Principal Operations Research Scientist

Washington, DC, US Senior Research Scientist

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Skills & Technologies

Python

About This Role

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About Quvia:

Quvia is building the digital fabric between edge and cloud. Our platform uses AI and machine learning to orchestrate connectivity across satellite, terrestrial, and hybrid networks so customers can move and manage data in the world's most network constrained environments.

We partner with global leaders in aviation, maritime, energy and other industries where connectivity is variable and complex, and digital services depend on reliable data movement. As companies deploy AI, automation and data-driven systems at the edge, Quvia provides the platform needed to unlock the full potential of their data and build value above the network.

Quvia is a fast growing, Series A company backed by Colombia Capital ($5B+ in fund commitments. It is headquartered in the greater Miami are with offices in the UK and India.

Learn more at www.quvia.ai and www.linkedin.com/company/quvia.

Why Quvia?

  • Founded in 2019, we are a fast-growing, Series A tech startup passionate about making connectivity experiences better for everyone.
  • Our industry-first solutions are already addressing major challenges for companies in the travel and transportation industries-and we're just getting started.
  • As an early-stage company, new hires will have the opportunity to make a significant impact on our growth trajectory.
  • We are headquartered in the greater Miami region, with remote teams spanning the U.S., Europe, and India.
  • Quvia is backed by Columbia Capital, a respected venture capital firm founded in 1989 that has raised over $5 Bn of fund commitments.

About the Role

Quvia is deploying Grid, our AI-powered platform that dynamically routes network traffic to optimize connectivity and performance, with enterprise customers in the U.S. We're looking for the engineer or scientist who makes it perform.

The core problem is getting finite satellite bandwidth to the right users at the right time, under contested and fast-changing conditions. Capacity shifts as satellites move, demand is bursty and mission-driven, and the answer has to be both good and fast. If you've built scheduling, network flow, or supply-chain optimization systems at scale, you already know the math. The domain is the only new part.

You'll be embedded with enterprise customer as the senior technical owner of Grid's optimization layer. This is hands-on work, not advisory. You'll formulate the models, write the code, choose the solvers, and profile the results yourself. You'll also translate in both directions: turning mission constraints into problems Grid can solve, and explaining what the models can and can't do in terms program leads can act on.

Eligibility*: "U.S. citizenship required for this position”*

What You'll Do

  • Formulate and build optimization models: Take the customer's operational problems — bandwidth allocation, routing, scheduling, capacity planning, contention resolution — and turn them into rigorous mathematical formulations, then implement them in production code.
  • Develop and extend Grid's optimization capability: Modify and configure Grid directly against the engagement's requirements, and write new solvers, heuristics, and decomposition schemes where the existing capability doesn't reach.
  • Own solver and algorithm selection: Decide where exact methods (MILP, network flow, constraint programming) are the right tool and where the problem demands heuristics, metaheuristics, decomposition, or a hybrid — and be able to defend the choice.
  • Tune for hard runtime constraints: Live deployments impose real time budgets. Profile, reformulate, tighten relaxations, warm-start, and cut where needed to get quality solutions inside the window.
  • Validate rigorously: Build the test harnesses, benchmark instances, and solution-quality measures that show a model is behaving correctly, including against edge cases the customer will eventually hit.
  • Instrument and diagnose live systems: Debug degraded solution quality, infeasibility, and performance regressions in deployed environments where you cannot simply re-run offline.
  • Document formulations, assumptions, and model behavior to a standard that holds up under government program review.
  • Feed the roadmap: Bring field learnings back to Quvia's OR and engineering teams and identify where new optimization capability is needed in the product.
  • Support the full engagement lifecycle: initial configuration, pilots, evaluation, and steady-state operation.

What You’ll Need

  • U.S. Citizenship - Non-negotiable for this customer engagement.
  • 8+ years of professional experience developing and deploying optimization or operations research systems in production. Seniority and judgment are an explicit part of the bar; this is not a role we will fill with a strong junior.
  • Advanced degree (MS or PhD) in Operations Research or a closely related quantitative field. Computer Science and Electrical Engineering backgrounds are equally welcome where the optimization depth is there. Equivalent industry experience will be

considered in place of the degree.

  • Deep, applied command of optimization techniques: linear and mixed-integer programming, network flow, constraint programming, column generation or other decomposition methods, metaheuristics, and large-scale scheduling — with the practical experience to know which to reach for and when.
  • Strong software engineering ability. You will write and ship the models yourself. Production-quality code in a compiled or high-performance language (Java, C++, or similar) alongside Python for modeling and analysis.
  • Hands-on experience with commercial and open-source solvers — Gurobi, CPLEX, OR-Tools, HiGHS, or similar — including modeling APIs, parameter tuning, and callbacks.
  • Track record of working directly with external customers or stakeholders on complex technical engagements, with the communication skills to hold a technical conversation and a program conversation on the same day.

