Data Ontologist

Company Overview

Pantheon Data (a Kenific Holding company) is a private, small business based in the Washington, DC, area. Pantheon Data was founded in 2011, initially providing acquisition and supply chain management services to the US Coast Guard. Our service offerings have grown in the past ten years, including infrastructure resiliency, contact center operations, information technology, software engineering, program management, strategic communications, engineering, and cybersecurity. We have also grown our customer base to include commercial clients. The company has used this experience to expand our service offerings to other agencies within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Defense (DoD), and other Federal Civilian Agencies.

Position Overview

Pantheon Data is seeking a mission-driven Data Ontologist to support our platform that transforms how military and government clients' access and use critical data. In this individual contributor role, you will play a key part in the design, implementation, and maintenance of ontologies and semantic models that enable data standardization, searchability, and decision-making across complex domains. You'll collaborate with the Federal Government and military stakeholders, platform engineers, and product teams to drive the adoption of semantic technologies.

What We're Looking For:

• A self-starter who thrives in mission-first environments and enjoys solving unstructured data problems.
• Someone who can bridge the gap between military users, product managers, and data engineers to ensure semantic models reflect operational needs.
• A proactive communicator who is passionate about shaping the future of data access and interoperability in government systems.

Responsibilities

• Develop, implement, and manage semantic ontologies and data models that align with Department of Defense mission needs.
• Work directly with clients and internal stakeholders to refine use cases and incorporate domain-specific knowledge into the data layer.
• Participate in onboarding and discovery sessions to identify data challenges and translate them into structured ontological models.
• Collaborate with platform teams to integrate semantic technologies into search, tagging, and data normalization pipelines.
• Ensure adherence to semantic web and W3C standards (RDF, RDFS, OWL, SKOS, SHACL).
• Drive efforts in semantic enrichment, linked data, and knowledge graph development for military intelligence and command systems.
• Communicate ontology design decisions to non-technical stakeholders and advocate for semantic best practices across the organization.
• Support the governance, documentation, and lifecycle management of ontologies and vocabularies.

Required Skills and Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Information Science, Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Linguistics, or a related technical discipline.
• 3+ years professional, hands-on experience in ontology, taxonomy, or metadata modeling.
• 3+ years working with W3C standards: RDF, OWL, SKOS, JSON-LD, or related tools.
• Strong ability to communicate complex concepts to stakeholders of varying technical levels.
• Willingness to travel up to 50% to client during the first 6 months.
• Experience working with cross-functional teams.
• Detail-oriented, self-motivated, and organized with a strong commitment to quality.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to interact clearly and succinctly in written and oral presentations.
• Ability to meet deadlines and produce quality work.
• Proficient in Microsoft Suite software, including Outlook, Word, Excel, SharePoint, and PowerPoint.

Preferred Skills and Experience

• Working knowledge of Agile Scrum methodology.
• Experience with project tasking tools, like JIRA/Confluence.
• Subject expertise in engineering, logistics, personnel or finance domains.
• Masters in a relevant field in Information Science, Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Linguistics, or related discipline.
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (especially AWS)

Clearance Requirements

U.S. Citizenship with the ability to obtain and maintain a DoD Secret clearance.

Work Location: Virginia - Remote

• Our company prioritizes the benefits of flexibility and collaboration, whether that happens in person or remotely.
• If the position is remote or hybrid, you may periodically work from a Pantheon Data office location or client site.
• If this position is assigned to a Pantheon Data office location or client site, you'll work with colleagues and clients in person, as needed for specific client requirements.

Benefits Overview

We are always looking for good people! Pantheon Data is committed to providing its employees with competitive salaries and benefits in order to increase employee satisfaction and productivity.In addition to our benefits, we also offer SmartBenefits through the Washington Metro Area Transportation Authority, where you specify an amount of your pre-tax wages be paid directly to your SmarTrip account. In some cases, tuition assistance may be available for continuing education expenses and certifications related to their position. Additional details may be found at https://pantheon-data.com/careers/

Pantheon Data Important Information

All qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to disability, status as a protected veteran, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state, local, or international law.

As part of the application process, you are expected to be on camera during interviews and assessments. We reserve the right to take your picture to verify your identity and prevent fraud.

If you require reasonable accommodation in completing this application, interviewing, completing any pre-employment testing, or otherwise participating in the employee selection process, please direct your inquiries to our Talent Team at Recruiting@pantheon-data.com or by phone (571) 363-4020.

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