At a Glance
- Tasks: Join us to develop AI solutions that revolutionise short-haul trucking operations.
- Company: Be part of DayJob, a fast-growing startup backed by Y Combinator.
- Benefits: Enjoy a competitive salary, equity, 25 days holiday, and a learning budget.
- Other info: Help shape our optimisation engine and technical roadmap from the ground up.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in an industry ripe for innovation with cutting-edge technology.
- Qualifications: Degree in a quantitative field and 4+ years in optimisation or applied operations research.
The predicted salary is between 80000 - 120000 £ per year.
About DayJob
DayJob builds AI agents for short-haul trucking - a $45bn market still run on spreadsheets, phone calls and software from the 1990s. We've just completed Y Combinator, are scaling towards $1M ARR, growing ~20% month-on-month, and launching in the US. Our customers include some of the largest waste and recycling operators in the UK and US, and we're backed by leading investors including Paul Graham (Founder of Y Combinator) and Harry Stebbings (Founder of 20VC). Dayjob has developed its own proprietary models, which wouldn't have been possible until now, delivering hundreds of thousands of pounds in additional revenue to its customers. This is a once in a generation opportunity to change how these businesses operate, industries where software adoption has been slow but where AI adoption can completely change their economics.
About the Optimisation Team
Deploying state-of-the-art algorithms into legacy businesses is one way to think about what we do at Dayjob. Hence, optimisation is the cornerstone of what we do; saving 1% time on the road gives our customers hundreds of thousands more revenue and saves gallons of diesel on wasted mileage. We've launched models to optimise roll-off vehicles in the waste sector; this is just the tip of the iceberg.
You may be a good fit if you have:
- A degree in mathematics, physics, computer science, engineering, or a similar quantitative field
- 4+ years working on optimisation, routing, scheduling, or applied OR problems - ideally with meaningful time on real, deployed systems
- A track record of building and shipping optimisation or ML solutions, ideally in a fast-paced transport or logistics setting
- Experience in working with geospatial data like spectral analysis, applied graph theory and computational geometry
- Strong Python and SQL, with hands-on experience using solvers (e.g. OR-Tools, Gurobi, CPLEX)
- The ability to balance theoretical rigour with pragmatic constraints, and to own a model end-to-end: design -> build -> deploy -> tune
- Comfort working with messy operational data and edge-case-heavy workflows
- Experience mentoring or leading other engineers, or a clear and genuine ambition to start
Bonus if you've worked on:
- Vehicle routing problems (VRP), especially with uncertainty and problem sizes requiring decomposition
- Constraint programming or metaheuristics
- Real-time decision systems
- Logistics, fleet, or field-service products
- Early-stage startups
What we offer:
- Competitive salary
- Significant equity
- 25 days holiday + your birthday off
- Moorgate office
- Learning & development budget
- A foundational role defining our optimisation engine and technical roadmap from the ground up
To close
Short-haul trucking is a decade behind companies like Amazon - yet it's the lifeblood of the economy. Our customers deserve better tools, and only now, with AI, are they possible to build. If you want to build the brains of the next-generation dispatch engine, we'd love to meet you.
Compensation: £80K-£120K
Offers Equity
Founding Optimisation Engineer employer: Visa Hunt
Gartner is an exceptional employer that fosters a dynamic and inclusive work culture, where innovation and collaboration thrive. With a strong emphasis on employee growth, you will have access to mentorship opportunities and resources to advance your career while working in a hybrid model that promotes work-life balance. Located in a vibrant market, Gartner offers the unique advantage of engaging with top executives globally, making your contributions impactful and rewarding.
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We think you need these skills to ace Founding Optimisation Engineer
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