Manager, Metadata & Taxonomy

The Manager, Metadata & Taxonomy is responsible for strategically designing and maintaining metadata models for digital assets governed by the Content Licensing group, working with both internal and external stakeholders to manage and optimize workflows for metadata tagging and client deliverables. A person in this role must operate at the intersection of information science, post-production, digital asset management, and content licensing.

This role involves managing relationships with content marketing groups, balancing their customer service needs with the company’s metadata creation and collection goals. This person must be a self-starter, but willing and eager to collaborate with others. This person should believe in the power of metadata and want to share this knowledge with others. The Manager, Metadata & Taxonomy must be detail-oriented, agile, creative, and able to synthesize information from many sources. Metadata models will change over time and the Manager should be willing to disrupt the status quo, inspiring others to do the same.

• Identify strategic metadata opportunities for the Content Licensing business and for the broader studio as it relates to the curation of time-based metadata and clip re-use across all lines of business.
• Drive strategic decision making and implementation related to metadata creation, acquisition, and modeling
• Design, build, and maintain metadata models and schemas in support of Content Licensing and its related activities across the studio
• Audit metadata to ensure adherence to standards and identify new opportunities
• Use SQL and other query languages to standardize inconsistent or incomplete metadata, as well as perform analysis that influences metadata strategy
• Develop and improve workflows for metadata tagging and client deliverables (video clips/still images)
• Lead training for metadata tagging processes and the creation of metadata deliverables
• Document workflows, metadata models, and standards
• Evaluate new AI/machine learning technologies and project manage their integration with existing systems
• Map metadata between systems to support data initiatives and increase efficiency
• Onboard new content partners, provide training, and develop custom metadata schemas as required
• Oversee the operation of and serve as the internal public face for SPCL’s Village Well, a first-of-its-kind metadata repository describing longform studio assets with AI and human-generated time-based metadata
• Manage Village Well content partner relationships
• Query and analyze search data to support strategic metadata decisions
• Create reports to track project status
• Maintain familiarity with new technologies and other developments in the entertainment industry as they relate to metadata creation, collection, or modeling
• Support content review for ad-supported licensing models, making recommendations based on deep knowledge of rights and clearances
• Review and flag content for compliance issues
• Advocate to improve content discoverability and user experience through innovative metadata models

• metadata, including taxonomies, ontologies, metadata standards, metadata management, data extraction & transformation, and digital asset management (DAM)
• content licensing, including film clips, photography, stock footage, VFX elements, license administration, rights and clearances, CRM systems, sales, and customer service
• post-production, including knowledge of traditional (i.e. film-based) as well as current (i.e digital) post-production workflows, telecine, color-grading, editing, VFX, encoding/transcoding, and delivery formats
• personnel management, including supervision, scheduling, training, evaluation, and development

• Strong understanding of metadata, taxonomies, and ontologies
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills
• Adept research and problem-solving skills
• Deep knowledge of the studio’s catalog and the stock footage library
• Ability to multi-task and meet deadlines in a fast-paced environment
• Sound analytical skills (both qualitative & quantitative)
• Understanding of rights and clearances
• Understanding of compliance standards and practices
• Able to build rapport with clients, partners and cross-functional teams
• Decisive & effective problem-solving ability with a strategic mindset
• Detail-oriented with strong organizational and project management skills
• Master’s degree in Library or Information Science preferred

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