Series 1515

Operations Research

Operations research analysts who use math, statistics, and modeling to help leaders solve complex problems and compare options. Most jobs are with the Navy and the Air Force.

Plain-language description based on the OPM series definition.

1500 Mathematical Sciences Group · General Schedule

See open 1515 jobs on USAJOBS Compare with another series Back to Series Directory

At a glance

Job postings, last 12 months: 615
Open now: 33
Trend (last 3 months vs. 3 before): Steady (+2%)
Demand score: 86/100
Remote opportunity score: 79/100
Veteran opportunity score: 88/100

What these scores mean

Grades and pay

Typical grades

GS-13 to GS-14

Most common promotion potential: GS-13

GS pay plan, used by 46% of this series' postings.

Typical posted salary range

$125,776 to $186,785 per year

Median of the yearly salary ranges in posted announcements.

Who can apply

Share of job postings in the last 12 months, by who the announcement was open to.

Open to the public: 35%
Federal employees and other special groups only: 65%
Listed a veterans hiring path: 55%
Telework eligible (open now): 79%
Fully remote (open now): 3%

Who is hiring and where

Top hiring departments

Department of the Navy (246)
Department of the Air Force (125)
Department of Defense (80)
Department of the Army (74)
Department of Homeland Security (33)

Top states

Virginia (166)
Maryland (88)
California (66)
District of Columbia (65)
Florida (62)

Hiring patterns

Based on job announcements since Mar 2017. How patterns are calculated

When this series usually posts jobs

Postings are spread fairly evenly through the year, so there is no clear best month to look.

Typical postings for series 1515 by calendar month, compared with an average month
Month	Compared with an average month
January	8% below average
February	About average
March	14% above average
April	About average
May	About average
June	About average
July	7% above average
August	7% above average
September	7% above average
October	About average
November	8% below average
December	18% below average

Postings by fiscal year

The federal fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. Fiscal years 2025 and 2026 include the government-wide hiring freeze that began in January 2025.

Job announcements for series 1515 by fiscal year
Fiscal year	Postings
FY 2018	1,053
FY 2019	1,239
FY 2020	1,238
FY 2021	1,235
FY 2022	1,377
FY 2023	1,480
FY 2024	1,318
FY 2025	601
FY 2026	549

Postings by month, last 12 months

Job announcements for series 1515 opened each month
Month	Postings
Dec 2025	21
Jan 2026	49
Feb 2026	51
Mar 2026	52
Apr 2026	62
May 2026	56
Jun 2026	44
Jul 2026	72
Aug 2026	48
Sep 2026	59
Oct 2026	68
Nov 2026 (month to date)	33

1550 Computer Science 705 postings in 12 months
1560 Data Science Series 429 postings in 12 months
1530 Statistics 194 postings in 12 months
1501 General Mathematics and Statistics 174 postings in 12 months
1520 Mathematics 160 postings in 12 months

About this data

Job numbers come from the USAJOBS API: 244,223 job announcements opened from December 1, 2025 to November 15, 2026, plus 12,260 announcements open on November 15, 2026. Canceled announcements are not counted. Series descriptions summarize the OPM Handbook of Occupational Groups and Families.

These figures describe posted job announcements, not hiring outcomes. Always read the official announcement and its qualification requirements before applying. How the scores are calculated.