{"id":2640201,"url":"https://alion.io/job/relay-technologies-limited-senior-data-scientist-operational-research","title":"Senior Data Scientist - Operational Research","company":{"id":3799710,"name":"Relay Technologies Limited","domain":"relaytech.co","url":"https://alion.io/company/relaytech","size_band":"51-200","is_staffing_agency":false,"employer_type":"direct","is_intermediary":false,"listed_via":null,"ats_vendor":"Ashby","truth_index":{"grade":"A","score":95,"open_postings":24,"ghost_share":0,"stale_share":0,"repost_share":0,"time_to_fill_p50_days":152,"computed_at":"2026-11-04T06:34:25Z"}},"role":"Data Science","role_family":"Data Science","seniority":"senior","employment_type":"full_time","work_mode":"on_site","remote_scope":null,"remote_scope_basis":null,"remote_working_hours":null,"hiring_geo_confidence":"structured","locations":["London, United Kingdom"],"countries":["GB"],"hiring_countries":[],"hiring_countries_total":0,"salary":null,"salary_estimate":{"min_usd":88000,"max_usd":172000,"period":"year","method":"role_seniority_country_remote_cell","sample_n":52},"experience_years_min":null,"visa_sponsorship":false,"relocation_package":false,"has_equity":false,"technologies":[{"name":"C++","optional":false},{"name":"Julia","optional":false},{"name":"Python","optional":false},{"name":"Rust","optional":false}],"status":"live","first_seen_at":"2026-06-24T09:01:51Z","employer_posted_date":"2026-06-24","last_verified_at":"2026-11-04T16:22:21Z","board_verified":true,"closed_at":null,"days_open":133,"trust":{"level":"ok","repost_count":0,"flags":[],"days_open":132},"description":"Relay is fundamentally reshaping how goods move in an online era. Backed by Europe’s largest-ever logistics Series A ($35M) led by deep-tech investors Plural, and a recently closed Series B ($95M), Relay is scaling faster than 99% of venture-backed startups. We're assembling the most talent-dense team the logistics industry has ever seen\nRelay’s Mission is to free commerce from friction. Today, high delivery costs act as a hidden tax on e-commerce, quietly shaping what can be sold online and limiting who can participate. We envision a world where more goods move more freely between more people, making the online shopping experience seamless and accessible to everyone.\nTHE TEAM\n\n~160 people, around half in engineering, product and data\n45+ advanced degrees across computer science, mathematics and operations research\nThousands of data points captured, calculated, analysed and predicted for every single parcel we handle\nAn intellectually vibrant culture of first-principles thinking, tight feedback loops and relentless experimentation\nThe Opportunity\nA last-mile marketplace runs on decisions - which parcels? on which routes? delivered by which couriers? at what price? Thousands of them, made every single day. Good decisions have fast and meaningful impact across the entire Relay Network. Our Operational Research team are responsible for the intelligent systems that optimise the most complex decisions across our network.\nAs the first Operational Research Scientist in Last Mile Marketplace, you will design, build and evolve the optimisation models and solvers that sit at the heart of Relay's last-mile network - These are production Decision systems that shape how Relay operates every day.\nThis is a senior individual contributor role. You will work alongside Data Scientists, Analysts, and Engineers in a squad focussed on developing the tech defining our last mile marketplace.\nThis role sits within Relay’s Data function, joining a dedicated Operational Research team, reporting into the Staff Decision Systems Architect.\nWhat You'll Do\nTranslate operational requirements into optimisation models across scheduling, assignment and pricing problems.\n\nDevelop and evaluate solution approaches - drawing on knowledge of mathematical programming and meta-heuristics.\n\nDesign and build algorithms, heuristics and solvers bespoke for the unique problems you formulate.\n\nEnsure your solutions are scalable and adaptable to our growing operation.\n\nBenchmark and evaluate the performance of your solutions\n\nWork closely with engineering to productionise your solutions into automated daily processes\n\nWork with analytics to monitor the daily performance of your solution, using this information to proactively evolve your solution to make better decisions.\n\nWho Will Thrive in This Role?\nYou want to be close to the problems you are optimising, and decisions your solutions will make, getting hands-on in the network to see the outcome of your work first hand.\n\nYou have relevant operational research experience in heuristics and/or mathematical programming.\n\nYou are comfortable coding in a general purpose or performance language, such as Python, Rust, Julia or C++\n\nYou enjoy the challenge of solving large-scale optimisation problems\n\nYou are motivated to work on production systems, learning from the realised outcome of your optimisation model every day, and proactively evolving your solution.\n\nYou love understanding problems deeply, crafting bespoke solutions to unique dynamics of the decision being made.\n\nYou are excited to work in a cross-functional tech team designing and building Relay’s Last Mile Marketplace\n\nYou care about the people your work affects - couriers, retailers, and consumers all feel the decisions these systems make\n\nFast and Focused Hiring Process\nTalent Acquisition Interview - 30mins | Online\n\nHiring Manager Interview - 45mins\n\nPython Live Coding - 60mins\n\nCase Study - 60mins\n\nRelay Operating Principles & Impact- 60mins\n\nDecision and offer within 48 hours. Our process mirrors our pace of work.\n\nCompensation & Benefits\nGenerous equity, richer than 99% of European startups, with annual top-ups to share Relay’s success.\n\nPrivate health & dental coverage, so comprehensive you’d need to be a partner at a Magic Circle law firm to match it.\n\n25 days of holidays\n\nEnhanced parental leave.\n\nHardware of your choice.\n\nExtensive perks (gym subsidies, cycle-to-work, Friday office lunch, covered Uber home and dinner for late nights, and more).\n\nWho Thrives at Relay?\nAim with Precision: You define problems clearly and measure your impact meticulously.\n\nPlay to Win: You chase bold bets, tackle the hard stuff, and view constraints as fuel, not friction.\n\n1% Better Every Day: You believe that small, consistent improvements lead to exponential growth. You move quickly, deliver results, and learn from every experience.\n\nAll In, All the Time: You show up and step up. You take ownership from start to finish and do what it takes to deliver when it counts.\n\nPeople-Powered Greatness: You invest in your teammates. You give and receive feedback with care and candour. You build trust through high standards and shared success.\n\nGrow the Whole Pie: You seek out win-win solutions for merchants, couriers, and our customers, because when they thrive, so do we. If these resonate, and you combine strong technical fundamentals with entrepreneurial drive, let’s connect.\n\nRelay is an equal-opportunity employer committed to diversity, inclusion, and fostering a workplace where everyone thrives.","description_format":"text","description_chars":5541,"description_truncated":false,"requirements":{"experience_years_min":null,"management_years_min":null,"team_size_min":null,"manages_managers":false,"education":null,"security_clearance":false,"languages":[]},"benefits":["Equity","Parental leave"],"hiring_locations":[],"hiring_excludes":[],"relocation_offered":false,"industries":["Commerce","Marketplaces"],"lifecycle":[{"event":"open","at":"2026-10-15T18:42:55Z"}],"visa":[{"country":"GB","licensed_sponsor":true,"evidence":"Licensed UK visa sponsor (Skilled Worker)","filings_12m":null,"filings_prev_12m":null,"green_card_filings_12m":null,"median_offered_wage_usd":null,"route":"Skilled Worker","cap_exempt":false,"checked_at":"2026-11-04T06:27:35+00:00","sources":["UK Home Office: register of licensed sponsors (workers)"],"filings_for_role_12m":0}],"liveness":{"score":47,"band":"ok","label":"Likely open","p_open":1,"p_active":0.789,"p_room":0.6,"age_days":132,"expected_fill_days":152,"reasons":["conf:4","win:late","crowd:"],"computed_at":"2026-11-04T06:34:25Z"},"pay":null,"html_url":"https://alion.io/job/relay-technologies-limited-senior-data-scientist-operational-research","json_url":"https://alion.io/job/relay-technologies-limited-senior-data-scientist-operational-research.json","meta":{"generated_at":"2026-11-04T19:55:05Z","cache_seconds":300,"methodology":"https://alion.io/methodology","terms":"https://alion.io/terms","contact":"https://alion.io/contact","api":"https://alion.io/developers","about":"Alion is a live layer of people, companies and AI agents: who they are, whether they are real and active right now, what they do and how to work with them, readable by people and by agents and paid per call.","catalog":"https://alion.io/catalog.json","usage":{"tier":"crawler_verified","counted_by":"address","units_charged":1,"used_today":30672,"day_limit":null,"remaining_today":null,"minute_limit":300,"resets_at":"2026-11-05T00:00:00Z"}},"offers":[{"id":"company.slices","title":"One company in depth, by slice","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002,"plus_per_slice":{"credits":0.05,"usd":0.005}},"unit":"per company, plus each slice with data","note":"the employer in depth","call":{"mcp_tool":"get_company","arguments":{"id":3799710},"rest":"https://alion.io/mcp/rest/get_company?id=3799710"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.slices&for=job%2Frelay-technologies-limited-senior-data-scientist-operational-research"},{"id":"market.stats","title":"A market slice: pay, demand and time to fill","status":"live","price":{"credits":1,"usd":0.1},"unit":"per slice","note":"pay, demand and time to fill for this role and place","call":{"mcp_tool":"market_stats"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=market.stats&for=job%2Frelay-technologies-limited-senior-data-scientist-operational-research"},{"id":"job.search","title":"Open jobs by role, technology, place, pay and visa","status":"live","price":{"credits":0.02,"usd":0.002},"unit":"per posting in a list","note":"similar open postings","call":{"mcp_tool":"search_jobs"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=job.search&for=job%2Frelay-technologies-limited-senior-data-scientist-operational-research"},{"id":"company.verify","title":"Is this company real and active right now","status":"pilot","price":null,"unit":"per company","request":{"url":"https://alion.io/catalog/request","method":"POST","body":"{\"offer\": \"company.verify\", \"for\": \"job/relay-technologies-limited-senior-data-scientist-operational-research\", \"note\": \"what you need it for\"}"},"human":"https://alion.io/catalog?offer=company.verify&for=job%2Frelay-technologies-limited-senior-data-scientist-operational-research"}],"agent":{"mcp":"https://alion.io/mcp/jobs","mcp_open":"https://alion.io/mcp/open","next":[{"tool":"get_job","arguments":{"id":2640201}},{"tool":"search_jobs","arguments":{"company":"relaytech.co","detail":"compact"}},{"tool":"match_people","arguments":{"job_id":2640201},"note":"people open to offers who fit this vacancy"}],"note":"The same data through MCP tools: https://alion.io/mcp/open needs no sign-in (compact searches, postings, people); https://alion.io/mcp with an Alion account has everything. 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