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Business Management and Operations

Business Management and Operations | Operations Research Analyst

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 358 Operations Research Analyst job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 12991 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 2015:

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 $99,874.

State

The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $98,441.

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 $74,886.

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 LevelPercentage
Associate's Degree0%
Bachelor's Degree50.14%
Master's Degree16.63%
Doctoral Degree6.8%
Other9.83%

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 ExperiencePercentage
0 to 2 years29.53%
3 to 5 years41.34%
6 to 8 years13.35%
9+ years15.78%

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.

  • Communication (35.68%)
  • Operations (31.71%)
  • Management (29.35%)
  • Leadership (24.5%)
  • Problem Solving (23.83%)
  • Planning (19.28%)
  • Research (19.24%)
  • Microsoft Excel (14.5%)
  • Customer Service (14.4%)
  • Writing (12.71%)

Necessary Skills

A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.

  • Workflow Management (12.1%)
  • Agile Methodology (10.83%)
  • Supply Chain (15.03%)
  • Data Analysis (26.21%)
  • Change Management (8.77%)
  • Continuous Improvement Process (13.28%)
  • Economics (6.58%)
  • Computer Science (13.12%)
  • Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) (9.17%)
  • Marketing (9.03%)
  • Industrial Engineering (6.89%)
  • Auditing (9.62%)
  • Accounting (6.66%)
  • Calculus (6.66%)
  • Operations Research (24.03%)
  • Probability (7.75%)
  • Statistics (14.14%)
  • Business Process (12.32%)
  • Finance (12.14%)
  • Python (Programming Language) (13.83%)
  • Project Management (23.15%)
  • Data Science (5.89%)
  • SQL (Programming Language) (10.39%)
  • Process Improvement (26.75%)
  • Process Mapping (4.45%)

Distinguishing Skills

A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.

  • Promulgation (0.04%)
  • Experimental Psychology (2.18%)
  • Managerial Economics (2.18%)
  • Mathematical Logic (5.08%)
  • Queueing Theory (2.28%)
  • Physical Chemistry (2.17%)
  • Probability And Statistics (1.86%)

Alternative Job Titles

Sometimes employers post jobs with Operations Research Analyst skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:

  • Process Improvement Analyst
  • Methodologist
  • Process Analyst
  • Engineering Analyst
  • Process Expert
  • Permitting Manager
  • Network Development Manager
  • Continuous Improvement Analyst
  • Nurse Practitioner

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.

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

  • Accenture (286)
  • Booz Allen Hamilton (258)
  • Lululemon (194)
  • Apple (176)
  • Humana (138)
  • Elevance Health (126)
  • Albany Medical Center (120)
  • Windstream (107)
  • Intel (96)
  • Deloitte (90)

North Carolina

  • Truist Financial (22)
  • Lowe's (21)
  • Accenture (13)
  • Actalent (5)
  • Equality Health (5)
  • First Citizens Bank (5)
  • Duke University (5)
  • Principal Financial Group (5)
  • Valiant Integrated Services (4)
  • Mountaire Farms (4)

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!