Why Hiring Optimisation & Operational Research Talent Is Hard – And Why It Matters

By Ismail Shariff

Operational Research (OR) and Optimisation are becoming some of the most in-demand skills across data teams. Whether it’s supply chain planning, energy forecasting, transport routing, workforce optimisation, or logistics, more companies want to make better decisions using advanced mathematical modelling – not just dashboards.

But here’s the challenge: true optimisation specialists are rare.

Many data scientists have touched optimisation during their degree or used basic solvers in projects, but few have the deep mathematical background, real-world modelling experience, and understanding of commercial constraints to build solutions that actually work in a business environment. And when companies try to hire this talent, they quickly learn:

• It’s a very niche discipline – fewer people study or practice OR compared to machine learning or analytics.
• They’re expensive – because the talent pool is small and demand is growing.
• Hiring mistakes are costly – the wrong person can delay projects, miss operational goals, and turn an important investment into a wasted one.
• Most teams don’t know what “good” looks like – making it harder to assess technical depth, modelling capability, and domain fit.

This is where recruitment becomes not just useful – but essential.

As someone specialising in the data and optimisation space, I speak daily with candidates across supply chain, logistics, energy, manufacturing, transport, and workforce planning. The truth is: the best optimisation professionals aren’t on job boards and often aren’t actively looking. They’re solving high-impact problems and only move when the opportunity aligns with their technical interests, industry focus, and long-term growth.

For companies, this means the key to hiring well is targeted search, clear expectations around salary and seniority, and understanding exactly what level of optimisation expertise is needed.

If your team is exploring optimisation for the first time, or you’re struggling to find the right skill set for your budget, I can help you navigate the market, shape realistic role profiles, and connect you with talent that genuinely understands how to turn complex operational problems into measurable impact.

Optimisation is niche. Hiring for it doesn’t have to be.

If you’d like advice, market insights or support filling an optimisation or OR role, feel free to reach out.

Ismail Shariff
Specialist Data & Operational Research Recruitment