Excellent opportunity for an experienced professional seeking a full-time, fixed-term role and eager to work in an innovative international team of experts to advance science and the use of data to address today’s global, multifaceted societal challenges.
- Location: Paris, France or remote working EU
- Deadline for applications: 28 September 2026
- Desired start date: November 2026-January 2027
- Duration: Two-year fixed-term contract (CDD: Contrat de durée déterminé, based on a contract under French law) in the first instance, but with the possibility of extension subject to funding.
About CODATA:
CODATA’s mission is to connect data and people to advance science and improve our world.
As the Committee on Data of the International Science Council (ISC), CODATA helps realise ISC’s vision of advancing science as a global public good. CODATA does this by promoting international collaboration to advance trustworthy, equitable and transparent science and to improve the availability and usability of data for all areas of research.
CODATA works also to advance the interoperability and the usability of research data and is an expert thought leader in the implementation of the FAIR principles and the application of data policy. Through its activities on Open Science and capacity building for data stewardship, CODATA is concerned to ensure global data equity and justice and enable the realisation of the UNESCO Open Science Core Values and Guiding Principles.
About the role, projects and initiatives:
CODATA is a partner in a set of projects to enhance the interoperability and usability of data across a range of scientific disciplines. CODATA’s contribution emphasises the role of the Cross-Domain Interoperability Framework (CDIF), which provides a practical and developer-friendly guide to implementing the FAIR principles, using existing domain neutral standards, in a way that enhances Interoperability and Reusability and conforms to current good web and data practices. CODATA is the coordinator of CDIF4EOSC, a major European project which will extend the CDIF recommendations, adding profiles and guidelines, and use-case based examples, to form a comprehensive and actionable playbook for FAIR Integration in the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) and beyond. Additionally, CODATA is a partner in the AI4Social+ project, which will advance AI readiness and machine actionability within the EOSC ecosystem. Other active projects implement these solutions in the context of research and services relating to climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction.
The successful candidate will join CODATA’s Data, Metadata and Trustworthy AI team and will work primarily on these projects, under the guidance of the Executive Director, the Head of Interoperability and AI and CODATA’s Standards and Metadata Expert. The role will involve contribution to the work taking a standards based approach to metadata and semantics; developing AI-assisted and software tools for metadata and semantic enhancement; and contributing to CODATA’s work AI-assisted data stewardship workflows.
We encourage candidates from different career stages to apply: particularly welcome are early career individuals looking for a chance to learn and progress their skills quickly in the context of a small, internationally recognised team of experts. More experienced candidates with a strong interest in the topic are also encouraged to apply. The onboarding process will be tailored to match the previous experiences and specific skills of the selected candidate.
This role is a fixed-term contract (CDD: Contrat de durée déterminé) in the first instance, but with the possibility of extension subject to funding. Applicants should hold a valid French or EU work permit, or be EU nationals. There will be an initial probationary period of four months in accordance with French employment law.
Responsibilities of the role: Project Officer, Data, Metadata and AI
- Work closely with the CODATA team and project partners to develop and implement technical solutions in the context of CODATA’s work described above.
- Contribute to CODATA’s work to develop tooling for and implementation of CDIF.
- Contribute to CODATA’s work on the development of AI-assisted tools for data stewardship, metadata enhancement and semantic mapping.
Qualifications and abilities:
- The following skills are desirable; the successful candidate will have at least some of the skills listed below and a willingness to acquire further knowledge in these areas:
- Demonstrable experience in software development, databases and repository platforms, management of semantic artifacts, implementation of metadata standards and application of LLMs.
- Experience of working in a science / research infrastructure provider context;
- Knowledge of metadata and semantic standards (e.g. Dublin Core, DataCite Schema, Schema.org, DCAT, DDI standards, SDMX/DataCube, ODRL, OGC standards, and other domain specific standards) and of JSON-LD syntax/RDF.
- Knowledge of programming languages Python, JavaScript, Rust, SQL, containerization frameworks Docker and Kubernetes, git, CI/CD pipelines, Linux CLI, SSH.
- Practical experience with transformer libraries, MCP, RAG, LLM inference engines, AI Agents.
- A degree and/or appropriate qualifications a relevant area (computer science, software development, ML/AI etc),
- A postgraduate degree will be considered an advantage;
- Project and project management experience, preferably in the EU context;
- The ability to engage and network across diverse stakeholders in science and research related activities;
- Fluency in spoken and written English;
- Experience of group facilitation or moderation is a plus;
- Solid communication and interpersonal skills;
- High-quality desk research and writing skills;
- Attention to detail, time management, creative thinking;
- A positive and flexible attitude to work;
- Ability to handle assigned tasks independently while working in a distributed team.
What we offer:
- Small and people-centric team working globally;
- Highly collaborative environment;
- Flexible working hours in agreement with the Executive Director;
- Competitive salary;
- Work either from Paris office and/or from home (some travel to project events will be necessary, mostly within Europe);
- Duration: Two-year fixed-term contract (CDD: Contrat de durée déterminé, based on a contract under French law) in the first instance, but with the possibility of extension subject to funding.
- Statutory 5 weeks of annual leave
- Statutory contribution to additional health insurance (mutuelle)
How to apply:
Applicants are requested to address the job description, qualifications, knowledge and skills requirements in a cover letter (maximum two pages), which should include summaries and links to relevant work; and a curriculum vitae (maximum four pages) with the name and contact details of three referees; and a sample document summarising a recent project or contributions to an open source initiative). Deadline for applications, 28 September 2026.
Questions can be directed to apply@codata.org.
Applications should ONLY be submitted via email to apply@codata.org. Incomplete applications will not be considered.