Director Data Science and Optimization

Cra1009crwl.755fc3a5 077f 4395 Ad9a 01ffdc6dea89

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Houston, TX Until 10/6/2026 12+ years exp First posted August 7, 2026 Last posted August 7, 2026
Job description

General Description 

At Crane you'll join a fast-growing data organization at a global company operating at the intersection of logistics, optimization, and algorithmic decision-making. We're a 3rd-party logistics provider generating massive volumes of data across every category and latency, and need an experienced leader to drive our investment in building the quantitative foundations to manage our core business algorithmically. You will lead a team of data scientists, owning both the people and the technical direction of data science & optimization at Crane. You'll manage a team of data scientists, set technical standards, and partner closely with business stakeholders to make sure our optimization and forecasting projects are solving the right problems the right way. Your team's work will span pricing, finance, and marketing and growth, with a heavy focus on Operations Research-style optimization. This team is focused on higher level business goals and more consistent business impact than simple truck routing or churn prediction problems. This is a hybrid position in our Houston, TX location.

Essential Job Functions

  • Team leadership and stakeholder partnership
    • You'll work directly with business stakeholders to understand problems, shape measurement and experimental design approaches, and align data science projects with business goals.
    • You'll collaborate with other technical functions (Data Engineering, BI Engineering, etc.).
    • You'll ensure that the team follows a well-structured planning process, keeping priorities transparent and execution focused.
  • Technical oversight
    • You'll set the standard for how the team works: code reviews, version control discipline, automation, and pragmatic choices about tooling and approaches.
    • You'll bring common sense to the technical project lifecycle and modeling choices, always favoring simplicity and reliability.
    • You'll guide the team across optimization, experimentation, statistical analysis, forecasting, and ML projects and drive the appropriate level of rigor & care.
  • Strategy
    • You'll partner with engineering and business leadership to shape our vision for an algorithmic logistics business.
    • You'll connect technical direction (modeling approaches, architecture, and technology selection) to our strategy over multi-year planning horizons.

Education & Experience

  • Bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering, Mathematics, Operations Research, or similar required.
  • 12+ years, including 5+ years managing and growing data science teams.
  • Track record of leading teams that successfully deliver mathematical optimization/operations research/industrial engineering programs at scale.
  • 3+ years of experience managing data science teams, including experience managing managers or building a function from the ground up.
  • Experience owning practical business forecasting programs, with strong statistical fundamentals.
  • Proficiency with Python, Julia, R or similar programming languages; comfortable with software engineering fundamentals.
  • 3+ years of experience leading successful global rollouts.
  • Deep knowledge of mathematical optimization, operations research, forecasting, experimentation, and machine learning methods.
  • Experience deploying and managing solutions as applications and endpoints.
  • Applicants must be legally authorized to work in the United States on a full-time, ongoing basis without the need for current or future employer sponsorship.

Preferred

  • Experience solving problems in logistics.
  • Advanced degree in a quantitative field.
  • Comfortable with software engineering fundamentals.
  • Experience deploying managing solutions as applications and endpoints.
  • Experience presenting to and influencing executive audiences.

Physical Requirements

  • Talking, hearing and using hands to operate computer equipment.
  • Vision abilities required by this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus.
  • Job may require extended sitting or standing, use of standard office equipment.
  • Job will require punctual attendance and regular presence on-site at the assigned work location.

WHY SHOULD YOU WORK FOR CRANE?

At Crane, we believe in providing our employees with excellent benefits at a Great Place to Work!

We offer:

  • Quarterly Incentive Plan
  • 136 hours of Paid Time Off which equals 17 days for the year, that can be used for Sick Time or for Personal Use
  • Excellent Medical, Dental and Vision benefits
  • Tuition Reimbursement for education related to your job
  • Employee Referral Bonuses
  • Employee Recognition and Rewards Program
  • Paid Volunteer Time to support a cause that is close to your heart and contributes to our communities
  • Employee Discounts
  • Wellness Incentives that can go up to $100 per year for completing challenges, in addition to a discount on contribution rates

Come join the leader in logistics and take your career in the right direction.

Disclaimer:

The above statements are intended to describe the general nature and level of work being performed by people assigned to this position. They are not to be construed as an exhaustive list of all responsibilities, duties, and skills required of personnel so classified. All personnel may be required to perform duties outside of their normal responsibilities from time to time, as needed.

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

We maintain a drug-free workplace and perform pre-employment substance abuse testing.

This position requires the final candidate to successfully pass an E-Verify Check.

More Information: http://www.dhs.gov/e-verify 

Company benefits are contingent upon meeting eligibility requirements and plan conditions.

 

 

About this role

Summary

Lead data science teams to optimize and forecast logistics operations, aligning technical and business strategies.

Job title

Director Data Science and Optimization

Experience level

12+ years including 5+ years managing data science teams

Minimum experience

12+ years exp

Industry

logistics

Location requirements

Houston, TX; hybrid work allowed

Salary

Not specified

Management role

Yes

Skills & keywords

Required skills

Pythonstatisticsteam managementoptimizationstakeholder collaboration

Preferred skills

logisticsadvanced degreesoftware engineeringapplication deploymentexecutive presentation

Specializations

optimizationoperations researchforecastingmachine learning
Locations

Structured locations inferred from the posting.

Houston, TX, USA

Hybrid City