Data Steward

The Bursar of the Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, announces an open competition for the position of:

Data Steward

Workplace: RECETOX, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno

Type of contract: fixed-term, initial contract for 1 year (with the prospect of long-term cooperation), non-academic position

Working hours: 1.0 FTE (full-time, 40 hours per week)

Expected start date: as soon as possible, by agreement

Number of open positions: 1

Salary: negotiable

Application deadline: 22.9.2026

About the workplace

Masaryk University is a modern, dynamic university and the most sought-after in the Czech Republic, with 10 faculties, more than 6,500 employees and 33,000 students, a wide range of research areas and a strong international standing. We are the largest academic employer in the South Moravian Region.

The Faculty of Science, holder of the HR Excellence in Research Award granted by the European Commission, is a research-oriented faculty offering university education closely linked to basic and applied research and secondary-school science teaching: mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology and earth sciences. We are the most productive scientific unit of Masaryk University and generate roughly 40% of the university’s research output.

RECETOX focuses on interdisciplinary research and education in the area of Environment & Health, studying toxic compounds and their behaviour, transport & bioaccumulation to evaluate environmental effects, assess the exposure and health risks to humans, and develop technologies and biotechnologies to break them down. http://www.recetox.muni.cz/en/career/career-at-recetox

About the team

We are looking for a data steward to join the Data Management team of the RECETOX Data Services department. The Data Services department, consisting of a Data Management team and an Information Systems team with approximately 20 employees in total, forms the data infrastructure of the EIRENE Research Infrastructure central node.

The Data Management team is responsible for data management, stewardship and governance at the level of the department and research infrastructure, as well as national and international research and science-policy initiatives - such as the Open Science II project implementing EOSC in the Czech Republic (EOSC CZ), the European Partnership for the Assessment of Risks from Chemicals (PARC), or the Global Monitoring Plan under the Stockholm Convention. The scope of work includes mapping research community requirements and the data landscape, facilitating data management processes in the community, developing and integrating FAIR-compliant data collection instruments, metadata schemas, controlled vocabularies and formal ontologies supporting interoperable research data infrastructures, establishing data and repository policies, and managing the content and structure of data repositories in close collaboration with the Information System team.

Job description

You will work closely with the team lead and take over the operational data management agenda of our national and international projects – developing and maintaining metadata schemas and controlled vocabularies, supporting data management plans, contributing to project deliverables and presentations. Thus, contributing to the development and growth of a global research infrastructure for exposome research. Responsibility is expected to grow over time — once familiar with the project environment and the partner network, you will also take over part of the partner communication and coordination of individual tasks. This is a broad role suited to someone who enjoys working across different aspects of research data management rather than specialising in one area.

Main responsibilities

• Develop and maintain metadata schemas and controlled vocabularies for environmental and human health data (chemicals in the environment, human biomonitoring, toxicology); publish vocabularies as FAIR resources (SKOS), collect and process community feedback (e.g. GitHub issues)
• Align our data models with international standards (e.g. OGC, I-ADOPT, OBO ontologies) and community requirements
• Prepare and update project data management plans (DMPs) using DSWizard, and support researchers in creating their own
• Support data providers and partners: onboarding, guidance on data collection templates, resolution of harmonisation and data quality issues
• Prepare project reports, deliverables and presentations for work packages and task groups; participate in partner meetings and working-group sessions
• Contribute content to repository development in close collaboration with the Information Systems team: requirements gathering, data and metadata models, versioning and evolution of existing schemas
• Conduct the inventory and prioritisation of datasets for a global research infrastructure
• Contribute to internal standards, documentation and training to ensure that best practices are transferable and sustained across the team

Requirements

• University degree in environmental sciences, chemistry, toxicology, epidemiology, biology, public health or a related field; an understanding of the scientific content of the data, not only its format, is essential
• Basic experience with research data management: DMPs, metadata, data curation, data documentation, repositories
• Working knowledge of FAIR principles and how they translate into real data structures and workflows
• Basic data handling skills: ability to explore and summarise tabular data (at least in spreadsheet tools; R, Python or SQL an advantage)
• English at working level (B2) for project deliverables and partner meetings; Czech or Slovak for internal coordination
• Ability to organise your own work across several projects and keep track of commitments and deadlines
• Curiosity and openness to acquiring new technical and domain skills
• Availability for a full-time position with an early start

An advantage

• Experience in an EU-funded or multi-partner project (Horizon Europe, European Partnerships, ESFRI research infrastructures, EOSC)
• Familiarity with controlled vocabularies, ontologies and semantic standards used in environment and health (SKOS, ENVO, ChEBI, OBO Foundry, I-ADOPT, OGC)
• Knowledge of environmental monitoring, human biomonitoring or chemical risk assessment data
• Data steward training or certification (e.g. EOSC CZ, University of Vienna Data Steward course)
• Experience with data collection platforms, validation rules or data catalogues
• Familiarity with RECETOX research and data infrastructure
• GitLab/GitHub or similar issue-tracking tools

We offer

• A position with international reach within a growing European research infrastructure (PARC, EIRENE, EOSC CZ)
• A team with clearly defined roles: the content side of data (data management) is separated from information systems development
• Work in a multidisciplinary team, cooperation with international teams, daily use of English
• Room for personal and professional growth, further training and education (data steward courses, conferences)
• Interesting work in a prestigious university environment
• Flexible working hours, partial home office possible
• Employee benefits (6 weeks of holiday, pension contribution or contribution to kindergarten/childcare, meal allowance, MU canteens, Multisport card, free vaccinations, discounts on language courses, favourable Vodafone mobile tariffs, childcare groups at the Campus and Komenského náměstí)

How to apply

Submit your application by 22.9.2026 via the e-application; the link is here: https://www.muni.cz/en/about-us/careers/vacancies/81693

Include the following documents in your application:

• Structured CV
• Cover letter (in English or Czech) — describe one data management problem you solved in a multi-partner or multi-team setting and how you approached it

After successfully submitting your application you will receive an automatic e-mail confirmation. If you have problems filling in the e-application or doubts about whether it was submitted correctly, contact us.

Selection process

Incoming applications will be carefully assessed in accordance with the principles of the European Charter and Code for Researchers.. Selection criteria: (i) compliance with the candidate profile requirements listed above, (ii) submission of all documents required in the application.

Suitable candidates will be invited to an in-person or online interview.

The faculty’s rules for open competitions are available here: https://www.sci.muni.cz/kariera-na-prf-mu/vyberove-rizeni-na-prf-mu

The Faculty of Science of Masaryk University is an equal opportunity employer. We support diversity and strive to create a working environment that meets the individual needs of all employees. See also the Faculty career pages: https://www.sci.muni.cz/kariera-na-prf-mu

Thank you for your interest. We look forward to hearing from you!