Ontology & AI Governance Consultant

Company Description At NCS Australia, we believe in doing technology services better. Our commitment to quality, focus on people, and willingness to challenge traditional thinking set us apart. Our team brings this belief to life by partnering with our clients and communities to make tomorrow together. We are committed to creating an environment that prioritises innovation, collaboration, and purposeful work. Our diverse team is empowered to make a meaningful impact with curiosity, creativity and resilience to shape better outcomes. Join us and accept the challenge of creating a better tomorrow. Job Description We are seeking an experienced Ontology & AI Governance Consultant to establish and implement semantic governance frameworks that enable trusted, governed, and AI-ready enterprise data. This role will focus on developing ontologies, knowledge models, metadata standards, and AI governance structures that support enterprise-wide data consistency, responsible AI adoption, and intelligent agent ecosystems. The ideal candidate will combine deep expertise in semantic technologies (OWL, RDF, Knowledge Graphs, SPARQL) with practical experience in AI governance, data governance, metadata management, and enterprise architecture. You will work closely with business stakeholders, data teams, architects, and AI practitioners to ensure semantic assets become foundational components of AI-enabled business solutions. The Ontology & AI Governance Consultant will be responsible for designing, developing, and governing enterprise ontologies, knowledge graphs, and semantic frameworks that establish a consistent and trusted data foundation across the organisation. The role will lead the development of AI governance and semantic data standards, ensuring enterprise data is structured, discoverable, interoperable, and AI-ready. Working closely with business stakeholders, data architects, AI teams, and technology partners, the consultant will integrate semantic models into enterprise platforms, data pipelines, and AI solutions, including GenAI and AI agent ecosystems. Key responsibilities include implementing semantic validation and data quality controls, enabling knowledge-driven AI capabilities such as semantic search and Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), establishing metadata and taxonomy standards, and providing strategic guidance on responsible AI, explainability, and governance best practices. The consultant will also drive stakeholder engagement, governance adoption, and continuous improvement of semantic and AI governance capabilities across the enterprise. Qualifications Proven experience designing, developing, and maintaining enterprise ontologies using semantic web technologies such as OWL, RDF, RDFS, and SKOS. Strong hands-on expertise in Semantic Web standards and technologies, including SPARQL for querying and managing graph-based data. Demonstrated experience building, implementing, and governing enterprise Knowledge Graphs and linked data solutions. Experience developing and applying semantic validation rules, data quality frameworks, and governance controls using SHACL, OWL constraints, or equivalent approaches. Solid understanding of AI Governance, Responsible AI principles, and data governance frameworks, including explainability, transparency, accountability, and compliance considerations. Experience enabling AI, GenAI, and AI Agent use cases through ontologies, knowledge graphs, semantic search, or Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) frameworks. Strong knowledge of data modelling, information architecture, metadata management, and enterprise data integration practices. Proven ability to integrate semantic technologies with enterprise applications, data platforms, APIs, and cloud environments. Proficiency in at least one programming language such as Python, Java, or similar, with experience developing semantic processing pipelines, integrations, or automation solutions. Experience working with graph databases or semantic platforms such as Neo4j, Stardog, GraphDB, Apache Jena, Amazon Neptune, or Azure graph technologies. Strong stakeholder engagement and consulting skills, with the ability to translate complex semantic and AI governance concepts into business outcomes. Excellent communication, documentation, and facilitation skills, with experience collaborating across business, data, architecture, and AI teams. Ability to establish governance standards, operating models, best practices, and adoption frameworks for semantic data and AI initiatives. Experience operating within large enterprise environments and delivering strategic data, governance, or AI transformation initiatives. Additional Information Why join us: NCS Australia is where you can feel at home, nurturing your talents and skills as we make tomorrow together, one day at a time. Our benefits include paid parental leave, initiatives focused on your well-being and discounted health insurance. You will also enjoy discounts on various products and services and be regularly recognised and rewarded for high performance. We are committed to your career development through our Capability Fingerprint, industry and partner training programs, special interest groups, and an AI-driven learning platform. No matter where you are in your career, we offer meaningful work and opportunities for growth. NCS Australia is an equal-opportunity employer, and we take pride in our commitment to valuing and supporting our people and the communities we serve.We are dedicated to attracting, retaining and developing our people regardless of gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability and age. Applications are encouraged from all sectors of the community and we strongly encourage applications from the Veterans, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander community. At NCS Australia, we are committed to supporting adjustments throughout the recruitment and selection process, as well as during employment. We actively support and encourage people with disability to apply. Agencies: We’ve got this. We request that you do not contact NCS employees outside of the Talent Acquisition team. NCS exclusively accepts resumes from agencies on our preferred supplier panel through the NCS Agency Portal. Agencies that submit resumes must have a valid fee agreement and be assigned to the particular requisition by the Talent Acquisition team. Any resumes that are submitted outside of this process will become the sole property of NCS. If a candidate is hired outside of this process, no fee or payment will be given. Work rights and background checks: To be eligible for a position with us, applicants will need to have valid work rights for Australia and be willing to undergo a comprehensive background checking process, including probity and police checks Why join us: NCS Australia is where you can feel at home, nurturing your talents and skills as we make tomorrow together, one day at a time. Our benefits include paid parental leave, initiatives focused on your well-being and discounted health insurance. You will also enjoy discounts on various products and services and be regularly recognised and rewarded for high performance. We are committed to your career development through our Capability Fingerprint, industry and partner training programs, special interest groups, and an AI-driven learning platform. No matter where you are in your career, we offer meaningful work and opportunities for growth. NCS Australia is an equal-opportunity employer, and we take pride in our commitment to valuing and supporting our people and the communities we serve.We are dedicated to attracting, retaining and developing our people regardless of gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability and age. Applications are encouraged from all sectors of the community and we strongly encourage applications from the Veterans, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander community. At NCS Australia, we are committed to supporting adjustments throughout the recruitment and selection process, as well as during employment. We actively support and encourage people with disability to apply. Agencies: We’ve got this. We request that you do not contact NCS employees outside of the Talent Acquisition team. NCS exclusively accepts resumes from agencies on our preferred supplier panel through the NCS Agency Portal. Agencies that submit resumes must have a valid fee agreement and be assigned to the particular requisition by the Talent Acquisition team. Any resumes that are submitted outside of this process will become the sole property of NCS. If a candidate is hired outside of this process, no fee or payment will be given. Work rights and background checks: To be eligible for a position with us, applicants will need to have valid work rights for Australia and be willing to undergo a comprehensive background checking process, including probity and police checks Department: AI