An operation research analyst is a professional who uses advanced mathematical and analytical methods to help organizations investigate complex issues, identify and solve problems, and make better decisions. Operation research analysts are highly trained experts who apply scientific and quantitative techniques to model complex situations and forecast outcomes. They play a critical role in a wide variety of industries and public/private sector organizations by optimizing systems, processes, and decisions. But is being an operation research analyst a good career choice? Let’s explore the key pros and cons, job duties, required skills and qualifications, outlook and salary potential to determine if this career path is worthwhile for you.
What Does an Operation Research Analyst Do?
An operation research analyst typically performs the following core job duties and responsibilities:
- Identify organizational issues, opportunities or problems that can be examined and potentially solved using quantitative analysis techniques
- Collect relevant data from various sources within the organization such as financial reports, customer information, production statistics, pricing data, inventory levels, transportation costs, etc.
- Organize, clean and validate the data to ensure it is comprehensive and accurate before analysis
- Develop mathematical and simulation models to represent the real-world systems and scenarios relevant to the problem or situation being analyzed
- Perform complex statistical analyses and modeling techniques such as optimization, queuing theory, forecasting, machine learning, and Monte Carlo simulation
- Interpret and validate results of the quantitative analyses and models
- Determine the optimal solutions among various alternatives and make data-driven recommendations for management or clients
- Communicate analysis findings, insights and recommended solutions to key decision makers through reports, presentations, briefings and meetings
- Continually monitor implemented solutions to assess effectiveness and make adjustments as needed
- Develop tools, standards, policies, and processes to improve ongoing analytics and operations research for the organization
In summary, operation research analysts are high-level consultants who leverage math, statistics, programming, and business operations knowledge to drive enhanced decision making. They have a keen ability to translate complex business scenarios into quantitative models that provide data-backed insights. Their analyses support improved organizational strategy, processes, resource allocation, logistics, profits, and competitiveness.
What Skills and Qualifications Are Required?
To succeed as an operation research analyst and conduct advanced analytical work, the following skills and qualifications are helpful:
- Math and statistical skills – Strong math acumen and statistical analysis capabilities are essential. This includes being proficient in calculus, linear algebra, probability, optimization, regression, forecasting, and machine learning techniques.
- Computer and programming skills – Operation research analysts must be able to write code and queries to manipulate, analyze and visualize complex data sets using statistical software, database tools, spreadsheets, and programming languages like Python, R, SQL, VBA etc.
- Critical thinking and problem solving – Excellent critical thinking and structured problem solving skills are crucial. Analysts must frame issues, understand interconnected variables, question assumptions, interpret data, and evaluate alternative solutions.
- Analytical and quantitative abilities – A high comfort level working with numbers, analytics and mathematical modeling is important. This enables sound data analysis and model development.
- Communication and presentation adeptness – Strong written and verbal communication skills are necessary to explain technical analysis insights and recommended solutions to leadership teams in simple business terms.
- Business acumen – An understanding of general business concepts and operations is helpful for modeling real-world systems and providing actionable recommendations.
- Education – Most positions require at least a bachelor’s degree in operations research, mathematics, statistics, engineering, economics, computer science, or a quantitative field. An advanced degree like a master’s is preferred by some employers.
The most qualified operation research analysts bring a balance of mathematical prowess, programming abilities, critical thinking, and communication skills coupled with business knowledge. Ongoing learning and keeping up with the latest data analysis and modeling techniques is also important for career success.
What Is the Job Outlook and Salary Potential?
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the job outlook for operations research analysts is very positive:
- Employment of operations research analysts is projected to grow 25% from 2020 to 2030, much faster than the average for all occupations.
- Growth will be driven by advances in analytics software that allows more widespread and sophisticated use of complex modeling and optimization techniques.
- Most industries rely on operations research analysts for decision support and cost reduction, fueling demand. Analyst roles are increasingly commonplace.
- Strong job prospects are expected for those with a master’s degree and expertise in sophisticated quantitative methods and analytics tools.
The BLS reports that the median annual salary for operations research analysts was $86,200 as of May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $52,770 and the highest 10% earned more than $150,960 according to BLS data.
