Staff / Senior Applied Scientist — Operations Research

Company overview: TraceLink's software solutions and Opus Platform help the pharmaceutical industry digitize their supply chain and enable greater compliance, visibility, and decision making. It reduces disruption to the supply of medicines to patients who need them, anywhere in the world. Founded in 2009 with the simple mission of protecting patients, today Tracelink has 8 offices, over 800 employees and more than 1300 customers in over 60 countries around the world. Our expanding product suite continues to protect patients and now also enhances multi-enterprise collaboration through innovative new applications such as MINT. Tracelink is recognized as an industry leader by Gartner and IDC, and for having a great company culture by Comparably.

Staff / Senior

Applied Scientist — AI/GenAI & ML Systems (Operations Research) Overview We are hiring a Staff or Senior Applied Scientist to build and deploy advanced AI/GenAI and ML systems grounded in applied mathematics and Operations Research (OR) . This role is ideal for someone who can take ambiguous, high-impact operational problems, turn them into clear mathematical/algorithmic formulations, and lead implementation end-to-end— including writing production-quality code . You'll work at the intersection of optimization, inference science, NLP, and reinforcement learning , with a strong emphasis on practical delivery and measurable business outcomes. Supply chain optimization experience is a plus.

Key Responsibilities Problem formulation:

Translate business challenges into mathematical and computational models.

Applied research:

Evaluate and adapt existing approaches (OR models, AI/ML, GenAI/LLM methods).

Algorithm development:

Design and implement new algorithms when existing solutions fall short.

Hands-on execution:

Build prototypes, run experiments, and lead production implementation (you code).

Technical leadership:

Drive solution architecture, performance evaluation, and operational readiness.

Collaboration:

Partner with product, engineering, and domain teams to deliver scalable solutions. Required Expertise Strong applied mathematics background with depth in Operational Research, including one or more of: Linear / Mixed-Integer Optimization (LP/MIP) Constraint Programming Network / Graph Optimization Stochastic / Robust Optimization Simulation, heuristics, or metaheuristics Research or applied experience in at least one of: Inference science (e.g., causal inference, Bayesian methods, uncertainty modeling) NLP (e.g., retrieval, embeddings, information extraction, LLM systems) Reinforcement Learning (e.g., bandits, sequential decision-making, offline RL) Proven ability to implement algorithms and deliver real systems end-to-end. Strong coding skills in Python and familiarity with relevant scientific/ML tooling. Preferred Qualifications Experience in supply chain optimization (planning, inventory, logistics, fulfillment, scheduling). Experience building GenAI/LLM-enabled decision systems (e.g., RAG, tool-augmented agents, evaluation frameworks). Background shipping applied science solutions into production environments. Typical Profile PhD (preferred) or MS in Applied Math, Operations Research, Industrial Engineering, Computer Science, Statistics, or equivalent industry experience. Demonstrated ability to combine scientific rigor with practical execution and delivery. What Makes This Role Unique High-impact, real-world optimization and decision problems. Freedom to apply the best approach: OR, ML, RL, GenAI, or hybrid methods. Senior technical ownership with a strong hands-on build-and-ship expectation. TraceLink is committed to providing competitive compensation and benefits to all employees. This is the estimated base salary range for this role and should serve only as a guide. Final compensation offered may vary based on a variety of factors including but not limited to experience level, fit for the role, skills, domain knowledge, internal equity, budget, and location. US Pay Range $175,289.18—$215,588.58 USD Please see the Tracelink Privacy Policy for more information on how Tracelink processes your personal information during the recruitment process and, if applicable based on your location, how you can exercise your privacy rights. If you have questions about this privacy notice or need to contact us in connection with your personal data, including any requests to exercise your legal rights referred to at the end of this notice, please contact Candidate-Privacy@tracelink.com.