Preferred Qualifications

  • AI/ML experience, particularly where learned components sit alongside or inside optimization systems: demand forecasting feeding an allocation model, learned heuristics or branching rules, or reinforcement learning for sequential decisions.
  • Background in supply-chain, logistics, or delivery network optimization — the kind of work done at Amazon, DoorDash, Walmart Labs, or comparable operations at scale.
  • Queueing theory and congestion modeling — characterizing contention, latency, and service levels when demand exceeds available capacity.
  • Discrete-event and Monte Carlo simulation, and simulation-optimization where an analytical model alone won't capture the system's behavior.
  • Stochastic, robust, and multi-stage optimization — recourse models, scenario generation, chance constraints, and designing for uncertainty rather than around it.
  • Dynamic programming, Markov decision processes, and approximate DP for sequential allocation and control problems.
  • Multi-objective optimization and trade-off analysis, including how to present a Pareto frontier to a decision-maker who has to choose a point on it.
  • Graph and network algorithms — shortest path, max-flow/min-cut, matching, and network design at scale. Forecasting, time-series, and statistical modeling feeding operational models, plus design of experiments and sensitivity analysis to test how far a solution holds.
  • Algebraic modeling languages — Pyomo, JuMP, AMPL, or GAMS — for rapid formulation and prototyping.
  • High-performance and parallel computing applied to optimization: distributed solves, parallel heuristics, and profiling large model runs.

Work Conditions

  • U.S.-based with regular travel to and on-site work at customer locations.
  • Some coordination with UK-based colleagues and stakeholders; occasional early or late calls to cover the time difference.

What We'll Offer

  • Connectivity and content engineering and business knowledge
  • Opportunity to work in cross-functional teams
  • Competitive Salary
  • 401(k) with 100% match up to 4.0% after one year of service
  • Competitive health benefits, including optical and dental
  • Life Insurance
  • Performance Bonus
  • Flexible paid time off policy
  • Monthly Phone Allowance

Quvia will never ask to interview job applicants via text message or ask for personal banking information as part of the interview process. Quvia will never ask job applicants or new hires to send money or deposit checks for the company. In case of doubt, please contact us directly at [email protected].

Quvia Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment opportunities at Quvia Inc. are based upon one's qualifications and capabilities to perform the essential functions of a particular job. All employment opportunities are provided without regard to race, religion, sex (including sexual orientation and transgender status), pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, national origin, age, veteran status, disability, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Role Details

Company Quvia
Title Principal Operations Research Scientist
Location Washington, DC, US
Category Research Scientist
Experience Senior
Salary Not disclosed
Remote No

About This Role

Research Scientists push the boundaries of what AI can do. They design experiments, develop novel architectures, publish papers, and translate research breakthroughs into production capabilities. This is where the fundamental advances happen, from attention mechanisms to diffusion models to reasoning chains.

The work is intellectually demanding and often ambiguous. You might spend months on an approach that doesn't pan out. The best research scientists combine deep mathematical intuition with engineering pragmatism. They know when to go deep on theory and when to run experiments. They read papers voraciously and can spot incremental contributions from genuine breakthroughs.

Across the 8,943 AI roles we're tracking, Research Scientist positions make up 2% of the market. At Quvia, this role fits into their broader AI and engineering organization.

Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.

What the Work Looks Like

A typical week includes: reading and discussing recent papers with your team, designing and running experiments on multi-GPU clusters, analyzing results and iterating on hypotheses, writing up findings for internal review or publication, and collaborating with engineering teams to productionize promising results. The ratio of thinking to coding is higher than in engineering roles.

Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.

Skills Required

Python (16% of roles)

PhD strongly preferred for most roles. Deep expertise in a specific area (NLP, computer vision, reinforcement learning, multimodal) is expected. PyTorch is the standard. Publication track record matters. Strong mathematical foundations in linear algebra, probability, optimization, and information theory are assumed.

Beyond the fundamentals, companies value experience with large-scale distributed training, novel architecture design, and the ability to bridge theory and practice. Understanding of current frontier topics (reasoning, multimodal, long-context, alignment) is essential. Code quality matters more than many researchers expect. Labs want researchers who can implement their ideas cleanly.

Strong research postings specify the research area, mention the team you'd join, and describe the problems they're working on. They often list recent publications from the team. Vague 'AI research' postings without specifics usually mean the company wants to sound impressive but doesn't have a real research agenda.

Compensation Benchmarks

Research Scientist roles pay a median of $222,200 based on 708 positions with disclosed compensation. Senior-level AI roles across all categories have a median of $228,700.

Across all AI roles, the market median is $213,380. Top-quartile compensation starts at $264,148. The 90th percentile reaches $319,310. For comparison, the highest-paying categories include AI Safety ($253,100) and Research Engineer ($252,000). By seniority level: Entry: $110,408; Mid: $193,200; Senior: $228,700; Director: $272,250; VP: $235,000.

Quvia AI Hiring

Quvia has 1 open AI role right now. They're hiring across Research Scientist. Based in Washington, DC, US.

Location Context

Across all AI roles, 6% (521 positions) offer remote work, while 8,351 require on-site attendance. Top AI hiring metros: New York (2,878 roles, $221,000 median); San Francisco (2,416 roles, $263,811 median); Los Angeles (1,340 roles, $210,000 median).

