner Finance and the business on reporting automation, daily analytics, and selected commercial and operations use cases, always with a human owning the final call. The role requires strong technical depth, sound judgment about what AI may answer unsupervised versus what needs a human check, and the ability to explain trade-offs in plain language without hype.

Primary Job Responsibilities:

• In-House AI Ownership:
  • Own agents, builds, and orchestration across Instinct priorities, from scoping through production handoff.
  • Design, build, and maintain internal AI tools, automations, and integrations (Python scripts, APIs, LLM agents with tool use, workflow automation) that solve business challenges.
  • Build tools that others can run and improve without the builder: usable by non-developer teammates and maintainable by Instinct developers.
• Finance Partnership:
  • Serve as the primary build partner to the CFO on reporting automation, close and forecast support, and decision-ready analytics.
  • Partner with FP&A and other decision owners to turn recurring manual reporting and analysis into automated, trustworthy workflows.
  • Establish a working operating rhythm with Finance leadership to manage the priority queue.
• Use-Case Portfolio Management:
  • Maintain a short, ranked list of AI use cases by dollar impact and feasibility, and be willing to stop low-value work before it consumes engineering time.
  • Run fast, low-cost experiments to test emerging AI capabilities against real business challenges before committing budget or scaling.
  • Scout new tools, models, and techniques and bring forward the ones with real potential ahead of demand.
  • Deliver production tools the business relies on, not demos or pilots that fade after the first presentation.
• Data Foundation & Quality:
  • Build on trusted data in partnership with Data Architecture, Master Data, and Data Control.
  • Perform data-quality audits on source feeds prior to automation and flag issues back to data owners.
  • Partner with IT and data teams on integrations, access, and security for AI workloads.
• Governance & Safe Use:
  • Define safe-use guardrails with Data Hub leadership: what AI may answer unsupervised and what requires human review.
  • Document what is safe to trust and make the governed path the easy path for Finance and business users.
  • Monitor AI tool usage, cost, and performance, with automated reporting and KPI tracking.
  • Technically review and validate work from external vendors and developers for quality, security, and fit before anything goes live.
• Enablement & Adoption:
  • Drive adoption of AI tools through onboarding materials, working examples, and reusable playbooks and templates.
  • Act as the day-to-day technical reference point for Finance and business users on approved AI tools.
  • Communicate trade-offs, limitations, and results clearly to executives and non-technical audiences.

Qualifications

• Builder mindset with a preference for shipping a working solution over writing a recommendation.
• Strong business acumen with the ability to connect AI work to financial and commercial outcomes.
• Plain communicator who can explain trade-offs without hype, to all audiences.
• Sound judgment on risk, data quality, and where a human should own the call.
• Self-directed and comfortable owning priorities end to end in a remote environment.
• Curious, with a bias toward fast experimentation and continuous improvement.
• Ability to translate complex data and technology into actionable business insights.
• A true collaborator who builds trust cross-functionally.

Requirements

• 4-8+ years building applied AI, ML, or automation solutions in a business setting (finance, CPG, operations, or similar).
• Background in CPG, pet food, food & beverage, or a similarly complex operating environment is a plus.
• Bachelor's degree in a related field or equivalent practical experience.
• Hands-on proficiency in Python (or equivalent), LLM APIs and agents (including tool use and MCP), workflow automation, and APIs; able to ship, not only advise.
• Demonstrated experience partnering with Finance or similar decision owners on reporting, forecasting, or analytics automation.
• Experience with SQL, data-quality auditing, and building on governed data sources.
• Experience defining safe-use guardrails and human-in-the-loop controls for AI workflows.
• Experience technically evaluating or overseeing the work of vendors, contractors, or consultants.
• Track record of prioritizing use cases by dollar impact and feasibility and delivering them to production.
• Familiarity with AI governance and data privacy practices is a plus.

Travel Requirements

• Remote position; occasional travel to Instinct's St. Louis headquarters or other Instinct locations as needed.

Benefits

• Highly competitive compensation package includes health and dental insurance, life and AD&D insurance, flexible spending accounts, health savings account, short and long-term disability, paid time off, Purpose Days off for company partner volunteer opportunities, and 401k with company match.