Research Data Manager (PostDoc) for mapping harvesting relationships (KTS-84)

About This Opportunity

Our talent team is representing a confidential research institute in Cologne, Germany, seeking a Research Data Manager (PostDoc) to lead a project mapping metadata harvesting relationships across research data services. This is a three-year contract position starting October 2026, working at the intersection of research data management, metadata standards, and community coordination.

You'll manage a project aimed at improving visibility of research data by identifying how metadata flows between collection services, building a comprehensive map of harvesting relationships, and developing best practices for the research data community.

Responsibilities

• Manage and coordinate a metadata mapping project, ensuring successful delivery of objectives and milestones
• Set up automated systems for metadata collection and analysis, leveraging AI tools where appropriate
• Network actively within national research data infrastructure communities and related organizations to promote project goals
• Organize networking events and workshops for stakeholders in the research data ecosystem
• Conduct academic research in topics relevant to the department, including knowledge graphs and information extraction
• Wrangle, model, and analyze research metadata to identify transformation patterns and harvesting relationships
• Develop and communicate best practices to data services and negotiate metadata presentation standards with harvesting platforms

What We're Looking For

• Required: Completed PhD in Computer Science, Social Science, Information Science, or related field
• Required: Demonstrated experience in Research Data Management, preferably within national research data infrastructure contexts or with metadata harvesting services
• Required: Technical experience handling, curating, harvesting, or extracting research metadata programmatically
• Required: Proven research record in relevant areas such as knowledge graphs, information extraction, or semantic technologies
• Required: Excellent English language skills for international collaboration and publication
• Preferred: German language skills
• Preferred: Familiarity with metadata standards used in research data repositories and discovery services
• Strong networking and community engagement capabilities
• Ability to work independently while coordinating across multiple stakeholder groups

How We Work With You

Candidates apply through the Get A Job.ai platform. Our recruiting team will conduct an initial screening to understand your background and match it to our client's requirements. We then submit qualified candidates to the client for their review and interview process. Please do not contact the client directly—all communication should flow through Get A Job.ai to ensure a coordinated process.

Employment Details

Location: Cologne, Germany
Contract: Three-year limited contract, full-time (100%)
Start Date: October 1, 2026
Seniority: Postdoctoral level

Our client offers flexible working hours, mobile working options, family-friendly policies including childcare subsidies, company health management programs, pension support, and professional development opportunities.

Equal Opportunity

Get A Job.ai is committed to fostering an inclusive recruitment process. We welcome applications from candidates of all backgrounds and work to ensure equitable access to opportunities with our client organizations.