Director, Semantic & Knowledge Engineering

Novartis; East Hanover (NJ); On-site; USD 195,000 - 361,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health benefits

401(k) with company match

Paid time off

Job summary

Novartis is seeking a Director, Semantic and Knowledge Engineering to lead the design, implementation, and governance of enterprise semantic models, ontologies, knowledge graphs, and metadata frameworks powering NovaOS.

This role partners across Applied AI, Data Science, Product, and Engineering to establish trusted semantic assets that enable interoperable data, AI reasoning, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and scalable enterprise intelligence.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s or advanced degree in CS, Information Science, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Bioinformatics, or related discipline.
• 8+ years of experience in semantic technologies, knowledge engineering, metadata management, or enterprise information architecture.
• Hands-on expertise with ontologies, RDF/OWL, knowledge graphs, graph databases, metadata management, and semantic web technologies.
• Experience implementing semantic solutions that enable AI, analytics, interoperability, and enterprise search.
• Strong leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills with experience leading cross‑functional technical initiatives.

Responsibilities

• Lead the design and implementation of enterprise ontologies, taxonomies, business vocabularies, and semantic models.
• Develop and maintain knowledge graphs and semantic services that support AI, analytics, search, and business applications.
• Partner with AI, Data Science, Product, and Engineering teams to integrate semantic capabilities into NovaOS products and platforms.
• Establish metadata standards, semantic governance processes, and quality controls for enterprise knowledge assets.
• Support AI initiatives by developing semantic foundations for RAG, agentic AI, reasoning engines, and contextual search.
• Evaluate emerging semantic technologies and recommend improvements to the enterprise knowledge architecture.
• Lead and mentor semantic and knowledge engineers while promoting reusable engineering patterns and technical excellence.

Skills

Ontologies

RDF/OWL

Knowledge graphs

Metadata management

Semantic web

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Education

Bachelor’s or higher in CS/IS/AI/Data Science/Bioinformatics

Tools

Graph databases

Job description

Summary

Reporting to the Executive Director, Semantic and Knowledge Engineering, the Director, Semantic and Knowledge Engineering leads the design, implementation, and governance of enterprise semantic models, ontologies, knowledge graphs, and metadata frameworks that power NovaOS. This role partners across Applied AI, Data Science, Product, and Engineering to establish trusted semantic assets that enable interoperable data, AI reasoning, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and scalable enterprise intelligence.

Summary

Reporting to the Executive Director, Semantic and Knowledge Engineering, the Director, Semantic and Knowledge Engineering leads the design, implementation, and governance of enterprise semantic models, ontologies, knowledge graphs, and metadata frameworks that power NovaOS. This role partners across Applied AI, Data Science, Product, and Engineering to establish trusted semantic assets that enable interoperable data, AI reasoning, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), and scalable enterprise intelligence.

About The Role

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the design and implementation of enterprise ontologies, taxonomies, business vocabularies, and semantic models.
• Develop and maintain knowledge graphs and semantic services that support AI, analytics, search, and business applications.
• Partner with AI, Data Science, Product, and Engineering teams to integrate semantic capabilities into NovaOS products and platforms.
• Establish metadata standards, semantic governance processes, and quality controls for enterprise knowledge assets.
• Support AI initiatives by developing semantic foundations for RAG, agentic AI, reasoning engines, and contextual search.
• Evaluate emerging semantic technologies and recommend improvements to the enterprise knowledge architecture.
• Lead and mentor semantic and knowledge engineers while promoting reusable engineering patterns and technical excellence.

Essential Requirements

• Education:
• Bachelor's or advanced degree in Computer Science, Information Science, Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Bioinformatics, or a related discipline.
• 8+ years of experience in semantic technologies, knowledge engineering, metadata management, or enterprise information architecture.
• Hands-on expertise with ontologies, RDF/OWL, knowledge graphs, graph databases, metadata management, and semantic web technologies.
• Experience implementing semantic solutions that enable AI, analytics, interoperability, and enterprise search.
• Strong leadership, communication, and stakeholder management skills with experience leading cross‑functional technical initiatives.

Desirable Requirements

• Experience applying semantic technologies to generative AI, agentic AI, RAG, and enterprise AI platforms.
• Experience in pharmaceutical, healthcare, or other highly regulated industries.

Novartis Compensation Summary

The salary for this position is expected to range between $194,600 and $361,400 per year.
The final salary offered is determined based on factors like, but not limited to, relevant skills and experience, and upon joining Novartis will be reviewed periodically. Novartis may change the published salary range based on company and market factors.
Your compensation will include a performance-based cash incentive and, depending on the level of the role, eligibility to be considered for annual equity awards.
US-based eligible employees will receive a comprehensive benefits package that includes health, life and disability benefits, a 401(k) with company contribution and match, and a variety of other benefits. In addition, employees are eligible for a generous time off package including vacation, personal days, holidays and other leaves.

Why Novartis:

Helping people with disease and their families takes more than innovative science. It takes a community of smart, passionate people like you. Collaborating, supporting and inspiring each other. Combining to achieve breakthroughs that change patients’ lives. Ready to create a brighter future together? https://www.novartis.com/about/strategy/people-and-culture

Benefits and Rewards:

Learn about all the ways we’ll help you thrive personally and professionally.
Read our handbook (PDF 30 MB)

EEO Statement

The Novartis Group of Companies are Equal Opportunity Employers. We do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion or other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital or veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.

Accessibility & Reasonable Accommodations

The Novartis Group of Companies are committed to working with and providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If, because of a medical condition or disability, you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application process, or to perform the essential functions of a position, please send an e-mail to [email protected] or call [phone] and let us know the nature of your request and your contact information. Please include the job requisition number in your message.