Research Unit Delivery Manager, Safeguards (G7)
About the AI Security Institute
The AI Security Institute 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.
Role Description
As AI systems become more capable and integrated into the economy, they will increasingly be targeted by adversaries looking to take advantage of their weaknesses.
AISI’s Safeguards Analysis team works to understand, evaluate, and improve the technical measures to address these risks (“safeguards”). The team has previously performed pre-deployment tests of leading frontier models [1], and published new datasets [2] and attacks [3].
Our research enables us to develop insights on the safety of frontier systems, which are most impactful when shared.
Responsibilities of a Delivery Manager
Amongst other things, your responsibilities will include:
- Drive strategy and execution, working with your Workstream Lead, researchers, and other delivery staff, to shape and deliver on research direction.
- Maintain delivery momentum, fostering a fast-paced research environment, clearing roadblocks while managing risk.
- Building impactful partnerships, leveraging grants, competitions and other delivery arrangements.
- Engage key stakeholders within Government and externally, including national security organisations, industry, and academia.
- Deliver through others, including task managing at least one member of staff, with potential to scale over time.
- Stay up to date on advancements with AI security, ethics, safeguards, and applications.
Person specification
AISI’s Research Unit is building a community which is committed to getting things done and can navigate uncharted territories to achieve novel outcomes within government. You will be excellent at building strong, trusting relationships, problem-solving, and co-ordinating complex projects to support the organisation to deliver tangible benefits for AI safety research and evaluations. These are roles in which high agency is encouraged, where you will have the opportunity to take on high-profile projects.
This might a great role for you if you are someone who:
- Is motivated by a strong desire to ensure that frontier AI systems benefit people globally.
- Gets things done. Has an entrepreneurial approach: comfortable navigating uncertainty, adapting quickly, taking a “trial and get feedback approach”, and being comfortable with taking controlled risk. Proven track record of delivery across the full-project life cycle, and capable of spinning multiple projects in parallel.
- Moves fast. Hits the ground running. Able to work effectively at pace, take decisions in the face of incomplete data, and remain calm and resilient under pressure. Has experience working in a delivery-focussed role, with a strong track record of managing complex projects and shipping good product.
- Self-motivates and is comfortable with agency. Can operate with high autonomy and maintain delivery momentum, engaging with experts and non-experts alike on complex, technical problems.
- Works well in a team. Collaborates effectively with colleagues, builds strong relationships, and contributes to a positive team dynamic. Keeps people motivated and on-side even where incentives don’t necessarily immediately align.
- Wants to learn. Curious, and eager to expand their knowledge and skills. Excited by the prospect of identifying knowledge gaps and seeking to fill them. Actively seeks out opportunities for growth and development and helps others to do the same.
Desirable (not essential) skills and experience:
- Experience in technical/R&D environment, or in a start-up
- Domain knowledge on Frontier AI
- An understanding of the breadth of the AI ethics, safety, and alignment spaces.
- Experience managing and delivering a broad portfolio of projects.
- Experience working on or studying adversarial ML and/or AI-system safeguards.
If you have the skills, experience and motivation to help drive forward AISI's critical mission at the cutting edge of AI safety, we want to hear from you. Join us and let's ensure that the immense potential of AI benefits humanity while navigating the risks and challenges responsibly
Salary
Grade 7 – £58,040 - £64,995
Alongside your salary of £58,040, Department for Science, Innovation & Technology contributes £16,814 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
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.
Clearances
Candidates should be willing to apply for SC.
SC requires 2 years UK residency out of the last 5 years, at least one year of which must be 12 consecutive months.
Additional Information
Internal Fraud Database
The Internal Fraud function of the Fraud, Error, Debt and Grants Function at the Cabinet Office processes details of civil servants who have been dismissed for committing internal fraud, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned. The Cabinet Office receives the details from participating government organisations of civil servants who have been dismissed, or who would have been dismissed had they not resigned, for internal fraud. In instances such as this, civil servants are then banned for 5 years from further employment in the civil service. The Cabinet Office then processes this data and discloses a limited dataset back to DLUHC as a participating government organisations. DLUHC then carry out the pre employment checks so as to detect instances where known fraudsters are attempting to reapply for roles in the civil service. In this way, the policy is ensured and the repetition of internal fraud is prevented. For more information please see - Internal Fraud Register.
Security
Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check and get baseline personnel security standard (BPSS) clearance before they can be appointed. Additionally, there is a strong preference for eligibility for counter-terrorist check (CTC) clearance. Some roles may require higher levels of clearance, and we will state this by exception in the job advertisement. See our vetting charter here.
Nationality requirements
We may be able to offer roles to applicant from any nationality or background. As such we encourage you to apply even if you do not meet the standard nationality requirements (opens in a new window).
Working for the Civil Service
Diversity and Inclusion
Apply for this job
*
indicates a required field