Home Healthcare Optimisation Engineer - KTP Associate

UE07: £41,885 - £49,798 per annum

CSE / School of Mathematics / Oran Homecare Ltd.

Full-time: 35 hours per week

Fixed term: 24 months

Primarily based at Oran Homecare Ltd.’s offices in Kirkcaldy

The University of Edinburgh and Oran Homecare Ltd. have been awarded a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) funded by Innovate UK to develop and implement a robust, flexible, and scalable routing and scheduling tool for optimising home health care services. The goal is to replace the highly manual, constraint heavy scheduling processes with a configurable in-house system capable of supporting diverse planning restrictions and goals within Oran Homecare Ltd. as well as across the sector. This is an innovation project which will draw on the knowledge and expertise of the KTP Associate working together with Dr Jörg Kalcsics in the School of Mathematics and Dr James Richings in the EPCC at the University of Edinburgh. 

Oran Homecare Ltd. is an award-winning provider of Care at Home, Hospital Discharge and Assisted Living services throughout Scotland. Their mission is to raise the standards of care throughout the UK. Oran has a track record of innovating in partnership with other bodies throughout the social care sector and is currently developing state of the art scheduling software in partnership with the University of Edinburgh to improve coordination throughout the sector. 

The Opportunity

We are seeking an independent and motivated KTP Associate with a track record in mathematical modelling and the design of optimisation algorithms in applied research or in industry, ideally with a focus on home healthcare, transport logistics, or last-mile delivery problems, expertise in data analysis and engineering, and proficiency in C/C++. Experience in high-performance computing and cross-disciplinary collaboration is desirable. 

Over 24 months, you will further develop a heuristic-based optimisation tool for scheduling and routing home healthcare workers to support Oran Homecare’s daily operations. Your work will span five stages covering successive aspects of the development: (1) learning the trade of home healthcare planning processes and tools; (2) developing automated data ingestion pipelines and data cleaning, validation, and testing methods; (3) modularising the existing prototype optimisation tool; (4) extending the tool by new planning restrictions and goals, devising trade-off mechanisms for conflicting goals, and applying state-of-the-art concepts from high-performance computing to improve efficiency; (5) creating demo case studies and training material. You will have ability to adapt the schedule within the bounds of the project and you will collaborate closely with the Oran Homecare Ltd. team. 

The detailed work plan for the project is available upon request from Dr Jörg Kalcsics ([email protected]).

This post is full-time (35 hours per week), primarily based at Oran Homecare Ltd.’s offices in Kirkcaldy, with weekly visits to the University of Edinburgh. We are open to considering requests for hybrid working (on a non-contractual basis) that combines a mix of remote and regular on-site working. The post will be managed within Oran Homecare Ltd. with supervision by Jonathan McFarlane (Director) and Katie Vanbeck (Deputy Manager) and the academic leads at the School of Mathematics (Dr Jörg Kalcsics) and at EPCC (Dr James Richings) at the University of Edinburgh.

As part of this role, you may have the opportunity to publish research in top-tier journals, contribute to developing production-grade optimisation tools, and gain significant commercial exposure in the ever-growing home healthcare sector.

Whilst you will be employed by UoE, the details of your terms and conditions will be discussed further at interview and are subject to Oran Homecare’s terms and conditions, including any salary increases.

View the full  Job Description  (Opens in a new browser tab)

How to apply

Please include the following documents in your application:

- CV

- Cover letter explaining your suitability for the role and your interest in the KTP project

- Contact details of two referees

As a valued member of our team, you can expect: 

• A competitive salary. 
• An exciting, positive, creative, challenging and rewarding place to work. 
• To be part of a diverse and vibrant international community.
• Comprehensive Staff Benefits, including generous annual leave entitlement, a defined benefits pension scheme, a wide range of staff discounts, family-friendly initiatives, and flexible work options. Check out the full list on our staff benefits page(opens in a new tab) and use our reward calculator to discover the value of your pay and benefits. 

As a KTP Associate, you will be part of the national Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (ktp-uk.org) scheme and entitled to specialist management training and professional development opportunities. 

Championing equality, diversity, and inclusion

The University of Edinburgh holds a Silver Athena SWAN award in recognition of our commitment to advance gender equality in higher education. We are members of the Race Equality Charter, and we are also a Stonewall Proud Employer, actively promoting LGBTQ+ equality. 

Prior to any employment commencing with the University, you will be required to evidence your right to work in the UK. Further information is available on our right to work webpages. 

If successful, an international applicant requiring sponsorship to work in the UK will need to satisfy the UK Home Office’s English Language requirements and apply for and secure a Skilled Worker Visa. While the University is able to cover the sponsorship administration, it will not be able to cover the sponsorship costs. 

We welcome applications from all qualified candidates and particularly encourage applications from female candidates, as we acknowledge they are currently underrepresented in our area. 

Key dates to note

The closing date for applications is 30 November 2026.

Unless stated otherwise the closing time for applications is 11:59pm UK time. If you are applying outside the UK the closing time on our adverts automatically adjusts to your browsers local time zone. 

Interviews will take place at Oran Homecare’s offices in Kirkcaldy, and the interview panel will comprise both academic and company representatives. 

Interviews will be held on 14 and 15 December 2026.