Senior AI Scientist – Planning

Avathon; Pleasanton (CA); On-site; USD 160,000 - 240,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Stock Option Grants

Medical Coverage

401k with Employer Match

Monthly Technology Allowance

Modern Office Space

Job summary

Avathon is seeking a Senior AI Scientist – Planning to develop AI and optimization models for demand forecasting, inventory optimization, and S&OP decision support. This role, based in Pleasanton, CA, combines applied research and production delivery, requiring a Ph.D. alongside significant experience in machine learning and operations research. Compensation ranges from $160k - $240k annually, reflecting the candidate's skills and experience. Strong collaboration with product and engineering teams is expected, with office attendance required five days a week.

Qualifications

• 10-15 years of industry experience in applied ML and optimization.
• Deep experience in demand forecasting, supply/inventory optimization.
• Experience deploying models into production environments.

Responsibilities

• Design AI and optimization models for planning intelligence.
• Build demand forecasting models across industrial verticals.
• Define evaluation metrics and run controlled experiments.

Skills

Applied Machine Learning

Optimization

Supply Chain Planning

Python

Statistical Modeling

Education

Ph.D. in Operations Research or a related field

Tools

Gurobi

AWS SageMaker

Cloud ML Infrastructure

Job description

Who We Are & Why Join Us

Avathon is the leading Industrial AI autonomy platform, helping customers across heavy industries – energy, mining, manufacturing, aerospace, defense, and logistics – accelerate the journey toward autonomous operations. Our platform is built on a Computational Knowledge Graph foundation that contextualizes and connects operational data across siloed systems, bringing together time series, structured, unstructured, and machine vision data to power AI-driven applications in asset performance management, supply chain intelligence, visual AI, and global trade management. With capabilities spanning digital twins, normal behavior modeling, natural language processing, and computer vision, Avathon delivers real-time predictive intelligence and agentic decision‑making at industrial scale.

Cutting‑Edge AI Innovation – Join a team at the forefront of AI, developing groundbreaking solutions that shape the future. High‑Growth Environment – Thrive in a fast‑scaling startup where agility, collaboration, and rapid professional growth are the norm. Meaningful Impact – Work on AI‑driven projects that drive real change across industries and improve lives.

Learn more at: avathon.com

About the Role

As a Senior AI Scientist – Planning, you will design and develop the AI and optimization models that power Avathon's planning intelligence – demand forecasting, supply planning, inventory optimization, and S&OP decision support for customers across energy, mining, manufacturing, and logistics. This role sits at the intersection of AI, ML and operations research. You will build models that work with complex supply chain data – demand history, ERP/MRP transactions, and commercial forecasts across multi‑echelon networks with long lead times and constrained capacity. The work is equal parts applied research and production delivery. You will develop novel approaches where standard methods fall short and ship them into a platform used by enterprise customers. You will report into the Data Science org and work closely with product and engineering.

You Will

• Build demand forecasting models across industrial verticals, applying probabilistic, hierarchical, and intermittent demand methods where history is short or volatile
• Design supply planning and inventory optimization models across multi‑echelon networks with capacity constraints and variable lead times
• Formulate and solve optimization problems (MIP, LP, constraint programming) for production scheduling, allocation, and resource planning
• Build simulation and scenario analysis frameworks to support S&OP and integrated business planning workflows
• Define evaluation metrics, build backtesting pipelines, and run controlled experiments to measure and improve model performance
• Integrate cross‑domain signals from Avathon's Computational Knowledge Graph – asset health, logistics, procurement – into planning models
• Own the path from research to production in collaboration with ML Engineering, delivering scalable and monitored services
• Mentor junior data scientists on technical depth and OR/ML fundamentals

You’ll Have

• Ph.D. or master’s degree in operations research, Industrial Engineering, Statistics, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, or a related quantitative field
• 10-15 years of industry experience in applied ML, optimization, or Supply Chain planning systems
• Deep experience in at least two of: demand forecasting, supply/inventory optimization, production scheduling, or S&OP analytics
• Proficiency in Python with hands‑on experience in optimization solvers (Gurobi, CPLEX, OR‑Tools, or similar) or forecasting libraries (Prophet, statsmodels, GluonTS, or similar)
• Strong foundation in statistical modeling with sound judgment on when simple methods outperform complex ones
• Experience with supply chain and operational data – demand history, ERP/MRP transactions, and planning system outputs
• Ability to translate business problems into mathematical optimization or ML formulations
• Experience deploying models into production environments

Preferred Qualifications

• Ph.D. in Operations Research, Industrial Engineering, Statistics, or a related field
• Background in supply chain planning platforms or industrial AI (o9, Blue Yonder, Kinaxis, or similar), preferably within the supply chain industry
• Experience in supply chain planning platforms or industrial AI (o9 Solutions, Blue Yonder, Kinaxis, or similar) preferably from Supply Chain industry.
• Experience with multi‑-echelon inventory optimization or network design
• Familiarity with probabilistic programming or Bayesian methods for demand sensing
• Experience with cloud ML infrastructure (AWS SageMaker, GCP Vertex, or equivalent)
• Domain experience in energy, mining, manufacturing, aerospace, or logistics or track record of publishing or presenting applied OR/ML work as plus

Interview Process

As part of the interview process, you will be asked to complete a technical assessment.

Benefits & Perks

• Evolving culture with the opportunity to drive new ideas and technology
• Stock Option Grants
• Medical Coverage and Parental Leave Plans
• 401k with Employer Match
• Monthly Technology Allowance
• Newly renovated office space located near Pleasanton, CA – including fully stocked beverage and snack areas

Contract and temporary roles are not eligible for the above benefits.

Compensation

Pay Range: $160k - $240k salary annually. Pay for this position is based on a number of factors including geographic location and may vary depending on job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience.

Location

This role is not remote. Candidates must be based in the Bay Area, CA and are expected to report to our Pleasanton office 5 days a week.

Avathon is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, pregnancy, genetic information, disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other protected category under applicable federal, state, and local laws.

Avathon is committed to providing reasonable accommodations throughout the recruiting process. If you need a reasonable accommodation, please contact us to discuss how we can assist you.