Head of Applied Science

The role

The Head of Applied Science will own the forecasting and optimization portfolio to drive business results. You will merge these two capabilities into a single function and define the strategic roadmap for automating decisions in purchasing, fulfillment, and scheduling.

What you will do

• Own business results delivered by the forecasting and optimization portfolio
• Define the strategic roadmap and prioritization for decision automation
• Set technical standards and architecture for problem framing and method selection
• Merge Forecasting and Optimization into one high-performing team
• Set hiring standards and develop ML engineers and applied scientists
• Partner with cell leads, operations managers, product owners, and engineering leads

Required qualifications

• 8+ years applying machine learning, forecasting, or operations research to real operational or commercial problems
• Experience building and shipping production models in time-series/probabilistic forecasting or mathematical optimization (LP, MIP, CP, heuristics, simulation)
• Fluency in Python and SQL
• Hands-on experience with production pipelines, monitoring, and backtesting
• Familiarity with modern forecasting stacks or solvers (Gurobi, CPLEX, OR-Tools)
• Experience working directly alongside supply chain, warehouse, or logistics operations
• Proven experience leading technical teams, hiring top talent, and developing engineers
• Active use of coding agents and modern AI tooling in daily workflow
• M.S. or Ph.D. in Operations Research, Computer Science, Statistics, Applied Mathematics, or equivalent hands-on experience

Nice to have

• Experience in e-commerce, grocery, supply chain, or logistics at scale
• Experience building or scaling a forecasting, optimization, or decision-science function from an early stage
• Experience feeding probabilistic forecasts directly into optimization models
• Experience with GCP, Snowflake, or BigQuery, and ML platforms such as ZenML or Vertex AI

Benefits

• Strong fixed salary with clear rules
• Subsidised meals/fresh food options in the office
• Regular refreshments like drinks, fruit, and snacks
• Paid vacation days above statutory
• Bonusly peer-recognition credits
• UNIQA private insurance option
• Company car available for selected management-level roles
• Fuel support for regular WH travel
• Free Knuspr Premium membership
• Referral rewards through group referral program
• Team events and celebrations

About the company

Rohlik is the leading Central European e-grocer. More than a million customers shop with them across five different websites.