Operations Research Analyst
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
An Operations Research Analyst provides quantitative analysis and modeling to analyze operations for a business or organization. Collects and analyzes data and provides information that managers can use to improve business operations and practices.
Job Outlook
There were 32 Operations Research Analyst job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 2246 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Operations Analyst industry, which includes the Operations Research Analyst career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2016:
Salary
Many new Operations Research Analyst jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $119,041.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $119,041.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Operations Research Analyst postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $97,586.
Education and Experience
Posted Operations Research Analyst jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 67.19% |
| Master's Degree | 42.21% |
| Doctoral Degree | 13.62% |
| Other | 4.36% |
Posted Operations Research Analyst jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 37.18% |
| 3 to 5 years | 22.02% |
| 6 to 8 years | 11.17% |
| 9+ years | 29.63% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Operations Research Analyst positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Mathematics (46.88%)
- Management (46.13%)
- Research (45.33%)
- Operations (42.61%)
- Leadership (33.04%)
- Communication (32.5%)
- Planning (32.01%)
- Problem Solving (24.71%)
- Decision Making (19.5%)
- Writing (15.81%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Data Analysis (35.2%)
- Operations Research (91.14%)
- Calculus (25.71%)
- Economics (18.53%)
- Experimental Psychology (8.27%)
- Mathematical Logic (20.11%)
- Python (Programming Language) (19.66%)
- Queueing Theory (8.59%)
- Probability (30.55%)
- Mathematical Modeling (20.29%)
- Managerial Economics (8.31%)
- Statistics (37.23%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Statistical Analysis (14.91%)
- Analytical Techniques (7.28%)
- Applied Mathematics (10.3%)
- Policy Development (5.2%)
- Agile Methodology (1.94%)
- Systems Engineering (8.72%)
- Algorithms (3.84%)
- Software Development (3.07%)
- Accounting (3.12%)
- Cost Benefit Analysis (3.84%)
- Computer Science (22.14%)
- C++ (Programming Language) (4.07%)
- Dashboard (11.39%)
- Data Collection (11.21%)
- Industrial Engineering (16.13%)
- Econometrics (11.25%)
- Cost Estimation (9.31%)
- Data Modeling (12.7%)
- R (Programming Language) (15.09%)
- Data Visualization (14.05%)
- Decision Support Systems (3.52%)
- MATLAB (10.71%)
- Process Analysis (8.72%)
- Physics (16.72%)
- Risk Analysis (9.17%)
- Marketing (9.58%)
- Machine Learning (6.19%)
- Physical Chemistry (8.18%)
- SAS (Software) (6.96%)
- Tableau (Business Intelligence Software) (14.37%)
- SQL (Programming Language) (7.18%)
- Project Management (9.94%)
- Visual Basic For Applications (4.25%)
- Quantitative Analysis (9.72%)
- Power BI (11.52%)
- Scientific Reasoning (9.13%)
- Simulations (18.03%)
- Advanced Analytics (5.6%)
- Scientific Methods (6.33%)
- Systems Design (9.26%)
- Probability And Statistics (6.37%)
- Data Science (10.3%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Calculus (82.46%)
- Mathematical Logic (64.49%)
- Probability (97.97%)
- Queueing Theory (27.54%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Operations Research Analyst skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Research Assistant/Data Analyst
- Cost Analyst
- Research Data Scientist
- Lead Operations Research Analyst
- Operations Research Systems Analyst
- Interdisciplinary Engineer
- Management Analyst
- Electronic Warfare Analyst
- Research Principal
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Statistician
- Mathematician
- Data Scientist
- Research Analyst
- Economist
- Computer Scientist
- Data Analyst
- Research Scientist
- Decision Support Analyst
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Operations Research Analyst jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- GovCIO (157)
- United States Department of Defense (114)
- United States Department of the Treasury (74)
- MITRE Corporation (62)
- Booz Allen Hamilton (49)
- Da Field Operating Agencies And Staff Support Agencies (47)
- Amentum (47)
- Linquest Corporation (37)
- United States Navy (37)
- Office Of The Chief Of Staff Of The Army (35)
North Carolina
- R & K Enterprise Solutions (5)
- GovCIO (3)
- Scientific Research Corporation (3)
- Centurion Consulting Group (2)
- U.S Special Operations Command (2)
- Arma Global Corporation (2)
- General Dynamics (1)
- Mayvin (1)
- Applied Research Associates (1)
- Arctic Slope Regional Corporation (1)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
- Business Analytics Graduate Certificates
- Learning Analytics Graduate Certificates
- Management, Marketing Analytics Master's Degrees
- Statistics Master's Degrees
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.