Salaries can vary based on your experience and expertise, the specific industry you work in, the region of the country, and whether you work at a large organization or consulting firm. But overall, operations research analysts are generally well compensated for their high-level skillset.
Pros of Being an Operation Research Analyst
Here are some of the key advantages and positives to being an operation research analyst:
- Apply your mathematical, statistical and analytical prowess to solve real-world business problems and positively impact organizations
- Work on diverse project types across many different industries
- Collaborate with and influence business leaders with your data-driven insights and solutions
- Earn a good salary and enjoy strong job outlook and demand for your skills
- Continually learn and expand your analytics toolkit as methods and software evolve
- Gain broad business knowledge of processes, systems, and operations
- Opportunities for upward mobility into management roles
- Ability to move between industries and across public/private sectors
Overall, operations research analyst is an excellent career if you enjoy quantitative analysis, problem solving, working with data, collaborating cross-functionally, and guiding organizations with analytics. This high-level role leverages your technical expertise to shape business strategy and decisions.
Cons of Being an Operation Research Analyst
There are also some potential disadvantages or challenges to consider with this career:
- Can involve high-pressure deadlines, long hours, overtime, and weekend work during peak project times
- Must keep up with continually evolving data tools, programming languages, and advanced analytical techniques which requires ongoing learning
- Requires patience and persistence to gather, clean and analyze large data sets
- Potentially stressful presenting complex analyses and recommendations to executives
- Doesn’t involve much hands-on engineering, physical science, or technology work beyond programming and data manipulation
- More repetitive and stationary office work than scientific lab work or field work
- Recommendations are not always adopted or successfully implemented by the organization
- Some travel may be required to meet with clients or leadership at various sites
Operation research analysts enjoy solving complex problems with data-driven solutions. But the work can be mentally demanding and deadline-driven at times. You must enjoy statistical analysis and learning mathematical techniques to succeed. And organizational politics can hamper adoption of recommendations.
Job Satisfaction and Lifestyle Considerations
When weighing operation research analyst as a career, it’s also helpful to consider potential job satisfaction and lifestyle factors:
- Highly technical and specialized work appealing to quantitative, analytical thinkers
- Work mostly involves data manipulation, modeling, coding, and analysis tasks rather than social interactions
- Provides a good work-life balance and stable 40 hour office week in non-peak times
- Opportunities to periodically travel to client sites or conferences
- Can feel less engaging if relegated to repetitive reporting vs high-impact analysis
- Ability to collaborate with colleagues on modeling and analytical techniques
- Mentally challenging work that fully occupies your mind
- Prestige of being a highly-trained specialist consulting with business leaders
Overall, operation research analysts have fairly intellectual and autonomous albeit sometimes repetitive work grounded in math, statistics, programming and business operations. Supporting organizations with data insights can bring high job fulfillment. If you enjoy analytics and crunching numbers over social interactions, it can make for an engaging career.
Job Options Beyond Consulting Firms
While many operation research analysts work for management consulting firms, there are a diverse set of public and private sector organizations that employ analysts:
- Research organizations like RAND
- Defense and intelligence agencies like the NSA
- Technology and ecommerce companies like Amazon, Google, Netflix
- Transportation, logistics, and supply chain companies like UPS, FedEx
- Financial institutions like banks, insurance firms, and investment companies
- Healthcare providers and payers performing analytics on costs, risks, data, processes etc.
- Energy companies optimizing exploration, production, or distribution
- Manufacturing organizations analyzing supply chains, quality, inventory etc.
- Government entities at the federal, state and local level
There are abundant industry verticals that leverage operations research analysts for decision support. Seeking roles outside of pure consulting opens up many possibilities to apply your skills.
Conclusion
In summary, a career as an operations research analyst can be highly rewarding but does require some tradeoffs. The work leverages your analytical capabilities and quantitative expertise to drive business insights without as much need for interpersonal skills. Salaries and demand for analysts are strong based on trends. But expect technically complex work under sometimes tight deadlines. If you enjoy working with data, modeling systems, and optimizing processes more than collaborating with others, operations research analyst is likely a great career match offering high income potential and an abundance of opportunities due to organizations’ growing data analytics needs.