Associate Director or Deputy Director of Biosecurity Policy

The Centre for Long-Term Resilience; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job summary

An independent think tank is seeking an Associate Director or Deputy Director of Biosecurity Policy to lead a dedicated team in developing impactful policy recommendations on extreme biological risks. The role requires significant experience in biosecurity and aims to enhance government strategies on these threats. Candidates will collaborate with various stakeholders to refine biosecurity policies and engage in high-stakes discussions, while promoting a culture of integrity and teamwork within the organization.

Benefits

30 days annual leave plus public holidays

£5,000 annual wellbeing budget

£3,000 annual learning budget

£2,000 onboarding grant

Private health insurance

Generous parental leave benefits

Qualifications

• Experience working in policy or advocacy required.
• Line management and coaching experience highly desirable.
• Ability to manage multiple workstreams effectively.

Responsibilities

• Lead the biosecurity unit and set strategic direction.
• Develop robust policy recommendations for biosecurity.
• Engage with government stakeholders and maintain strong relationships.

Skills

Strong motivation to reduce extreme biological risks

Experience in biosecurity or a related field

Excellent interpersonal skills

Strong research and critical thinking skills

Ability to maintain confidentiality

Education

Relevant degree or experience

Job description

Job title: Associate Director or Deputy Director of Biosecurity Policy, depending on experience level

Salary: £90,000 to £100,000 depending on skills and experience, plus a generous benefits package.

Location: Flexible location within the UK, with the expectation of attending our central London office at least two days a week, including on Mondays.

If you are interested in this position, but salary or location is a barrier to you applying, please get in touch with our team to discuss as we may be able to offer some flexibility based on individual circumstances.

Application form: Apply Here

Deadline: 18 January 2026 at 23:59 Anywhere on Earth (AoE)

For any questions, please send an email to: [e-mail]

About CLTR

The Centre for Long-Term Resilience (CLTR) is a UK-based, non-profit and independent think tank with a mission to transform global resilience to extreme risks. We achieve this by working with governments and institutions, offering targeted, evidence-based advice designed to enhance understanding, decision-making and governance – with a particular emphasis on advising the UK government.

At CLTR, we focus on three prioritised policy areas that, when addressed effectively, can substantially reduce both present and prospective catastrophic threats: i) biosecurity, ii) artificial intelligence, and iii) improving how governments manage extreme risks.

You would join a passionate and committed team with diverse experiences spanning academia, healthcare, government, non-profit organisations, and the private sector. We place immense value on our work and on fostering a positive team culture that supports staff wellbeing and growth. CLTR’s approach is anchored in our three core values: i) integrity, ii) people first, and iii) targeted real-world impact.

Biosecurity Policy at CLTR

Our Biosecurity Policy Unit works to develop, evaluate and advocate for impactful policy recommendations to mitigate extreme biological risks—events whose impacts would be worse than the COVID-19 pandemic or even threaten human extinction. We work in a dynamic environment, responding swiftly to policy shifts and government initiatives, while also ensuring time is reserved for gap analyses and in‑depth research on critical biosecurity issues.

While we primarily focus on government policy, our work is often highly technical in nature. We apply a rigorous approach to project prioritisation to ensure we are working on the highest‑value opportunities with the greatest potential for real‑world impact. The bigger the risk, the greater weight we place on mitigating it. All else being equal, we focus on the biological risks that have the greatest harm.

At CLTR, we concentrate on extreme biological risks arising from:

• Pandemics, whether natural, accidental or deliberate in origin;
• Emerging technologies, including those at the intersection of artificial intelligence (AI) and synthetic biology; and
• The development and use of biological weapons by state and non‑state actors.

Some of our recent work includes:

• Delivering a Cost‑Benefit Analysis of Synthetic Nucleic Acid Screening for the UK;
• Publishing a Global Risk Index for AI‑enabled Biological Tools;
• Providing written and oral expert testimony to the UK Public Services Committee Call for Evidence on Medicines Security; and
• Engaging in key public and private dialogues on priority biosecurity topics with government and international organisations.

Your role

We are seeking a dedicated and experienced individual to serve as an Associate Director of Biosecurity Policy, helping oversee the expansion of our unit and work portfolio. The subject area remit of this role is flexible depending on background and skill set.

Working as a full team member closely with the Director of Biosecurity Policy, your role would include:

• Biosecurity unit leadership (approximately 30% of the role):
  • Working closely with the Director to help set the overall strategic direction of the biosecurity unit;
  • Overseeing one or more focus areas of the biosecurity unit, depending on skills and past experience. This could include one or more of:
    • