Lead SW Architect

Job description

We are looking for a **Senior Ontologist** to lead the design, development, and operationalization of buildings ontologies and taxonomies that power data interoperability, analytics, and intelligent systems across connected buildings products. This role is hands-on and strategic. You will work at the intersection of **domain modeling, semantic technologies, and standards**, shaping how complex data is represented, connected, and consumed at scale. You will collaborate closely with **domain experts, data engineers, platform architects, and product teams** to ensure that semantic models are accurate, extensible, and aligned with industry standards and real-world operational needs. **Ontology & Semantic Model Development** - Design, build, and maintain **industrial ontologies, taxonomies, and knowledge models** covering assets, spaces, processes, and operational data. - Develop and extend models aligned with industry standards such as: - **Brick Schema** - **Project Haystack** - **IFC (Industry Foundation Classes)** - Related building, utilities, energy, or asset-management ontologies - Define clear **concept hierarchies, relationships, constraints, and naming conventions**. **Standards & Interoperability** - Map, align, and reconcile concepts across multiple industry schemas and customer-specific models. - Design semantic alignment strategies between **heterogeneous data sources** (BMS, IoT, SCADA, CMMS, ERP, digital twins). - Ensure models support **interoperability, extensibility, and backward compatibility**. **Applied Semantics & Engineering Collaboration** - Work closely with data engineering and platform teams to: - Operationalize ontologies in production systems - Support semantic querying, reasoning, and metadata-driven pipelines - Define best practices for **ontology versioning, governance, and lifecycle management**. - Translate abstract semantic models into **practical, implementable artifacts**. **Domain Engagement & Leadership** - Provide technical and architecture leadership for ontology streams across connected buildings - Participate in industrial standard bodies defining buildings ontology - Review and validate models against operational use cases and data realities. - Act as a **semantic authority and mentor**, raising ontology maturity across the organization. **Required Qualifications** **Core Expertise** - Deep, hands-on experience in **ontology engineering and taxonomy design** for industrial or built-environment domains. - Strong working knowledge of **Brick Schema, Project Haystack, and IFC** (not just theoretical familiarity). - Proven experience building **real-world, production-grade semantic models**. **Technical Skills** - Strong understanding of: - RDF, RDFS, OWL, - Knowledge graphs and linked data principles - Graph databases like Neo4J - Experience with ontology tools and platforms - Familiarity with semantic querying (e.g., SPARQL, CIPHER) and metadata-driven architectures. - Ability to collaborate effectively with software and data engineers. - Understanding of how industrial systems generate, structure, and consume data. - Experience with **digital twins**, asset modeling and systems engineering. - Experience designing ontology governance frameworks at scale. - Ability to evaluate and integrate **open vs proprietary semantic models**. - Prior experience in a platform, product, or enterprise-scale environment. - Experience working in a fast-paced technology environment focused on delivering a world class products within an agile methodology utilizing latest technology frameworks.