Chief Research Officer

Civil Service
Full Time
London
230,000 - 240,000
Posted 2 days ago

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Job Description

Job summary

Artificial intelligence is rapidly becoming one of the defining strategic technologies of the 21st century. The capabilities of advanced AI systems are accelerating at extraordinary speed, with profound implications for national security, economic power, scientific progress and societal resilience.

The UK Government is at the forefront of answering increasingly urgent questions about these systems: what they are capable of, what risks they may create and how the UK should respond as capabilities continue to advance. The AI Security Institute (AISI) was created to answer those questions.

AISI exists to build the scientific and technical understanding the UK Government needs to navigate the emergence of increasingly powerful AI systems. We combine frontier technical expertise, direct access to advanced AI models and the authority of the British state to help shape the international approach to AI safety and security.

In less than two years, AISI has become one of the leading institutions in the international AI safety ecosystem. We have conducted pre-deployment testing of advanced AI systems, driven concrete safety improvements with leading AI developers, published influential research on emerging capabilities and open-sourced technical infrastructure now used by researchers worldwide.

We have:

Published the first government assessment of frontier AI trends, finding AI capabilities surpassing expert baselines across biology, chemistry and cyber.
Tested frontier models before they reach the public and driven concrete safety improvements
Open sourced Inspect: our evaluation framework, now used by researchers worldwide.
Set out ourresearch agenda, spanning cyber, chem-bio, alignment, control and societal resilience.
Launched the Alignment Project, awarding over 27 million to more than 60 teams globally.

We have built the largest government technical team in the world focused on AI safety and security with over 100 technical staff. The next phase is about turning that capability into lasting international influence. As advanced AI systems become more capable and strategically important, the UK Government will increasingly require institutions capable not only of understanding these technologies, but shaping how they are evaluated, governed and safely developed internationally. AISI intends to be one of those institutions.

We are now looking for an exceptional leader to help take us forward.

Job description

The Chief Research Officer (CRO) will help lead AISI at a pivotal moment for the development of advanced AI systems.

As co-leader of AISI alongside the Director, you will shape the Institutes technical strategy, international relationships and long-term impact. You will determine where AISI can have the greatest influence, help shape international approaches to AI security and ensure the Institute remains one of the worlds leading authorities on advanced AI systems.

You will be personally accountable for how AISI generates scientific and technical impact. You will own the institutes technical vision and make high stakes decisions about technical focus areas as capabilities evolve ensuring AISIs output generates decision relevant insight for Government.

You will represent the UK Government directly with frontier AI labs, international partners and leading researchers, building the relationships, trust and credibility that allow AISI to operate at the forefront of this field. You will represent the Institute publicly at the highest levels and serve as one of the UK Governments principal sources of technical judgement on rapidly evolving AI capabilities.

You will serve as one of the UK Governments principal sources of technical and scientific judgement on frontier AI, providing clear, timely and authoritative advice to Ministers, senior officials and the national security community on the implications of frontier AI developments for security, resilience and public policy.

The decisions made in this role will influence not only the future direction of AISI, but potentially the broader trajectory of international AI security efforts.

Person specification

Essential criteria

We are looking for an exceptional leader with the judgement, credibility and ambition to help lead AISI through its next phase of growth.

You will likely have experience leading large-scale technical or scientific programmes and multidisciplinary teams in highly complex environments alongside a deep understanding of advanced AI systems and the surrounding research landscape.

You should be capable of operating effectively in ambiguous, fast-moving and high-stakes environments where evidence is often incomplete and decisions carry significant consequences.

You will need the credibility to engage directly with leading AI researchers, frontier laboratories, senior government leaders and international counterparts, while maintaining the intellectual rigour and independence required of a public institution.

Just as importantly, you will need to be an exceptional builder of organisations and talent, capable of attracting world-class researchers and engineers and scaling an institution operating at the frontier of one of the most important technologies in the world. You should be comfortable holding both the strategic vision and operational detail.

A significant body of research work in frontier AI, with a record of original contribution to the field demonstrating sustained intellectual leadership.

We are looking for someone capable of combining technical depth, strategic judgement and institutional leadership at a moment that may shape the trajectory of AI globally.

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