Biological Ontologist

**You Will**:

- Devise and implement the **strategy** for developing and maintaining BenchSci's proprietary **biological ontology**.
- Define the **diverse biomedical data sources** that will be integrated into our ontology, ensuring high-quality and comprehensive coverage.
- Work with Engineering to develop and deliver a data integration plan that guarantees interoperability and seamless integration of diverse biomedical data.
- Collaborate closely with engineering and product teams to maximise the impact of our ontology on product development.
- Collaborate with Engineering in defining the **data strategy** that ensures BenchSci’s ontology retains a high degree of **connectivity** enabling traversal and reasoning over our data by leveraging **mid to high level ontologies** and **interoperability**-enabling xref metadata.
- Advise Engineering colleagues on the evolution of our internal **data model** to ensure we **minimise semantic lossiness** when **mapping entity types** and** predicates** from third party ontologies to BenchSci’s proprietary ontology.
- Demonstrate strong **leadership**, making sound decisions in a fast-paced and evolving environment.
- Implement and oversee "**quality by design**" principles to maintain the accuracy, consistency, and completeness of BenchSci's ontological data.
- Create and maintain thorough documentation of our ontology, including definitions, relationships, and user guidelines.
- Provide training and support to internal teams on ontological principles, design, development and best practices.

**You Have**:

- A minimum of a Master’s degree in Bioinformatics, Biology, Computer Science, Information Science, or a related field. A Ph.D. is preferred.
- 7+ years of **industry** experience in ontology development and management, particularly in biotechnology or life sciences.
- Experience leveraging **high and mid-level biological ontologies** such as BioLink.
- Proficiency in **ontology languages** (e.g., OWL, RDF), **ontology development tools** (e.g., Protégé), ontology query language (SPARQL, cypher, SQL, GQL), and some familiarity with relevant programming languages (e.g., Python).
- Familiar with **ontology reasoning tools**, particularly in the biology domain (e.g. ELK, HermiT, and Pellet).
- A solid understanding of **graph validation concepts**, including SHACL (Shapes Constraint Language), to ensure data integrity and compliance within ontological frameworks.
- Strong understanding of biological concepts and terminologies and a deep understanding of **biomedical ontologies** (e.g., MONDO, MeSH, SNOMED CT).Deep understanding of the crucial role that ontologies play in providing a **foundational semantic layer** to **knowledge graphs**.
- Ability to analyse complex data and develop logical, ontological structures.
- High accuracy and attention to detail in managing and curating biological ontological data.
- Strong problem-solving abilities to address data integration and interoperability challenges.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills to effectively document and convey complex ontological information.
- Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to work collaboratively within multidisciplinary teams.
- Deep industry knowledge and awareness of current trends and advancements in biotechnology and life sciences.
- Ability to adapt to evolving technologies and methodologies in ontology and biotechnology.

**Benefits and Perks**:
An engaging remote-first culture

A great compensation package that includes BenchSci equity options

A robust vacation policy plus an additional vacation day every year

Company closures for 14 more days throughout the year

Flex time for sick days, personal days, and religious holidays

Comprehensive health and dental benefits.

Annual learning & development budget

A one-time home office set-up budget to use upon joining BenchSci

An annual lifestyle spending account allowance

Generous parental leave benefits with a top-up plan or paid time off options

The ability to save for your retirement coupled with a company match

**About BenchSci**:
BenchSci's mission is to exponentially increase the speed and quality of life-saving research and development. We empower scientists to run more successful experiments with the world's most advanced, biomedical artificial intelligence software platform.

Backed by Generation Investment Management, TCV, Inovia, F-Prime, Golden Ventures, and Google's AI fund, Gradient Ventures, we provide an indispensable tool for scientists that accelerates research at 16 top 20 pharmaceutical companies and over 4,300 leading academic centers. We're a certified Great Place to Work®, and top-ranked company on Glassdoor.

**Our Culture**:
BenchSci relentlessly builds on its strong foundation of culture. We put team members first, knowing that they're the organization's beating heart. We invest as much in our people as our products. Our culture fosters transparency, collaboration, and continuou