Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Workstream Lead- AISI- L6
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Job Summary
The AI Security Institute (AISI) is the largest team in a government dedicated to understanding AI capabilities and risks in the world.
Our mission is to equip governments with an empirical understanding of the safety of advanced AI systems. We conduct research to understand the capabilities and impacts of advanced AI, and develop and test risk mitigations. We focus on risks with security implications, including the potential of AI to assist with the development of chemical and biological weapons, how it can be used to carry out cyber-attacks, enable crimes such as fraud, and the possibility of loss of control.
The risks from AI are not sci-fi, they are urgent. By combining the agility of a tech start-up with the expertise and mission-driven focus of government, we’re building a unique and innovative organisation to prevent AI’s harms from impeding its potential.
Job Description
Job Description
We are looking for experienced Workstream Leads to lead high-impact research teams across the breadth of AISI’s research agenda. These roles sit within the AISI Research Unit and are responsible for providing scientific, strategic and managerial leadership to multidisciplinary teams working on frontier AI risks, evaluations, mitigations, and safety science.
Workstream Leads may lead teams focused on a range of research problems relevant to AISI’s mission, including but not limited to cyber capability, chemical and biological risk, loss of control, societal impacts, evaluations, safeguards, or other priority areas across the Research Unit. Teams are typically multidisciplinary, drawing together expertise from machine learning, engineering, natural and social sciences, and policy.
You will shape and deliver a research strategy for your workstream, ensuring that the team remains at the forefront of technical AI safety research and produces outputs that are scientifically rigorous, policy-relevant, and operationally useful. You will be responsible for building and leading high-performing teams, setting research direction, overseeing delivery, and working closely with stakeholders across government, academia, and industry.
This is a technical leadership role ideally suited to candidates with a strong strategic perspective on frontier AI safety and security, experience leading high-performing technical or scientific teams, and the ability to translate complex research into actionable insight for decision-makers. The workstream is situated within the AISI Research Unit and reports to the Research Unit Deputy Director. This post requires Security Clearance (SC) and any continued employment will be conditional on earning and maintaining this level of clearance.
Person Specification
Role Summary
As a Workstream Lead in a cutting-edge research environment, you will provide the strategic and managerial leadership needed to ensure your team stays at the forefront of AI evaluations and safety science. You will help define AISI’s research agenda, lead delivery in a priority area, and ensure that the team’s work has meaningful impact for government, the wider research community, and the public interest. You will need to:
- Build and lead a talent-dense, multidisciplinary, and mission-driven team;
- Develop and deliver a strategy for a priority area of AISI’s research agenda, identifying and addressing risks from advanced AI systems;
- Ensure the team’s research portfolio answers critical policy and operational questions and is informed by the input of relevant cross-government experts and policymakers;
- Lead the development of cutting-edge evaluations, benchmarks, methods, or technical safeguards relevant to your workstream;
- Where appropriate, develop and oversee a portfolio of externally delivered research;
- Ensure that research outcomes are disseminated effectively to relevant stakeholders within government and the wider community;
- Forge relationships with key partners in industry, academia, and across government, including the national security community where relevant;
- Act as part of AISI’s wider leadership team, helping to shape culture, standards, and ways of working across the organisation;
- Contribute to the development of AISI as a unique and fast-growing institution at the intersection of frontier AI research, national security, and public policy.
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This role sits outside of the DDaT pay framework given the scope of this role requires in-depth technical expertise in frontier AI safety, robustness, and advanced AI architectures.
Person Specification
In accordance with the Civil Service Commission rules, the following list contains all selection criteria for the interview process.
Essential Criteria
- Experience of leading cutting-edge research, technical programmes, or scientific work relevant to frontier AI safety, security, evaluations, or risk mitigation, alongside experience of team leadership. This includes a broad understanding of the key research questions in one or more areas relevant to AISI’s mission, and the ability to communicate technical findings to inform wider cross-government efforts.
- Experience of leading impactful research, technical programmes, or scientific work relevant to frontier AI systems and their safety or security implications;
- Experience of conceptualising and delivering research agendas, evaluations, benchmarks, or mitigations in a fast-moving technical field;
- Strong strategic judgement on priority research questions relating to advanced AI capabilities, risks, and safeguards;
- Track record of working effectively with government experts and policymakers to ensure research informs real-world decision-making;
- Track record of working effectively with key external stakeholders, including industry and/or academia, on technically complex issues;
- Track record of effectively communicating technical work to a mixture of technical and non-technical audiences;
- Track record of successfully leading multidisciplinary teams to deliver multiple exceptional scientific breakthroughs, high-quality products, or other impactful outputs;
- Experience with mentorship and development of more junior team members.
Desirable Skills
- Background in machine learning, AI evaluations, computer science, engineering, or another scientific discipline relevant to AISI’s research agenda;
- Research or applied experience in one or more areas relevant to AISI, for example cyber, chemical or biological risk, model evaluations, safeguards, societal impacts, or AI control/alignment;
- Strong understanding of research best practice in technical or scientific environments;
- Experience working in cross-functional teams, including scientists, engineers, and policy professionals.
Technical Skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
The specific interview presentation title will be: ‘Please spend 30/45 mins presenting on your strategic vision for a priority AISI research workstream.’
Benefits
The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology offers a competitive mix of benefits including:
- A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking, and compressed hours.
- Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme, with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
- A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
- An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue.
- Access to a range of retail, travel, and lifestyle employee discounts.
- A hybrid office/home-based working model where staff will spend a norm of 40-60% of their time in the office (minimum of 40%) over a month with flex dependent on balancing business and individual need.
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Office Attendance
The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home-based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate, and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.
Selection Process Details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Experience and Technical skills.
As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a CV outlining your relevant experience required for the job.
Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
The AISI Talent Team will then sift all applications based on the evidence provided in the CV against the essential criteria outlined in the personal specification.
Those successful at the sift will be invited to attend an interview which will comprehensively assess experience related to the role.
You will be asked to present on your vision and expected outcomes for a workstream within AISI’s research agenda, followed by Q&A from the panel.
The Specific Interview Presentation Title Will Be:
‘Please spend 30/45 mins presenting on your strategic vision for a priority AISI research workstream.’
Sift and interview dates to be confirmed.
Further Information
Reasonable Adjustment
We are proud to be a disability-confident leader and we welcome applications from disabled candidates and candidates with long-term conditions.
Information about the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) and some examples of adjustments that we offer to disabled candidates and candidates with long-term health conditions during our recruitment process can be found in our DSIT Candidate Guidance. A DSIT Plain Text Version of the guidance is also available.
We encourage candidates to discuss their adjustment needs by emailing the job contact which can be found under the contact point for applicants section.
If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.
If successful and transferring from another Government Department, a criminal record check may be carried out.
New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.
A location-based reserve list of successful candidates will be kept for 12 months. Should another role become available within that period, you may be offered this position.
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