Job description
UK Government, AI Security Institute • London, UK, Manchester, UK
*Closing date: 23:55 26th July 2026 (BST)*
About us
Governments have a critical role to play in ensuring advanced AI is safe, secure, and beneficial. The AI Security Institute is the first state-backed organisation dedicated to advancing this goal. We conduct research and build infrastructure to understand the capabilities of advanced AI, and we develop and test mitigations to risks. We partner in this work with frontier AI developers, research organisations, and governments around the world.
The Societal Impacts team studies how frontier AI systems can influence what people believe, decide, and do. As AI systems evolve, they may be able to influence human behaviour in ways that challenge individual autonomy and societal stability. The Societal Impacts team conducts world-leading research on these risks, running large human-AI studies and randomised controlled trials. We distribute our findings within the UK government and beyond.
Below are some recent examples of our research:
- AI systems out-persuade expert human persuaders
- People readily follow personal advice from AI, but it does not improve their wellbeing
- RealityTest: how people probe AI identity and whether models disclose it
The role
As a Strategy & Delivery Adviser, you will support the research team operationally and help shape the strategic direction of research in line with AISI objectives.
Day-to-day, you will be responsible for the delivery of our research projects, working alongside researchers and internal partners in AISI and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT).
Alongside delivery, you will help steer the team’s direction. That includes the research direction: what we should prioritise as the AI landscape evolves; what the biggest societal risks are from AI, and our most important uncertainties about those risks. It also includes a general mission to make the research team a success: you will propose and develop improvements to make our research more efficient and impactful.
Our research team is an extremely talented group working in a fast-moving space, with new model releases every few weeks and enormous appetite across government and society for high-quality information on AI’s societal impacts. This role is at the centre of that team, and a critical enabler of its success.
What you might work on
Strategy & Delivery roles in AISI are broad by design. We encourage individuals to actively shape their role and innovate on the team’s modes and methods of working. Below is an illustrative, non-exhaustive list of potential responsibilities:
- Lead operational delivery for research projects from idea to output. This includes coordinating ethical and legal approvals, managing project deliverables and timelines, and establishing partnerships with third parties.
- Own high-priority special projects, like recruiting top Research Engineers to build the infrastructure our research depends on.
- Coordinate the team's objective-setting, pulling input from across the research team, working with the research lead, and contributing a view of what we should prioritise.
- Build impactful partnerships with researchers outside AISI, figuring out the operational mechanisms required (e.g. grants, contracts) and making them work.
- Bring our findings to stakeholders in AISI, the UK government, and AI labs. This includes drafting policy reports, delivering presentations, and briefing counterparts.
Who we're looking for
We are not looking for a particular CV. People do well in this role from a wide range of backgrounds and at a range of experience levels. What matters is a set of aptitudes:
- Agency: You take ownership and get things done without close direction, anticipating problems and resolving them before they escalate.
- Collaborativeness: You work well with people, gaining trust through reliability and building strong working relationships within the team, across AISI and wider government, and with external partners.
- Communication: You communicate effectively and adapt to your audience, whether expert or non-expert.
- Research interest: You can engage with academic research closely enough to coordinate it, following what a study is doing and why, without being a researcher yourself.
- Adaptability: You are comfortable with ambiguity and shifting priorities, and good at working out a sensible path forward when things are unclear.
The one thing that is essential: you want to reduce the risks that frontier AI poses to people and society, and the problems our team works on are the ones you want to help with.
This might not be the role for you if
- You want to conduct research yourself. You will have real influence over what the team works on and how, but you will not be doing research directly.
- You want a single, clearly-defined remit. You will be holding different priorities at once, and what is on your plate will change.
- You only want to work on strategy. A meaningful share of the job is the practical, hands-on work of making projects actually happen, and the role does not work without it.
- You need to be the expert in the room before you act. You will often be adding value in areas you are still learning.
Selection Process:
Application: CV & Application questions
Interview 1: Experience & motivations interview
Interview 2: Task & Civil Service Behaviours interview (Communicating & Influencing, Making Effective Decisions & Delivering at Pace)
Interview 3: Final stage interview with Senior Leadership
Please note that in the event of a high volume of applicants, applications will be sifted on CV alone
London Salary: £47,355 - £52,090. National Salary: £44,620 - £49,065. New entrants will be expected to join at the minimum of the pay band.
Salary
£44,620 - £52,090 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.
Eligibility
Not all staff working in a government department or accredited non-departmental public body are considered to be civil servants.
If any of the following statements apply to your circumstances then you should select ‘No’ when answering:
- You are a member of agency staff working in a government department
- You are employed by an external organisation contracted into government roles
- You are a self-employed contractor working in a government department
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
For more information on job nationality requirements and the right to work in the UK, see the Civil Service Nationality rules (opens in a new window) and the UK Visas and Immigration rules (opens in a new window)
Interviews under the Disability Confident Scheme
We want to encourage disabled people to apply for jobs and give them an opportunity to show their skills, talent and abilities at the interview stage. The Civil Service runs a Disability Confident Scheme, offering an interview (opens in a new window) to a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum selection criteria for the job.
To be considered for an interview under this scheme you must have:
- a physical or mental impairment, or a long term health condition which has a substantial and long term (over 12 months) adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day to day activities
- demonstrated in your application and testing stages that you meet the minimum job criteria as set out in the advert or person specification for the post
Reasonable adjustments
We want to support you if you need an adjustment in the recruitment process, even if you do not feel you qualify for the Disability Confident Scheme.
We consider visible and non-visible disabilities, neurodiversity or learning differences, chronic medical conditions or mental ill health. Examples include dyslexia, epilepsy, autism, chronic fatigue, diabetes, or schizophrenia.
Some of the adjustments we have offered are:
- application or interview help
- a time of day that works for you
- extra time
- sign language interpretation
- advice about assistive technology
For more information, you can read the government guidance on Reasonable adjustments for workers with disabilities or health conditions (opens in a new window)
Declaration
- All the information I've given in my application form is true to the best of my knowledge and belief and relates to my own experiences
- This is my only application for this role and accurately reflects my suitability
- I understand a check against the National Collection of Criminal Records and against other records or databases may be undertaken if I'm offered a position
- I understand that I’ll be asked for evidence of identification if I’m offered a post
- I understand my application may be rejected or I may be subject to disciplinary action if I've given false information or withheld relevant details
- I understand my application may be rejected or I may be subject to disciplinary action if evidence of plagiarism is detected. Examples of plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.
If you have any concerns about what we will do with your information, please see our privacy notice (opens in a new window).
Additional InformationUse 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.Near miss candidates
Candidates who are judged to be a near miss at interview may be considered for other positions in AISI which may be at a lower grade but have a potential skills match.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).