Data Scientist Operations Research

Note: Two positions are open in two different teams: Stock Allocation & Production Planning & Steering

How do you make our customers happy?

Bol is changing retail to make daily life simpler for 13.5 million Dutch and Belgian customers. We are supported by more than 50,000 partners on our retail tech platform, offering a combined assortment of around 41 million articles and handling peak sales of 1,800 orders per minute.

To manage these sales, our logistics operation has grown significantly over the past years, currently shipping roughly 500,000 items per day from one of our five large warehouses. Because of this complexity, data science and operations research play a crucial role in making optimal use of resources and ensuring every parcel is delivered on time in a cost-effective way.

The biggest challenge

We need to ensure that our retail organization and partners meet our ambitious logistics commitments. With rapidly growing order volumes and increasing complexity in our logistics landscape, designing and implementing smart algorithms is the next logical step. How can we use our logistical resources efficiently? How can we ensure stock is always in the right place? And how can we fulfill diverse customer orders in the best possible way? These are the questions our data scientists tackle every day.

What you do as Data Scientist in Capacity Steering

You will join a forward-thinking, multidisciplinary team of data scientists, software engineers, and business colleagues (product managers, product analysts, and logistics process engineers). You will help the team develop a deep understanding of complex logistical processes, including identifying potential bottlenecks. You will translate your insights into data-driven optimization and simulation models and continuously refine them as new challenges arise.

Within the product group Capacity Steering, we maximize the value of our logistics network with data-driven and automated capacity planning to meet customer demand.

• Stock Allocation team: Focuses on inbound allocation and deciding how to distribute stock across multiple warehouses, balancing supplier flexibility, warehouse capacity and costs.
• Production Planning & Steering team: Focuses on providing internal tooling and insights that stakeholders use to plan and steer logistical processes towards the optimal balance between efficiency and customer demand.

What we are looking for

We are looking for a junior data scientist with the following skills and interests:

• Motivated and eager to learn
• Proactive, collaborative and not afraid to ask for help
• Eager to be in direct contact with end-users of their solutions
• A pragmatic attitude towards practical solutions to make things work fast
• Interested in logistics processes

Your background:

• Study background in Data Science, with strong preference in Operations Research (OR)
• +3 years of experience with data analysis, forecasting models, and operations research problems
• Programming skills in Python, Jupyter Notebook, SQL

3 reasons why this is (not) for you

• - Complexity Allergic: You are uncomfortable with complexity and ambiguity
• - Stakeholder Avoider: You are not interested in stakeholder engagement
• - Theory-Only thinker: You have lack of interest in applied problem solving or understanding business context
• + Operations Research lover: You know how to find your optimal way through OR
• + Analytical and pragmatical thinker: You enjoy cracking OR-related puzzles and get excited about rolling up your sleeves to dive into code.
• + Impact maker: You thrive on turning ideas into production-ready code that drives real impact

This is where you will work

You will be part of a multidisciplinary team of software engineers, data scientists, product managers, and logistics process engineers. You will work closely with stakeholders from buying, delivery, and logistics operations to maximize impact. Outside of work, the team enjoys spending time together through company drinks, fun outings (such as cycling), and game nights.

We take pride in our B Corp certification and strive for continuous improvement every day. Our annual bonus is tied to sustainability goals.

Perks of having a blue heart

Bonus

The bonus is calculated at the end of the year and we always end the year with a fun party!

Flexible working

We bring the best of both worlds together by working 50% at the office and 50% at home. This way, we find a balance between organisational and individual needs.

On and off

At bol we understand like no other that you have to take care of yourself first, then your environment and then bol. In that order. Therefore, everyone at bol receives 29 days of vacation.