Senior Operations Research Engineer

Location: Fort Worth, Texas (Hybrid)

About the role

Work on the mathematical optimization model at the heart of a task-assignment system that adheres to complex work rules. Formulate and maintain the MIP, translate real business rules into constraints, and drive the model through the FICO Xpress Java API. Generate and inspect .lp files and solver logs, tune solver parameters (mip-gap, mip-abs-gap, threads, random seed, determinism), and reason about branch-and-bound performance and runtime. Keep the model solver-agnostic behind a clean abstraction layer so it remains testable and portable.

Validate and benchmark solutions by analyzing data stored in Azure ADLS to debug the model, mine input/output datasets and solver logs for data-quality issues, infeasibilities, and root causes, and resolve modeling bugs (e.g., bad defaults, constraint conflicts). Build and maintain a Streamlit dashboard (Python) that visualizes optimizer solutions—code and ship changes directly. Use AI coding agents (Claude, Copilot, or similar) to prototype and change models, scripts, and the dashboard quickly while maintaining high standards of correctness and code quality.

Partner closely with the Java engineer to productionize changes, collaborate with OR&AA team members and IT partners to gather requirements, and influence product and business-unit teams to deliver high-value features.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate with leaders, business analysts, project managers, IT architects, technical leads, and other engineers to understand requirements and develop AI solutions aligned with business needs.
• Maintain and enhance existing enterprise services, applications, and platforms using domain-driven design and test-driven development.
• Troubleshoot and debug complex issues, identify root causes, and implement effective solutions.
• Research and implement new AI technologies to enhance current processes, security, and performance.
• Work closely with data scientists and product teams to build and deploy machine learning models, focusing on the technical aspects of model deployment.
• Implement and optimize Python-based ML pipelines for data preprocessing, model training, and deployment.
• Monitor model performance and implement strategies for bias mitigation and explainability.
• Ensure models are scalable and efficient in production environments.
• Write and maintain code for model training and deployment, collaborating with software engineers to integrate models into applications.
• Partner with a diverse team of experts to build scalable and impactful AI solutions using cutting-edge technologies.

Requirements

• Mixed-Integer Programming (MIP) modeling: formulate real-world business rules as decision variables and linear constraints, with strong LP/IP theory and branch-and-bound intuition.
• Commercial solver experience: FICO Xpress (strongly preferred) or Gurobi/CPLEX/OR-Tools/Hexaly, including solver tuning (gaps, threads, seeds, determinism) and reading solver logs/.lp files.
• Programming to implement and visualize model solutions: Java (the model lives in Java behind a solver abstraction) and Python (including Streamlit for the dashboard). Ability to code and ship changes in both languages.
• Comfortable using AI coding agents (Claude, Copilot) for fast, high-quality changes; collaborative team player open to ideas and feedback; no solo work; fast learner.

Qualifications

• MS or PhD in Operations Research, Industrial Engineering, Applied Math, or related field, plus 3+ years of applied optimization experience or equivalent demonstrated MIP experience.
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Data Science, Information Systems, CIS/MIS, Engineering, or related technical discipline (or equivalent experience/training).
• 7 to 9 years of full Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC) experience designing, developing, and implementing large-scale machine learning applications in hosted production environments.
• 2+ years of professional design and open-source experience.

Skills

• Java 21 / Spring Boot familiarity, clean/hexagonal model design, ports & adapters, TDD, JUnit5 for optimization models, LP-file integration tests.
• Scheduling/assignment/routing problem experience; heuristics/metaheuristics/CP as complements to MIP.
• Data analysis and debugging: mining datasets (including Azure ADLS) and solver logs to find issues and derive insights.
• Data wrangling: CSV, Excel, SQL.
• Git/GitHub, MongoDB Compass, Maven, Docker.
• Aviation/MRO domain knowledge (nice to have).

Pay

Pay Range: $75.00 - $80.00 per hour. The specific compensation for this position will be determined by factors including the scope, complexity, and location of the role; the skills, education, training, credentials, and experience of the candidate; and other conditions of employment.

Benefits

Full-time consultants have access to benefits including medical, dental, vision, and 401K contributions, as well as any other PTO, sick leave, and benefits mandated by applicable state or local laws where you reside or work.