Research Metadata Specialist

Research Metadata Specialist VIB Ghent, Belgium About the role Life-science data reaches its full value only when it is well described, connected and reusable. At VIB Data Core, you will help make that possible. As our Research Metadata Specialist, you shape how life-science data is described, connected and exchanged across VIB's data platforms, institutional systems and external repositories. You link datasets to the information that gives them meaning: samples, experiments, projects and publications. You make that information structured, machine-readable and consistent, so it supports scientific reuse, institutional reporting, automation and responsible AI. You work closely with researchers, data stewards, developers and repository teams, and you turn their needs into practical metadata models, mappings and validation rules. What you will do: Design and maintain metadata models that connect diverse life-science data (omics, imaging, spatial, etc.) with their scientific and administrative context. Select and apply the right standards, controlled vocabularies, ontologies and persistent identifiers, together with domain experts. Build and maintain mappings between local systems, the central data platform, external repositories, literature databases and institutional reporting. Develop and maintain lightweight, API-based workflows to retrieve and transform metadata and apply mappings, working with developers to integrate the resulting metadata into target systems. Define quality requirements and validation rules, and help automate them. Coordinate the review, testing, versioning and documentation of metadata models and templates. Support and train developers, data stewards and users and use their feedback to keep improving templates and workflows. Your profile We welcome applicants from different backgrounds and career paths. If you meet most of the essential requirements, we encourage you to apply. You bring: A Master's degree in bioinformatics, data science, information science, life sciences or a related field, or equivalent experience. Several years of experience with metadata in life-science research, across a range of data types. Experience designing or maintaining metadata schemas, data models or mappings. A practical understanding of metadata standards, vocabularies, persistent identifiers and provenance, and how they support FAIR data. The ability to read API documentation, work with JSON or XML, and use or adapt scripts. Familiarity with Git and with testing and documenting changes. A structured, collaborative way of working, with clear communication and documentation. Strong assets: Experience with research repositories, bibliographic databases, data deposition or federated data platforms. Experience with ontologies or semantic technologies such as RDF or JSON-LD. Experience building reusable metadata transformation or validation tools. Apply Now