Associate Data Scientist – Optimization & Operations Research

Aera Technology; Pune District; On-site; INR 700,000 - 1,200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Company stock options

Medical insurance

Paid time off

Job summary

Aera Technology invites an Associate Data Scientist to join our Pune-based team, tackling optimization problems across supply chain, pricing, and planning. You will turn complex real-world data into well-structured optimization models and design scalable algorithms for customer environments.

You will work with data engineers and solution delivery to deploy end-to-end decision workflows, collaborating with customers to explain model behavior and iterations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a quantitative field (OR/Math/Industrial Eng/CS).
• 1–3 years in optimization/OR; fresh grads are encouraged to apply.
• Strong foundations in linear algebra, probability, optimization theory, and algorithms.
• Hands-on experience formulating and solving optimization models using one solver (Gurobi/CPLEX/COIN-OR) and one language (Python).
• Demonstrated passion for OR: coursework, theses, competitions, or open‑source contributions.
• Ability to reason from first principles and propose alternative formulations.

Responsibilities

• Formulate optimization problems in areas like supply chain, inventory, production planning, and pricing.
• Design and test linear, integer, and mixed-integer programming models; use heuristics when needed.
• Prototype and compare formulations to balance optimality and runtime.
• Use solvers (Gurobi/CPLEX/COIN-OR) with diagnostics, tuning, and performance analysis.
• Collaborate with delivery and data teams to integrate models into end-to-end workflows.
• Explain model behavior and trade-offs to customers and stakeholders.

Skills

Optimization/OR experience

LP/MIP modeling

Python

Strong math foundations

First-principles reasoning

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s in OR/Applied Math/Industrial Eng/CS

Tools

Gurobi

CPLEX

COIN-OR

Job description

Aera Technology is a pioneer in the growing category of Decision Intelligence Platforms and a Leader in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for 2026 – the technology to digitize, augment, and automate decision-making processes with AI and machine learning. Through our AI decision automation platform, Aera Decision Cloud™, we are helping the best-known brands in the world make smarter, faster decisions.

The need for decision intelligence has never been greater. The digitization of the economy has introduced a paradox: Companies today are awash in data, yet the velocity, volume, and complexity of that information is outpacing their ability to make decisions with the speed and precision that today’s business environment demands. Decision intelligence represents the critical shift — moving from people making decisions with machine support to machines making decisions guided by people. As the digital economy accelerates into an era defined by agentic AI, this shift has become a competitive necessity, enabling organizations to act faster, adapt with confidence, and unlock value once beyond reach.

Aera Technology is at the forefront of this agentic revolution. Recognized by IDC as a leader in decision intelligence and cited by Gartner in its Market Guide for Decision Intelligence, we’re the trusted choice of global market leaders. Built on a comprehensive and composable platform, Aera empowers organizations to optimize and automate all types of decisions, across every business area.

We are looking for an Associate Data Scientist with exceptional strength and deep interest in Operations Research and mathematical optimization. In this role, you will turn complex planning, pricing, and supply chain problems into well-structured optimization models and help design algorithms that run at scale in real customer environments.

Responsibilities

• Work with real-world business data to formulate optimization problems in areas such as supply chain, inventory, production planning, and pricing.
• Design, implement, test, and refine linear, integer, and mixed-integer programming models, along with heuristic or meta-heuristic approaches where needed.
• Prototype and compare alternative formulations and solution strategies, balancing optimality, robustness, and runtime performance.
• Use commercial and open-source solvers (e.g., Gurobi, CPLEX, COIN-OR) effectively, including model diagnostics, tuning, and performance analysis.
• Collaborate with solution delivery and data engineering teams to integrate optimization models into end‑to‑end decision workflows.
• Engage with customers and internal stakeholders to understand requirements, explain model behavior and trade-offs, and iterate on designs.

About You

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Operations Research, Applied Mathematics, Industrial Engineering, Computer Science, or a related quantitative field.
• 1-3 of experience in optimization / OR, including internships, academic projects, or industry experience; outstanding fresh graduates are encouraged to apply.
• Strong foundations in linear algebra, probability, optimization theory, and algorithms, with clear intuition for LP/MIP modeling.
• Hands‑on experience formulating and solving optimization models using at least one solver (Gurobi, CPLEX, COIN-OR, etc.) and one programming language (preferably Python).
• Demonstrated passion for OR: coursework, theses, competitions, or open‑source contributions.
• Ability to reason from first principles, question assumptions, and propose alternative formulations when the first approach does not work.
• Comfortable working in a fast‑paced environment, taking ownership, and learning new problem domains quickly.

Nice to Have

• Exposure to supply chain, logistics, or pricing optimization problems.
• Experience with large-scale data handling (SQL, Spark, or similar) to prepare input data for optimization runs.
• Familiarity with building small services or scripts to operationalize optimization runs (e.g., scheduling, APIs, or batch jobs).

If you share our passion for building a sustainable, intelligent, and efficient world, you’re in the right place. Established in 2017 and headquartered in Mountain View, California, we're a series D start‑up, with teams in Mountain View, San Francisco (California), Bucharest and Cluj-Napoca (Romania), Paris (France), Munich (Germany), London (UK), Pune (India), and Sydney (Australia). So join us, and let’s build this!

Aera Technology is an equal opportunity employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, or disability status.

Benefits Summary

At Aera Technology, we strive to support our Aeranauts and their loved ones through different stages of life with a variety of attractive benefits, and great perks. In addition to offering a competitive salary and company stock options, we have other great benefits available. You’ll find comprehensive medical, Group Medical Insurance, Term Insurance, Accidental Insurance, paid time off, Maternity leave, and much more. We offer unlimited access to online professional courses for both professional and personal development, coupled with people manager development programs. We believe in a flexible working environment, to allow our Aeranauts to perform at their best, ensuring a healthy work‑life balance. When you’re working from the office, you’ll also have access to a fully‑stocked kitchen with a selection of snacks and beverages.