NCAPS-Data Catalog & Metadata Specialist

COLSA; Virginia; Remote; USD 100,000 - 110,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical Insurance

401(k) with company match

Paid Time Off

Job summary

COLSA is seeking a Senior Data Catalog & Metadata Specialist to support NASA’s NCAPS contract, enhancing data discoverability and trust across ACPO. You will map data lineage, establish catalog standards, and drive adoption across the portfolio, collaborating with DIISC teams.

You will work fully remotely from the United States, with a focus on implementing DataHub or comparable tools, defining metadata models, and ensuring provenance is clear and accessible.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in computer science, data science, engineering, math, statistics, operations research, or a related field.
• Minimum of 2-5 years in a data librarian, research data services, data curation, metadata, or data catalog role.
• U.S. Citizenship required; must be able to undergo a background investigation for NASA Public Trust.
• Hands-on experience running a data catalog or metadata management platform (DataHub/Atlan/Collibra/Alation/Informatica/Purview/Amundsen) or equivalent.

Responsibilities

• Catalog and describe datasets with clear, searchable records for discovery and trust.
• Build taxonomies, controlled vocabularies, a shared glossary, and metadata standards.
• Set metadata standards and ensure consistent adoption across the portfolio.
• Help analysts and engineers find data, interpret provenance, and understand limitations.
• Onboard new datasets, document provenance, apply classifications, and identify data quality concerns.
• Map data lineage end-to-end, including sources, flows, and downstream consumers.
• Onboard an enterprise catalog tool (DataHub/Atlan/Collibra/Alation/Purview) and integrate with sources.
• Ensure catalog integrates with Dagster and track metadata completeness and freshness.
• Drive catalog adoption and be the point of contact for data assets.

Skills

Data catalog

Metadata management

Data lineage

Taxonomies

Data dictionaries

Education

Bachelor’s degree or higher in CS/Data Science/Engineering/Math/Stats/OR

Tools

DataHub

Atlan

Collibra

Alation

Informatica

Microsoft Purview

Amundsen

Job description

Tracking Code

9815-987

Posted Date

10/6/2026

Job Location

Remote, Alabama

Location of Position

• Remote, Alabama
• Remote, Florida
• Remote, Georgia
• Remote, Texas
• Remote, Virginia
• Remote, Ohio
• Remote, Michigan

Additional Locations

• Remote, Florida
• Remote, Georgia
• Remote, Texas
• Remote, Virginia
• Remote, Ohio
• Remote, Michigan

Work Arrangement

Fully-Remote: 100%

Position Type

Full-Time/Regular

Clearance Required?

Ability to Qualify

Level of Clearance Required

Public Trust

COLSA is seeking a Senior Data Catalog & Metadata Specialist to support NASA’s Consolidated Applications and Platform Services (NCAPS) contract, specifically supporting NASA’s Aerospace Capabilities Portfolio Office (ACPO) and its Digital Innovation & Integration Service Capability (DIISC) team. This role will make data across ACPO’s teams, tools, and centers easier to find, understand, and trust by mapping data lineage, establishing a shared data catalog and metadata standards, and driving adoption across the portfolio.

This is a fully remote position open to candidates residing in the United States, excluding the following states: AR, CT, DE, HI, IA, KS, MT, NE, NJ, NY, RI, SD, VT, WV, and WY.

Responsibilities

• Catalog and describe the portfolio’s data by creating clear, consistent, searchable records for datasets so users can find what exists, understand what it is, and determine whether they can use it.
• Build and maintain taxonomies, controlled vocabularies, a shared business glossary, and descriptive metadata and documentation standards.
• Set the cataloging and metadata standards the data team must follow and help ensure consistent adoption.
• Help analysts, engineers, and program staff find the right data, interpret it correctly, and understand its provenance and limitations.
• Onboard new datasets and retire stale ones by documenting provenance and ownership, applying sensitivity and Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) classifications, and identifying data‑quality concerns.
• Map the portfolio’s data lineage end to end, including sources, systems, owners, flows, transformations, and downstream consumers.
• Work with the team’s manager to select and onboard an enterprise data catalog tool, such as DataHub, Atlan, Collibra, Alation, or Microsoft Purview, including evaluating options, standing up the platform, defining the metadata model, and integrating it with portfolio data sources.
• Ensure the catalog integrates effectively with the team’s data orchestration tool, Dagster.
• Define and track metadata completeness, documentation, and freshness metrics.
• Drive catalog adoption across the portfolio and serve as a point of contact for what data exists, where it resides, and how it should be described and used.

Required Experience

• Bachelor’s degree or higher in computer science, data science, engineering, math, statistics, operations research, or a related field.
• Minimum of 2-5 years of experience in a data librarian, research data services, data curation, metadata, or data catalog role.
• U.S. Citizenship required; must be able to undergo a background investigation for a position of NASA Public Trust.
• Hands-on experience running a data catalog or metadata management platform (e.g., DataHub, Atlan, Collibra, Alation, Informatica, Microsoft Purview, or Amundsen), or equivalent experience managing a metadata repository or catalog.
• Ability to embed with the data team and understand its work, including pipelines, data flows, and how data is produced and used, sufficiently to capture lineage and metadata accurately and earn the team’s trust.
• Strong command of metadata standards, taxonomies, controlled vocabularies, and data dictionaries.
• Demonstrated ability to drive adoption of a catalog, standard, or shared data practice across multiple teams.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate between technical and program audiences.

Preferred Qualifications

• Knowledge of data engineering practices, including pipelines and orchestration, warehouses and lakes, transformation workflows, and how metadata and lineage are produced throughout those processes.
• Knowledge of how teams source, prepare, and use data for analysis and modeling and what they need to trust and reproduce it.

Applicant selected will be subject to a government security investigation and must meet eligibility requirements for access to classified information. COLSA Corporation is an Equal Opportunity Employer, Minorities/Females/Veterans/Disabled. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin.

Minimum Salary

$100,000.00

Maximum Salary

$110,000.00

Salary Type

Annually

The salary range, if referenced, represents a good faith estimate. COLSA considers various factors when determining base salary offers, but not limited to, location, the role, function and associated responsibilities, a candidate’s particular combination of education, knowledge, skills, competencies, and experience, as well as contract-specific affordability and organizational requirements.

COLSA offers a comprehensive and customizeable benefits program which includes Medical, Dental, Vision, Life Insurance, Short-Term Disability, Long-Term Disability, Accidental Death & Dismemberment, Supplemental Income Protection Programs, 401(k) with company match, Flexible Spending Accounts, Employee Assistance Program, Education & Certification Reimbursement, Employee Discount Program, Paid Time Off and Holidays.

This position will be posted for a minimum of 3 business days. If a candidate has not been selected at that time, it will continue to be posted until a suitable candidate is selected or the position is closed.