Senior Developer

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Description

Job overview and responsibilities

As a Senior Developer (L4) in the Digital Technology team at United Airlines, you will play a pivotal role in designing, developing, and implementing advanced Operations Research models and optimization systems that enhance airline network planning and scheduling.

You will collaborate with cross-functional teams, including Operations Research specialists, software engineers, and business stakeholders, to build scalable mathematical models and integrate them into enterprise-grade airline platforms. Your work will directly improve aircraft utilization, scheduling efficiency, connectivity, and cost optimization across a global airline network.

The ideal candidate has strong expertise in optimization, mathematical modeling, and large-scale system development, with hands-on experience building Operations Research solutions for complex real-world scheduling and planning problems. 

As a Senior Developer – Operations Research at United Airlines, you will:

• Be a member of the product development team responsible for designing and developing new and existing applications supporting airline network planning and scheduling solutions.  
• Build and implement high-quality Operations Research (OR) models and optimization systems following software engineering best practices.  
• Develop mathematical programming models, including linear programming, mixed-integer programming, nonlinear optimization, and statistical models, to solve complex airline operational problems.  
• Work closely with engineering teams to integrate optimization models into applications and digital platforms.  
• Lead the modeling of business decisions, operational strategies, and optimization initiatives to improve scheduling efficiency and network performance.  
• Develop optimization solutions considering constraints such as aircraft allocation, connectivity, airport slot constraints, availability, and operational cost efficiency.  
• Solve large-scale optimization problems using CPLEX and similar commercial solvers.  
• Collaborate with Operations Research specialists and stakeholders to translate business requirements into analytical and algorithmic solutions.  
• Analyze model performance and provide recommendations to improve operational efficiency and decision-making outcomes.  
• Continuously enhance optimization model efficiency, scalability, and robustness through research-driven improvements.  
• Stay updated with advancements in Operations Research, optimization techniques, and machine learning, and apply relevant concepts where applicable.  

This position is offered on local terms and conditions. Expatriate assignments and sponsorship for employment visas, even on a time-limited visa status, will not be awarded. This position is for United Airlines Business Services Pvt. Ltd - a wholly owned subsidiary of United Airlines Inc.

Qualifications

What’s needed to succeed (Minimum Qualifications):

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering, Operations Research, Mathematics, or related field.
• 8+ years of experience in applied Operations Research, optimization, decision analysis, or mathematical modeling.  
• Strong expertise in optimization techniques like nonlinear and mixed-integer optimization.
• 4+ years of experience working with commercial optimization software such as IBM ILOG CPLEX, Gurobi, LINDO, or Xpress (Experience on CPLEX is preferred)  
• 3+ years of experience in programming using Python or Julia.  
• Good-to-have experience with C++
• Exposure to machine learning and statistical modeling is a plus.  
• Must be hands-on with Generative AI (GenAI) and Agentic AI, with demonstrated daily use of AI-powered tools to enhance productivity, automate workflows, and solve business problems.
• Airline domain knowledge is an added advantage.  
• Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.  
• Experience working in fast-paced, optimization-driven or research-oriented environments