Research Scientist, Server Demand

Meta runs one of the largest server fleets on earth, and every product bet (AI training, ranking, inference, storage) turns into a demand for compute that we must forecast, shape, and match to a physical supply of servers, racks, power, and data center space. As the senior technical owner of Server Demand Planning, you own the demand side of that equation and close the loop with supply: you forecast long- and near-term server capacity demand by rack/hardware type and region, and you build the operations-research models that match that demand to supply so we land the right servers, in the right place, at the right time. You set the modeling approach for the function, decide when to ship a production-grade optimization system versus a fast lightweight model to unblock a decision, and act as the connective tissue between product/service capacity owners, capacity engineering, supply chain, data center planning, and finance.

Responsibilities

• Own the multi-horizon server/MW demand forecast long range (2-5+ years), by resource type and DC supply requirements.
• Aggregate and normalize demand signals from short term demand and product groups, into a single trusted statistical long term demand plan.
• Formulate and solve the demand-supply matching problem using operations-research models that reconcile forecasted demand with hardware roadmaps, cooling, lead times, and power constraints to inform the Plan of Record.
• Build across the full modeling spectrum: production-grade optimization and forecasting systems and prototype models and heuristics that answer a leadership question or unblock a decision.
• Set functional standards: define the operating model, bridge short- and long-term forecasts, track accuracy and supply-matching metrics, and bridge forecast-to-actual gaps.
• Partner with IDC engineering, site selection, and hardware strategy teams to align next-generation data center designs, rack sizing, and hardware roadmaps with demand, eliminating stranded power, cooling, and space capacity.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, relevant technical field, or equivalent practical experience
• 7+ years applying operations research / management science to real planning problems in demand planning, capacity planning, supply-demand matching, network optimization, or inventory
• MS in a quantitative field (Operations Research, Industrial Engineering, Applied Math, Statistics, CS, or related), or equivalent experience
• Deep operations-research toolkit: mathematical optimization (LP, MILP, stochastic/robust optimization), simulation, queuing theory, and probabilistic/statistical forecasting
• Demonstrated ability to build BOTH production-grade models/systems (deployed, maintained, driving real decisions) AND lightweight/prototype models delivered fast under ambiguity
• Strong demand-to-supply matching experience: reconciling forecasted demand against constrained supply, lead times, and inventory
• Fluency with optimization solvers (Gurobi, CPLEX, Xpress, or OR-Tools) and with SQL + Python for modeling, analysis, and pipelines PhD in Operations Research, Industrial Engineering, Management Science, or a related quantitative field
• Direct experience with server/compute or data center capacity planning at hyperscale
• Statistical/ML forecasting depth (time series, hierarchical/probabilistic forecasting, forecast reconciliation)
• Experience with planning platforms (Kinaxis, SAP IBP, o9, Blue Yonder, Demantra, E2open) and internal capacity tools (MCP/ICPC, Capacity Explorer)
• Publications, patents, or recognized technical leadership in OR / optimization / forecasting