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Expression of Interest- Cyber and Autonomous Systems Team

London, UK

About the AI Security Institute

The AI Security Institute is the world's largest and best-funded team dedicated to understanding advanced AI risks and translating that knowledge into action. We’re in the heart of the UK government with direct lines to No. 10 (the Prime Minister's office), and we work with frontier developers and governments globally.

We’re here because governments are critical for advanced AI going well, and UK AISI is uniquely positioned to mobilise them. With our resources, unique agility and international influence, this is the best place to shape both AI development and government action.

 

Expression of Interest - Cyber and Autonomous Systems Team (CAST)

CAST is open to expressions of interest from talented cyber security experts and software engineers of all levels of seniority who want to work at the forefront of frontier AI security but do not see a role listed that matches their skills and experience. Our talent team will reach out should a role arise that may be a good match.

About the team

AI capabilities in cybersecurity and autonomy are advancing faster than at any point in history. Frontier models can now work through multi-step network intrusions, discover and exploit software vulnerabilities, and carry out long-horizon technical tasks with increasing independence. These are extraordinary tools for scientific and economic progress, but also have the potential for serious harm if misused or deployed without adequate oversight.

The team evaluates the capability of both frontier and open-weight AI models in cybersecurity, autonomy and AI R&D, ensuring the UK government and its partners have an accurate view of risks and capabilities. We use realistic cyber ranges and a large CTF suite for our evaluations, run pre-deployment testing of frontier models, and collaborate with our partners across UK government, frontier labs, and NCSC.

Your day-to-day work might include building state-of-the-art evaluations (e.g., cyber ranges), running pre-deployment testing exercises (e.g., Claude Mythos Preview), validating novel model behaviours (e.g., models cheating in evaluations), and answering timely research questions (e.g., the capabilities of open-weight models). Working alongside you would be engineers and researchers who care deeply about the impact of their work, take pride in their craft, and have a high level of autonomy.

If that sounds exciting to you, we'd love for you to apply!

Salary

£65,000 - £145,000 GBP

What We Offer 

Impact you couldn't have anywhere else 

  • Incredibly talented, mission-driven and supportive colleagues. 
  • Direct influence on how frontier AI is governed and deployed globally. 
  • Work with the Prime Minister’s AI Advisor and leading AI companies. 
  • Opportunity to shape the first & best-resourced public-interest research team focused on AI security. 

Resources & access 

  • Pre-release access to multiple frontier models and ample compute. 
  • Extensive operational support so you can focus on research and ship quickly. 
  • Work with experts across national security, policy, AI research and adjacent sciences. 

Growth & autonomy 

  • If you’re talented and driven, you’ll own important problems early. 
  • 5 days off and annual stipends for learning and development, and funding for conferences and external collaborations. 
  • Freedom to pursue research bets without product pressure. 
  • Opportunities to publish and collaborate externally. 

Life & family* 

  • Modern central London office (cafes, food court, gym), or where applicable, option to work in similar government offices in Birmingham, Cardiff, Darlington, Edinburgh, Salford or Bristol. 
  • Hybrid working, flexibility for occasional remote work abroad and stipends for work-from-home equipment. 
  • At least 25 days’ annual leave, 8 public holidays, extra team-wide breaks and 3 days off for volunteering. 
  • Generous paid parental leave (36 weeks of UK statutory leave shared between parents + 3 extra paid weeks + option for additional unpaid time). 
  • On top of your salary, we contribute 28.97% of your base salary to your pension. 
  • Discounts and benefits for cycling to work, donations and retail/gyms. 
     

*These benefits apply to direct employees. Benefits may differ for individuals joining through other employment arrangements such as secondments. 

Salary

Annual salary is benchmarked to role scope and relevant experience. Most offers land between £65,000 and £145,000 made up of a base salary plus a technical allowance (take-home salary = base + technical allowance). An additional 28.97% employer pension contribution is paid on the base salary. 

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. 

The full range of salaries are available below: 

  • Level 3: £65,000–£75,000 (Base £39,850 + Technical Allowance £25,150–£35,150)
  • Level 4: £85,000–£95,000 (Base £47,355 + Technical Allowance £37,645–£47,645)
  • Level 5: £105,000–£115,000 (Base £61,620 + Technical Allowance £43,380–£53,380)
  • Level 6: £125,000–£135,000 (Base £74,605 + Technical Allowance £50,395–£60,395)
  • Level 7: £145,000 (Base £74,605 + Technical Allowance £70,395)

 

Additional Information

Use of AI in Applications

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 for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

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

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window). As part of the application process, we monitor statistics on D&I. You can see how we process this data here: Recruitment privacy notice - GOV.UK.

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