Semantic Modeller / Knowledge Engineer (m/f/d)

The Leibniz Institute for the Analysis of Biodiversity Change (LIB) is one of the large, globally connected research museums of the Leibniz Association. In addition to excellent research on biodiversity and its change, we are advancing the further development of our extensive scientific collections with an international team and state-of-the-art technology. With our exhibition, knowledge transfer, and communication work at our exhibition venues Museum Koenig Bonn and Museum der Natur Hamburg, we want to spread enthusiasm for nature and contribute with our research topics to current socio-political discussions on species loss, climate change and the protection of ecosystems. The construction of an integrated natural history museum is being planned for the Hamburg location; the research infrastructure at the Bonn location is currently being significantly expanded.

Within the LIB, the Centre for Biodiversity Knowledge Science focuses on digital biodiversity research, with the ambition of establishing the LIB Open Knowledge Space as a globally open hub for scientific objects and knowledge, including all project- and collection-related data and knowledge from the LIB. Acting as a driver of digital innovation in biodiversity knowledge science, it will integrate expertise in semantic modelling, knowledge graphs, ontologies, artificial intelligence, citizen science, and knowledge transfer, serving as a bridge between collections, research, and society.

The Centre for Biodiversity Knowledge Science is looking to employ a

Semantic Modeller / Knowledge Engineer (m/f/d), Hamburg

to work in our team as soon as possible. The successful candidate will be responsible for the formal semantic modelling of content in the LIB Open Knowledge Space. They will develop and maintain ontologies, graph schemata and their corresponding SHACL shapes using the BFO/OBO ecosystem and related tools, ensuring that biodiversity data and knowledge are represented in a precise, interoperable, and reusable way, compliant with the FAIR and CLEAR Principles.

We are offering a full-time (39.00 hours/week) or part-time position, located in Hamburg for initially 2 years with the possibility of a permanent contract. The remuneration is based on pay scale group E 13 according to German public salary (TV-L).

Your tasks:

Lead development of formal semantic models, including designing, extending, and modularizing ontologies for biodiversity and collection data, in collaboration with the other LIB centres

• Create and curate knowledge-graph schemata (SHACL shapes) for the LIB Open Knowledge Space and ensure data quality through validation pipelines
• Implement and operate ontology-centric workflows
• Support open-source development and contribute to existing code bases
• Apply for third-party funding

Your profile:

• Master’s    degree    (or    equivalent)    in    computer    science,    data    science, bioinformatics, or related field; PhD desirable
• Proven experience in formal semantic modelling and ontology engineering (OWL, RDF/RDFS, Description Logics, SPARQL)
• Familiarity with the Basic Formal Ontology and the OBO Foundry ontologies
• Experience in the development of ontologies and graph schemata using Protégé, ROBOT, the Ontology Development Kit (ODK), and LinkML
• Strong expertise in knowledge graphs and semantic technologies, including RDF, RDFS, OWL, SHACL, LinkML, SPARQL
• Good understanding of FAIR (meta)data Principles, FAIR Digital Objects, Linked Data, persistent identifiers, and semantic interoperability

Desirable Qualifications:

• Experience in persistent-identifier schemes and provenance modelling
• Background in research infrastructures or data-intensive scientific projects
• Publications or contributions to the OBO community
• Practical knowledge of biodiversity, life-sciences, or collection data.

We offer:

• An attractive position in an excellent research institution with a high degree of creative potential in a dynamic scientific and social environment
• Remuneration according to the collective agreement of the federal states (up to EG 13 TV-L if the personal and job-related requirements of the collective agreement are met) with all the benefits of the public sector (company pension scheme, annual special payment, capital-forming benefits, collectively agreed vacation entitlement)
• Family friendliness certified by the "Work and Family Audit", offer of life coaching through professional family service
• the possibility of obtaining a job ticket
• A centrally located workplace with excellent transport links

Please send your complete application documents (including cover letter, CV, copies of certificates, max. 10 MB) by 25.05.2026 exclusively digitally via our career portal : https://8101202752.karriereportal.cloud/ to Ms. Ostermann. For organizational reasons, only online applications will be accepted. We are a diverse institution and welcome our diversity. We would particularly like to encourage women to apply in order to actively promote equal opportunities. Severely disabled people will be given preference if equally qualified. You can find more information about our institution on the Internet at: https://leibniz-lib.de/