Metadata Coordinator

Job Description:

ADS manages a scientific data ecosystem for VMRD, centered on omics metadata — study protocols, sample and animal tracking, treatment groups, and experimental comparisons. Metadata is curated into structured workbooks, validated against a controlled dictionary, and uploaded into a database. The coordinator works across internal studies (protocols, animal trials) and external published datasets (NCBI GEO/SRA). The role bridges scientists, bioinformaticians, and data engineers to ensure metadata is complete, consistent, and ready for processing.

We need a contractor with more technical depth than a traditional coordinator — someone comfortable in SQL and shell, capable of scripting fixes, running CLI uploads, and troubleshooting data quality issues directly.

Required Skills

SQL: comfortable writing and debugging queries across relational databases; joins, aggregations, data validation patterns

Shell scripting: Bash; file manipulation, text processing (awk, sed, grep), task automation

Python: scripting-level proficiency; data manipulation, file parsing, integration and joining Experience with metadata, ontologies, or controlled vocabularies in a scientific or data management context

Comfortable working in a Linux/HPC command-line environment

Strong attention to detail and ability to enforce data quality standards

Clear written and verbal communication with both technical and scientific stakeholders

Nice to Have

Life sciences background (genomics, transcriptomics, or omics data)

Experience with public omics repositories

Familiarity with YAML/JSON configuration and data serialization formats

Database administration or data modeling experience

Experience with data pipeline tools (Dagster, Airflow, or similar)