Career Path

Common paths into Research Scientist roles include PhD Student, Research Engineer, Postdoc.

From here, career progression typically leads toward Research Lead, Distinguished Scientist, VP of Research.

The PhD is the entry point for most paths. Choose your advisor and research area carefully since they'll define your first industry position. Publish consistently, contribute to open-source projects in your area, and build relationships at conferences. Industry research offers better compensation and compute resources than academia, but the pressure to show product impact is real.

What to Expect in Interviews

Research interviews are multi-stage: a research talk (present your best paper), technical deep-dives on your methodology, and often a 'research proposal' exercise where you design an experiment to test a hypothesis. Coding rounds test implementation ability alongside theoretical knowledge. Be prepared to implement a paper from scratch and discuss the design choices the authors made. Strong candidates can critique papers constructively and identify gaps in experimental methodology.

When evaluating opportunities: Strong research postings specify the research area, mention the team you'd join, and describe the problems they're working on. They often list recent publications from the team. Vague 'AI research' postings without specifics usually mean the company wants to sound impressive but doesn't have a real research agenda.

AI Hiring Overview

The AI job market has 8,943 open positions tracked in our dataset. By seniority: 175 entry-level, 4,132 mid-level, 3,268 senior, and 1,368 leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level). Remote roles make up 6% of the market (521 positions). The remaining 8,351 roles require on-site or hybrid attendance.

The market median for AI roles is $213,380. Top-quartile compensation starts at $264,148. The 90th percentile reaches $319,310. Highest-paying categories: AI Safety ($253,100 median, 57 roles); Research Engineer ($252,000 median, 419 roles); AI Engineering Manager ($251,622 median, 51 roles).

Research Scientist roles are concentrated at major AI labs (OpenAI, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, Meta FAIR) and well-funded AI startups. The competition is intense. PhD is effectively required for most positions, and publication track record matters. Compensation is among the highest in AI, reflecting both the scarcity of talent and the strategic importance of research breakthroughs.

The AI Job Market Today

The AI job market spans 8,943 open positions across 16 role categories. The largest categories by volume: AI/ML Engineer (6,739), AI Product Manager (403), AI Software Engineer (402). These three account for the majority of open positions, though smaller categories often have higher per-role compensation because of specialized skill requirements.

The seniority mix tells a story about where AI teams are in their maturity. Entry-level roles (175) are outnumbered by mid-level (4,132) and senior (3,268) positions, reflecting that most companies are past the 'build a team from scratch' phase and need experienced engineers who can ship production systems. Leadership roles (Director, VP, C-Level) total 1,368 positions, representing the bottleneck between technical execution and organizational strategy.

Remote work availability sits at 6% of all AI roles (521 positions), with 8,351 requiring on-site or hybrid attendance. The remote share has stabilized after the post-pandemic correction. Senior and specialized roles (Research Scientist, ML Architect) are more likely to be remote-eligible than entry-level positions, partly because experienced hires have more negotiating power and partly because these roles require less hands-on mentorship.

AI compensation is structured in clear tiers. The market median sits at $213,380. Top-quartile roles start at $264,148, and the 90th percentile reaches $319,310. These figures include base salary with disclosed compensation. Total compensation (including equity, bonuses, and sign-on) runs 20-40% higher at companies that offer those components.

Category matters for compensation. AI Safety roles lead at $253,100 median, while Prompt Engineer roles sit at $141,440. The spread between highest and lowest-paying categories reflects the premium on specialized technical skills versus broader analytical roles.

The most in-demand skills across all AI postings: Python (1,422 postings), Aws (808 postings), Azure (638 postings), Rag (555 postings), Gcp (457 postings), Pytorch (433 postings), Claude (341 postings), Kubernetes (337 postings). Python dominates, appearing in the vast majority of role descriptions regardless of category. Cloud platform experience (AWS, GCP, Azure) is the second most common requirement. The newer entrants to the top skills list (RAG, vector databases, LLM APIs) reflect the shift from traditional ML toward generative AI applications.

Frequently Asked Questions

Based on 708 roles with disclosed compensation, the median salary for Research Scientist positions is $222,200. Actual compensation varies by seniority, location, and company stage.
PhD strongly preferred for most roles. Deep expertise in a specific area (NLP, computer vision, reinforcement learning, multimodal) is expected. PyTorch is the standard. Publication track record matters. Strong mathematical foundations in linear algebra, probability, optimization, and information theory are assumed.
About 6% of the 8,943 AI roles we track offer remote work. Remote availability varies by company and seniority level, with senior and leadership roles more likely to offer location flexibility.
Quvia is among the companies actively hiring for AI and ML talent. Check our company profiles for detailed breakdowns of open roles, salary ranges, and hiring trends.
Common next steps from Research Scientist positions include Research Lead, Distinguished Scientist, VP of Research. Progression depends on whether you lean toward technical depth, people management, or product strategy.

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