Operations Research Analysts

Job purpose

To formulate and apply mathematical modelling, simulation and other optimising methods to the organisation's operational problems and to present the results to management, so that decisions on policy, resource use and the planning of large projects rest on tested quantitative evidence.

Skills

• Advanced applied mathematics — algebra, calculus, statistics and simulation model design — with computing and programming knowledge, engineering and technology, and an understanding of production and processing covering raw materials, production methods, quality control and costs. A master's degree is the modal qualification, with a substantial proportion holding a bachelor's degree and a smaller group a doctorate, alongside extensive related experience, frequently more than five years, since the role assumes the expertise is largely held on appointment.
• Works with senior managers and decision makers to clarify objectives and define operational problems, presents modelling and analysis results to management and other end users, and gives expert consultation on technical and systems questions. Much of the communication consists of translating quantitative findings for people who are not modellers. Also educates staff in the use of mathematical models and deals with parties outside the organisation.
• Conceptualises ill-defined operational problems from management information, observes the current system in operation, and formulates models that break systems into components and relate constants, variables, restrictions, alternatives and conflicting objectives. Where no model can be built from existing data, designs and evaluates experimental operational models; tests models for adequacy and reformulates those that do not hold. Problems rarely have a settled precedent, so method must be specified and defended.
• Sequences the gathering and validation of information; develops and applies time and cost networks to plan, control and review large projects; and develops business methods and procedures spanning accounting, file, office, logistics and production scheduling systems. Sets own tasks, priorities and goals within objectives agreed with management, and delivers under time pressure.
• Desk-based work using computers and statistical and modelling software, with observation of systems in operation. No manual handling or dexterity demands.

Responsibilities

• No line management. Coordinates and leads others in accomplishing work activities, contributes to work groups and teams, and instructs staff in the use of the models produced. Influence rests on the authority of the analysis rather than a reporting line, since senior managers act on the recommendations made.
• Holds no budget. Estimates the time, costs, resources and materials activities require, applies cost networks to large projects, and evaluates alternative courses of action to establish which offers the best outcome, so recommendations shape spending decided elsewhere.
• Ordinary care of a workstation and of the modelling and statistical software used; may develop decision-support software, services or products for others to use.
• Accountable for the data and the models built on it: defines data requirements, gathers and validates information using judgement and statistical tests, documents models and methods, and prepares management reports evaluating problems and recommending solutions. Exactness is essential, and the conclusions drawn affect colleagues' work and company results.

Effort required

• Sustained abstract concentration on model construction — assigning numerical values to system components, specifying computational methods, and reasoning about relationships between variables and competing objectives — held to a high standard of exactness. Judgement is exercised on incomplete information, particularly where an experimental model must substitute for data that does not exist, and under time pressure.
• Personally accountable for the defensibility of models and recommendations put to senior decision makers, whose decisions on those recommendations bear on co-workers and company results.
• Predominantly seated work at a workstation. No lifting or exertion recorded.

Working conditions

• Indoors throughout, in an environmentally controlled setting, with no hazardous conditions, contaminants or noise exposure recorded. A high volume of contact is a feature of the role — e-mail, telephone, face-to-face discussion with individuals and within teams, and written memoranda — but no dealings with unpleasant, angry or discourteous people are recorded.
• Almost all incumbents work a regular established schedule, with only a small minority on an irregular one; the working week commonly extends beyond standard full-time hours. Determines tasks, priorities and goals with considerable freedom to make decisions, works under time pressure in a field where competition is a real feature, and takes decisions carrying consequences for colleagues and company results.