Head of Enterprise Knowledge Graph & Semantics

Biopharma Careers; Boston (MA); Hybrid; USD 216,000 - 325,000; Full time

Job summary

Vertex Pharmaceuticals is seeking an experienced engineering leader to design, build, and operate the enterprise Knowledge Graph and Semantic Layer that underpins AI and analytics across clinical, research, regulatory, and commercial domains. You will define the strategy, select the technology stack, and lead an engineering team to deliver a unified, governed model of Vertex's data.

The role spans ontology partnerships, graph traversal interfaces, and onboarding of systems into production.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience in data engineering, AI/ML, or advanced analytics, with 3+ years focused on knowledge graphs or semantic tech at scale.
• Hands-on experience designing and operating enterprise knowledge graphs with multiple paradigms.
• Experience building and governing semantic layers (dbt Semantic Layer, Cube, AtScale, LookML).
• Strong cloud data platform experience (Snowflake and/or Databricks) in enterprise environments.
• Cross-domain data integration including entity resolution, master data, and lineage at enterprise scale.
• Working understanding of knowledge graphs and semantic layers used by AI agents and RAG systems.
• Proven ability to operate graph and analytical systems in production with high availability and performance.
• Proven leadership and communication with executive stakeholders.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and operate Vertex's enterprise knowledge graph across clinical, research, regulatory, and commercial domains.
• Build and govern the enterprise semantic layer for metrics, dimensions, and business entities.
• Define strategy for graph and semantic platform, including tech stack and architecture.
• Collaborate with ontology and data modeling teams to translate domain ontologies into the graph.
• Develop graph traversal and retrieval interfaces for AI agents and RAG systems.
• Onboard Vertex systems into the knowledge graph and semantic layer; manage production SLAs and observability.

Skills

10+ years data engineering/AI

Knowledge graph design

Semantic layer expertise

Cloud data platforms

Cross-domain data integration

AI & agent grounding

Production operations

Leadership & communication

Tools

dbt Semantic Layer

Cube

AtScale

LookML

Snowflake

Databricks

Job description

Vertex Pharmaceuticals is seeking an experienced engineering leader to design, build, and operate the enterprise Knowledge Graph and Semantic Layer that underpins AI and analytics across clinical, research, regulatory, and commercial domains. You will define the strategy, select the technology stack, and lead an engineering team to deliver a unified, governed model of Vertex's data.

The role spans ontology partnerships, graph traversal interfaces, and onboarding of systems into production.