Data Steward (f/m/d) - AIT Research Acceleration Platform for Energy Conversion and Storage Materials

AIT Austrian Institute of Technology; Town of Vienna (WI); On-site; USD 57,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Canteen and meal allowance

Flexible working conditions

Pension fund

Up to 50% home office

Job summary

AIT Austrian Institute of Technology is Austria’s leading RTO focused on transforming science into innovation. The Center for Energy in Vienna develops digitalised, data-driven energy research pipelines, enabling rapid energy technology innovation and machine learning-enabled discovery through robust data infrastructure and governance.

The Data Steward role focuses on standardising data structures, metadata schemas, and domain ontologies for material deposition, characterisation, and

Qualifications

• Completed studies (Master’s or PhD) in Data Science, Computer Science, Materials Science, Chemistry, Physics, or related technical field.
• Proven experience in Research Data Management (RDM), metadata standards, and FAIR principles.
• Strong programming skills in Python, including data libraries (Pandas, NumPy, SciPy) and workflow automation.
• Solid background in software engineering principles, scalable architecture, automated testing, version control (Git), and CI/CD.
• Hands-on experience with semantic web technologies, knowledge representation, and ontologies (RDF, OWL, JSON-LD, EMMO).
• Principal understanding of laboratory data from material synthesis, characterisation, or electrochemical testing.
• Familiarity with interactive visualization tools (Plotly, Dash) and foundational ML frameworks (PyTorch, TensorFlow, Scikit-Learn).
• Very good English; German language skills are an asset.

Responsibilities

• Support the ECHT team in transforming materials research into a digitalised, data-driven pipeline.
• Implement standardised data structures, metadata schemas, and domain ontologies for deposition, characterisation, and testing.
• Design, build, and maintain robust data pipelines for ingestion, processing, and curation of experimental datasets.
• Establish data governance frameworks, DMPs, and access policies to ensure data integrity and security.
• Develop APIs, connectors and integration workflows linking ELNs, LIMS, and central repositories.
• Create interactive dashboards and data visualisation tools for domain researchers to explore materials properties.
• Collaborate with domain experts to prepare interoperable datasets and support ML model deployment.

Skills

Python

Data Science

RDM (Research Data Management)

FAIR data principles

API development

Visualization (Plotly/Dash)

Machine Learning

Git & CI/CD

English language

German language (asset)

Ontologies (RDF/OWL/JSON-LD)

Education

Master’s or PhD in Data Science / CS / Materials Science / Chemistry / Physics

Tools

Pandas

NumPy

SciPy

Git

CI/CD

RDF/OWL/JSON-LD

Job description

The AIT Austrian Institute of Technology is Austria’s largest Research and Technology Organisation (RTO). We aim to transform scientific excellence into innovation with impact. Together with our partners, we develop technologies and solutions for a sustainable, resilient, and digitalised future, strengthening Europe’s competitiveness and technological sovereignty. Our international teams combine cutting-edge research with strong implementation expertise to create measurable value for industry and society.

Our Center for Energy is looking for new Ingenious Partner for our location in Vienna (Giefinggasse, 1210). In the Center for Energy, we develop sustainable, resilient energy systems to drive the green transition. As part of our digital transformation strategy, the AIT Research Acceleration Platform (ARA) integrates cutting-edge process automation, digital infrastructure, and data governance to accelerate scientific breakthroughs across disciplines such as novel battery materials, energy conversion and storage materials, microbiome engineering in agriculture or light-metal alloys.

Our team Energy Conversion and Hydrogen Technologies (ECHT) is a critical part of this platform, specifically with Energy Conversion and Storage Materials platform (ARA-ESM) dedicated to developing novel materials for clean energy technologies like water electrolysis and CO 2 conversion. A major focus lies on combining high-throughput synthesis, advanced fast-track characterisation, and digitalised research workflows to accelerate the discovery of sustainable, durable, and high-performance solutions.

Data Steward (f/m/d) - AIT Research Acceleration Platform for Energy Conversion and Storage Materials

CENTER FOR ENERGY

• You will support the ECHT team in its mission of transforming traditional materials research into a fully digitalised, data-driven pipeline forrapid energy technology innovation.
• Your tasks involve implementing standardised data structures, metadata schemas, and domain ontologies for material deposition, characterisation, and electrochemical testing to ensure full compliance with FAIR data principles and enable downstream automated analytics.
• You will design, build, and maintain robust data pipelines to automate the ingestion, processing, and curation of complex experimental datasets directly from synthesis systems and analytical instruments.
• You will establish and enforce clear data governance frameworks, Data Management Plans (DMPs), and access policies across the ARA-ESM domain to guarantee data integrity and security.
• You will develop intuitive APIs, connectors, and integration workflows to link electronic lab notebooks (ELNs), laboratory information management systems (LIMS), and central data repositories.
• You will create interactive dashboards and data visualisation tools that empower domain researchers to easily explore, query, and interpret multi-dimensional material properties.
• You will collaborate with domain experts to prepare high-quality, interoperable datasets and support the deployment of machine learning models for predictive material discovery.

Your qualifications as an Ingenious Partner:

• Completed studies (Master’s or PhD) in Data Science, Computer Science, Materials Science, Chemistry, Physics, or a related technical field.
• Proven experience in Research Data Management (RDM), metadata standards, and practical implementation of FAIR principles and knowledge of European data management regulations (EU Data Act, EU AI Act). .
• Strong programming skills in Python, including relevant data libraries (e.g., Pandas, NumPy, SciPy) and workflow automation.
• Solid background in software engineering principles, including scalable architecture, automated testing, version control workflows (Git), and CI/CD pipelines.
• Hands-on experience with semantic web technologies, knowledge representation, and ontologies (e.g., RDF, OWL, JSON-LD, EMMO) is an advantage.
• Principal understanding of laboratory data from material synthesis, characterisation, or electrochemical testing is an advantage.
• Familiarity with interactive visualisation tools (e.g., Plotly, Dash) and foundational machine learning frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, TensorFlow, Scikit-Learn).
• High level of commitment, strong team spirit, and an enthusiasm for continuous learning and professional development.
• Very good command of English (spoken and written) is essential, German language skills are an asset.

What to expect:

• Start-Date: 01.01.2027 - However, there is some flexibility regarding the starting date.
• The minimum gross annual salary on a full-time basis (38,5 h / week) according to the collective agreement is EUR 56.784,--. The actual salary will be determined individually, based on your qualifications and experience. In addition, we offer company benefits, flexible working conditions, individual training and career opportunities.
• Highlights of our employee benefits include a canteen and meal allowance, organic coffee, tea and fruit baskets, preventive healthcare benefits and company doctor, pension fund, additional days off for various life events, family benefits (including two weeks of paid paternity leave “Papa-Weeks” and leisure subsidies), voucher programme, sports, cultural and socialising events and many more, as well as flexitime models (incl. up to 50% home office), travel support for conferences and networking, and individual training and career development opportunities.

At AIT, we create an inclusive and family-friendly working environment that promotes equal opportunities and actively strengthens diversity across our workforce and in leadership positions. Among other initiatives, we are committed to increasing the proportion of women in our company and therefore particularly welcome applications from female applicants.