TDCC-LSH Semantic interoperability expert (0.8 - 1.0 FTE)

Are you passionate about improving digital competencies and enhancing the reuse of health and life sciences data? Do you specialize in semantic interoperability, (meta)data modelling, ontologies, knowledge graphs and/or related data science topics? Are you enthusiastic about Open Science and excited by the prospect of collaborating with national and international stakeholders to build a learning data-driven health and life sciences system? If so, Health-RI has the perfect opportunity for you as semantic interoperability expert in the Thematic Digital Competence Center Life Sciences & Health (TDCC-LSH) programme. 

 About Health-RI 
Health-RI is a non-profit organisation and realizes a health data infrastructure for research, innovation and policy development in the Netherlands. Availability of health and life science data is important to enable researchers, healthcare professionals and companies to conduct better data-driven research and healthcare innovation, thus contributing to improving the health of citizens and patients.  

We work towards enabling a learning healthcare system by promoting FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable) data principles. As the national coordination hub, we foster collaboration across all stakeholders in the data driven health and life sciences ecosystem, support researchers, and participate in international initiatives to ensure global interoperability.   

Health-RI obtained funding from the Dutch Government to realize these ambitions in the coming years, with the goal of achieving a sustainable design and financing of the health data infrastructure in the Netherlands. Through the TDCC-LSH programme, we are broadening our scope to cover all areas of life sciences research, also beyond human health.   

Health-RI coordinates the Thematic Digital Competence Center Life Sciences & Health (TDCC-LSH), which is an NWO-funded programme aimed at strengthening and harmonizing digital research practices across life sciences, biomedical sciences, and health sciences stakeholders in the Netherlands. The TDCC-LSH programme also actively supports the transition to Open Science.   

Your role 
As part of the TDCC-LSH team, you will provide your expertise to stakeholders in the Dutch health and life sciences field to promote best practices and improve FAIRness, with a focus on interoperability. You’ll support the development and use of semantic, ontology-based metadata and data models in the context of a collaborative research data workflow, helping to align research infrastructures and data collections across the LSH research ecosystem. You are the advisor and point of contact for, and will collaborate closely together with, researchers, institutions, and organizations to drive innovation and harmonization in the digital LSH research landscape.  

You will join a dynamic interoperability team dedicated to enhancing the accessibility and usability of health and life sciences data. Working closely with other experts of semantic (meta)data, data standards, and ontology development, you will drive seamless data integration across platforms and disciplines, ensuring interoperability and reusability for data driven life sciences and health.  

Your profile 
We are looking for someone with: 

• Educational background: A degree in data science, bioinformatics, computer science, or a related field, preferably at the post-MSc or PhD level in the LSH domain.
• Knowledge of FAIR Principles: Familiarity with standards, tools, and resources aligned with FAIR data principles.
• Skills in (meta)data and ontologies: Proficiency with frameworks such as DCAT, DCAT-AP, HealthDCAT-AP, OWL, RDF, and SPARQL, and familiarity with ontologies and/or standards such as PROV-O, SNOMED CT, OMOP-CMD, FHIR, BFO, DUO, Bioschemas, and EDAM. Hands-on experience (1–3 years) or strong foundational knowledge in building, mapping, and implementing ontologies and designing semantic data models or (meta)data schemas, preferably within the LSH domain.
• Innovative thinking: Familiarity with knowledge graphs and their integration with Large Language Models (LLMs) is a plus.
• Soft skills: Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills. You thrive in both independent and team settings and have experience with community management or collaborating with diverse stakeholders in complex, multidisciplinary environments.
• Languages: Good proficiency of Dutch and English, both spoken and written. 

Your tasks 

• Semantic data modelling: Lead the design, implementation and validation of semantic (meta)data and data models, ensuring their effectiveness and usability in real-world applications for both generic and domain-specific applications (e.g., oncology), formalized using OWL, SHACL, and UML.
• (Meta)data schema development: Create and refine (meta)data schemas to align with international standards, ensuring consistency and interoperability across projects.
• Interoperability: Develop, maintain and expand ontologies and controlled vocabularies, facilitate interoperability mapping and alignment between data standards and terminologies to improve cross-platform data integration and usability.
• Use case implementation: Apply (meta)data and semantic models to specific use cases, supporting data-driven solutions in research, policy, and life sciences and health innovation.
• Documentation and guidelines: Collaborate with (inter)national life Sciences and health data communities to facilitate workshops that drive interoperability and demonstrate best practices. Develop comprehensive documentation and best-practices guidelines to improve interoperability within the TDCC-LSH network. 

Our offer  
We offer you a job in a young and dynamic scale-up organisation. A place where you can really contribute to social impact. Our office is located in the Beatrix Building in Utrecht, within walking distance of Utrecht Central Station.  

You can work hybrid, although we do expect you to come to the office more than half the time. You will be compensated for travel and for working from home. We offer you an employment contract for the duration of 1 year with the prospect of extension. We have a 38-hour working week, 232 holiday hours (almost 6 weeks) when working full-time, are affiliated for pension with ABP and have an 8% holiday allowance in May and a year-end bonus of 8.3%. Based on education and experience, the position is graded in scale 10-11 of the NFU CAO.  

Procedure  
Are you the TDCC-LSH Semantic interoperability expert we are looking for? Then apply now and send your CV with cover letter by May 7, by e-mail to recruitment@health-ri.nl.  

After closing, we will make an initial selection based on the responses received. The procedure consists of two job interviews, checking references, an assessment if applicable and the ability to provide a Certificate of Good Conduct (VOG). This procedure ends with an employment interview. We will retain your details for up to three months after the closing date. 

For more information about the vacancy, please contact recruitment@health-ri.nl and for substantive questions about the work please contact Kimberley Zwiers, community manager TDCC-LSH at kimberley.zwiers@health-ri.nl. 

Acquisition in response to this vacancy is not appreciated.