Ontology Engineer

HMH

8d • Remote

About The Position

The Ontology Engineer plays a pivotal role in shaping our organization's knowledge structure. They are responsible for developing and managing ontologies that underpin our information systems, facilitating better data organization and knowledge discovery.

Requirements

• Advanced degree in philosophy, computer science, information science, or quantitative field, or equivalent experience.
• Proficiency in ontology modeling languages such as RDF, OWL, or SHACL and vocabularies such as SKOS.
• Demonstrate advanced knowledge of ontology modeling languages such as RDF, OWL, or SHACL, and vocabularies like SKOS.
• Familiarity with query languages like SQL and SPARQL or other property graph query languages like Gremlin, openCypher.
• Experience with semantic data integration and using graph databases/triplestores, including modeling tradeoffs, query optimization, and operational considerations for production use.
• Experience with ontologies, knowledge graphs, and/or semantic technologies such as Stardog, Protégé, Semaphore, PoolParty, or related ontology management systems.
• Experience using foundational/top-level ontologies, especially Basic Formal Ontology (BFO), Descriptive Ontology for Linguistic and Cognitive Engineering (DOLCE), Common Core Ontologies, or OBO Foundry.
• Experience integrating multiple disparate data sets into a common vocabulary and writing effective queries for use in a production environment.
• Be skilled in integrating multiple disparate data sets into a common vocabulary and writing effective queries for production environments.
• Hands-on experience with high-level programming and scripting languages, such as Python, R, and Java.
• Strong software engineering practices applied to semantic and analytics assets: git, pull requests/code review, test/validation practices (e.g., SHACL/dbt tests where applicable), and CI/CD-aware release discipline.
• Excellent problem-solving skills and easily adapt to new technologies, trends, and frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Develops and maintains logical, semantically rich, and extensible ontologies that define and structure knowledge and underpin the K-12 education domain and HMH products.
• Supports integration between the ontology management system and source data management repositories, including triple store development and investigation by writing SPARQL queries against RDF, OWL or validating with SHACL.
• Ensures the accuracy and consistency of ontological structures by performing regular quality checks and updates as needed.
• Collaborates with cross-functional teams to understand their information needs and provide ontological solutions that support their objectives.
• Creates comprehensive documentation for ontologies and knowledge graphs, making them accessible to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Coordinates with the Data engineering and operations, and content development teams to ensure the knowledge representation is aligned with enterprise data systems.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level