Coupa makes margins multiply through its community-generated AI and industry-leading total spend management platform for businesses large and small. Coupa AI is informed by trillions of dollars of direct and indirect spend data across a global network of 10M+ buyers and suppliers. We empower you with the ability to predict, prescribe, and automate smarter, more profitable business decisions to improve operating margins.

Why join Coupa

Pioneering Technology: At Coupa, we're at the forefront of innovation, leveraging the latest technology to empower our customers with greater efficiency and visibility in their spend
Collaborative Culture: We value collaboration and teamwork, and our culture is driven by transparency, openness, and a shared commitment to excellence
Global Impact: Join a company where your work has a global, measurable impact on our clients, the business, and each other.

Learn more on Life at Coupa blog and hear from our employees about their experiences working at Coupa.

The Impact of Principal Operations Research Scientist to Coupa:
At Coupa, we are building the smartest Business Spend Management (BSM) platform in the world. Our Supply Chain and Sourcing engineering teams develop advanced tools that help global enterprises design resilient supply chains, optimize procurement events, and maximize the value of every dollar spent. The Operations Research team is at the heart of this mission. As a Principal Operations Research Scientist, you will act as the principal hands-on architect for our core optimization engines, driving technical excellence and turning complex mathematical theories into scalable, production-ready enterprise software.

What You'll Do

Algorithmic Leadership: Take end-to-end technical ownership of complex optimization features. Formulate, prototype, and implement advanced mathematical models (MIP, LP, NLP, Network Flow, and custom heuristics) to solve strategic sourcing and supply chain challenges
Architecture & Scalability: Partner with software architects to integrate optimization models into Coupa's high-throughput, multi-tenant SaaS platform. Ensure the code is modular, well-tested, and built to handle massive enterprise datasets
Solver Tuning & Optimization: Bench-test, profile, and tune commercial solvers (e.g., Gurobi, CPLEX, Google OR-Tools) to dramatically improve performance, solve times, and memory footprint under strict application SLAs
Technical Mentorship: Act as a force multiplier by mentoring senior and junior engineers/scientists. Establish code review standards and run design sessions to elevate the team's mathematical and engineering practices
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Work closely with Product Managers and Senior Engineering leaders to define feature requirements, translate business objectives into technical specifications, and manage algorithmic trade-offs
Empirical Validation: Design robust validation frameworks and simulation environments to thoroughly test model behavior, ensuring stability and mathematical correctness against highly variable, messy real-world data

What You Will Bring To Coupa

Master's degree or Ph.D. in Operations Research, Industrial Engineering, Applied Mathematics, Computer Science, or a closely related field
12+ years of industry experience applying operations research methods and deploying production-level optimization models in commercial environments at scale
Expert knowledge of mathematical programming and deep experience with authoring model formulations for commercial solvers (such as Gurobi, CPLEX, or Xpress)
Strong programming proficiency in Python, Java, C++, C# or Go, with a solid understanding of software design patterns and object-oriented programming
Deep understanding of computational complexity, advanced data structures, and algorithmic design
Excellent communication skills, with a proven ability to explain highly complex mathematical behaviors to product and business leaders
You are an elite mathematical modeler who also loves writing clean, production- grade code
You are highly analytical, self-driven, and excel at converting ambiguous, high- level business constraints into structured, elegant algorithms
You enjoy mentoring others and are passionate about cultivating a highly collaborative, intellectually rigorous engineering culture
You embody Coupa's core values: Ensure Customer Success, Focus on Results, and Strive for Excellence

What Will Give You a Competitive Edge (Preferred Qualifications)

Deep domain expertise in Supply Chain Network Design, Inventory Optimization, Production/Scheduling Optimization, Routing Optimization, Strategic Procurement, and/or Logistics
Experience utilizing Machine Learning techniques (e.g., forecasting, clustering) in tandem with mathematical optimization models
Experience with PySpark, SQL, and processing large-scale datasets in distributed computing environments

The successful candidate's starting salary will be determined based on permissible, non-discriminatory factors such as skills, experience, and geographic location.

At Coupa, we are 100% committed to creating and nurturing an environment that supports your physical, mental, and community well-being. We offer a comprehensive suite of benefits designed to help you and your family thrive:

Global Well-Being Perks (For All Employees Globally)

Global Wellness Days: Enjoy two designated, company-wide paid wellness days off each year (typically the first Friday in March and the last Friday in September) so the entire global team can unplug, step away, and recharge together
Birthday Time-Off: Celebrate your day! Coupa provides a paid day off on your birthday or another day of your choice within your birthday month
Volunteer Time Off (VTO): Giving back is in our DNA. We offer 40 hours of paid VTO annually to support the community initiatives and volunteer programs you are passionate about
Employee Assistance Program (EAP): Access free, confidential, 24/7/365 counseling and resources for emotional support, work-life solutions, financial advice, legal guidance, and support for new parents
Business Travel Protection: Travel with peace of mind. Zurich Travel Assist provides medical, safety, pre-trip planning, and emergency support during any business travel
Referral Bonus Program: Share the Coupa experience! Receive generous monetary referral bonuses when you successfully refer talented friends or acquaintances who are hired into open roles

Please note: In addition to these global well-being perks, Coupa offers highly competitive, location-specific benefits packages (which include comprehensive medical/dental insurance, retirement/pension plans, and life or accident protection) tailored to your primary work location. Your recruiter will walk you through the specific regional benefits package for this role during the interview process.

Coupa complies with relevant laws and regulations regarding equal opportunity and offers a welcoming and inclusive work environment. Decisions related to hiring, compensation, training, or evaluating performance are made fairly, and we provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified candidates and employees.

Please be advised that inquiries or resumes from recruiters will not be accepted.

By submitting your application, you acknowledge that you have read Coupa's Privacy Policy and understand that Coupa receives/collects your application, including your personal data, for the purposes of managing Coupa's ongoing recruitment and placement activities, including for employment purposes in the event of a successful application and for notification of future job opportunities if you did not succeed the first time. You will find more details about how your application is processed, the purposes of processing, and how long we retain your application in our Privacy Policy.

We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.

Principal Operations Research Scientist(Gurobi/CPLEX/Xpress)(Python/Java/C++/C / Go)(12+years)