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Data Management Specialist
National Marine Sanctuary Foundation
Data Science
Hawaii, USA · Honolulu, HI, USA
USD 70k-78k / year
Posted on Apr 4, 2026
Location: Kihei, Hawaii or Honolulu, Hawaii (Pacific Islands Region)
Supervisor: Communications and Engagement Manager
Status: Full-time, exempt, no direct reports, 15-month term position
About the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation
Founded in 2000, the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, is the national nonprofit partner to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS). Together, we work to protect America’s most treasured ocean and Great Lakes areas — places of extraordinary biodiversity, maritime heritage, and community value.
Guided by our commitment to Waters for All, the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation connects people to the ocean and Great Lakes through education, conservation, and community engagement.
As the official nonprofit partner of NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, we support 18 marine environments from Massachusetts to American Samoa and the Great Lakes to the Florida Keys. We protect these iconic places, care for marine wildlife and habitats, honor our nation’s maritime heritage, and promote the enjoyment of public waters by all Americans.
Through public fundraising and partnerships, we invest in community stewardship and engagement, on-the-water conservation and restoration, education and outreach in visitor centers and gateway communities, and cutting-edge scientific exploration.
For more than 25 years, we’ve strengthened people’s connections to our ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes—our shared history, culture, and maritime heritage—and built partnerships with coastal communities and businesses tied to over 629,000 square miles of public waters that belong to all Americans.
About the National Marine Sanctuaries
America’s national marine sanctuaries are living classrooms, laboratories, and community assets that protect the waters shaping our shared future. Managed by NOAA’s Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS), this network of 18 marine protected areas is multi-use by nature and spans more than 629,000 square miles of ocean and Great Lakes — from coral reefs and kelp forests to historic shipwrecks and whale migration routes.
In partnership with marine research institutions, universities, and private-public partnerships, activities in each sanctuary are sources of solutions to today’s most pressing challenges. Sanctuaries safeguard marine biodiversity, sustain fisheries, power coastal economies, and inspire stewardship through science, education and outreach, and outdoor recreation from boating to fishing. Many sanctuary gateway communities include visitor centers and community partnerships with zoos, aquariums, and museums that extend this impact — serving as hubs for conservation, innovation, commerce, and tourism where people engage directly with the ocean and Great Lakes.
Together, these sites demonstrate how healthy waters and thriving communities are inseparable — and why protecting them is essential.
What We Need
The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that is a leading voice for U.S. protected waters, is seeking a Data Management Specialist, a position responsible for serving as a vital link between active marine research and the long-term stewardship of federal data assets. Working within the Office of National Marine Sanctuaries, the employee will ensure that scientific and environmental data from the Pacific Islands Region (PIR)—ranging from oceanographic and acoustic monitoring to biological surveys— are documented, archived, and made accessible to the public and policymakers in accordance with NOAA’s Data Management Directives and federal law (e.g., the Evidence Act).
This is a 15-month term position with the possibility of an extension.
The Office of National Marine Sanctuaries (ONMS) manages “underwater parks” that protect the nation’s most iconic marine resources. The person in this role will ensure that the data collected within these sanctuaries is safely and securely managed, legally compliant and available to the public and policymakers to help protect our oceans for generations.
In this role, the employee will be responsible for moving data through the following phases to ensure it remains a “living” resource for the community:
- Plan: Creating a Data Management Plan (DMP) for each Sanctuary
- Inventory: Developing an inventory of data assets for each site.
- Collect/Ingest: Organizing raw data from surveys and sensors.
- Document: Writing the ISO 19115 metadata and publishing records in InPort
- Preserve: Submitting validated packages to data repositories.
- Discover: Enabling access via the ONMS Data Atlas or national catalogs.
The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation is committed to a culture of inclusion, equity, and belonging. We are dedicated to attracting and retaining a diverse staff. We honor experiences, perspectives, and unique identities, and welcome the contributions that you can bring to the dedicated team. With a diverse team of employees, we can grow and learn better together and achieve our mission to protect the health of the ocean, coasts and Great Lakes for current and future generations.
What You’ll Do
- NAO 212-15B compliance: Develop and maintain a data management workflow for PIR data in compliance with NOAA Administrative Order (NAO) 212-15B.
- Data Management Planning: Work with PIR scientists and staff to develop and update Data Management Plans (DMPs) using established templates. . Ensure plans account for the full data lifecycle, from collection to public dissemination.
- Data Management: Organize, inventory and document new and historical datasets for PIR sanctuaries, including Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary, Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, and National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa that still need archiving and metadata development.
- Archiving Liaison: Support the technical transfer of datasets to approved permanent repositories, such as the National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). Facilitate "submission-to-archive" workflows, ensuring data meet format requirements (e.g., netCDF, CSV, GeoTIFF).
- Cross-Sanctuary Strategy: Help implement a unified data strategy across the Pacific Island Region sanctuaries, including Papahānaumokuākea National Marine Sanctuary, Hawaiian Islands Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, and National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa. This includes standardizing vocabulary using keywords and ensuring compliance with the NOAA Information and Data Management Handbook.
- Compliance Monitoring: Track timelines for data publication (typically within two years of collection per NOAA policy) and assist in addressing "Freedom of Information Act" (FOIA) or internal data requests.
- Data products: Help staff develop analytical data products that support the PIR mission.
Who You Are
Required Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s Degree or higher in Marine Science, Environmental Science, Information Management, or related field.
- Familiarity with the NOAA Information and Data Management Handbook, ISO 19115 metadata standards, and the FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data principles.
- Experience or ability to learn NOAA-specific tools like InPort, ATRAC (for archive tracking), and ERDDAP data servers. Experience working in coding environments such as R, Python and/or Matlab.
- Understanding of biological, acoustic and oceanographic data types collected in the PIR (e.g., photo and video imagery, acoustic data, biologging data, survey data and GIS shapefiles).
- Strong technical writing skills and the ability to bridge the gap between "science-speak" and "data-governance-speak."
Preferred Qualifications:
- Master’s Degree in related field.
- At least two years of related experience.
Why You Will Love Us
The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation (“Foundation”) is a leading voice for U.S. protected waters, working with communities to conserve and expand those special places for a healthy ocean, coasts, and Great Lakes. The Foundation works in close partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to increase stewardship of our ocean and Great Lakes through on-the-water conservation projects, education and public outreach activities, and by support for research. Together, we safeguard species and the places they call home and support coastal communities and economies.
- Dedicated and passionate staff committed to marine and Great Lakes Conservation
- Generous leave policy, plus paid time off the week between December 25 and January 1; and 12 paid holidays
- Health benefits: medical, dental, and vision
- Foundation paid Life and Disability Insurance
- Preparing for the Future: 403(B) with employer contribution after one year of service
Compensation and Benefits: $70,000 - $78,000/year based on experience. The Foundation offers a competitive benefits package.
Apply through the Foundation’s online portal. A resume, cover letter, and three professional references are required. Applications must be received by April 17, 2026, at 11:59 PM ET.
Location: Kihei, Hawaii or Honolulu, Hawaii
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The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion in the workplace. We prohibit discrimination and harassment of any kind based on race, color, sex, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other protected characteristic as outlined by federal, state, or local laws. This commitment applies to all employment practices within our organization, including hiring, recruiting, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, leave of absence, compensation, benefits, and training. The Foundation makes hiring decisions based solely on qualifications, merit, and business needs at the time.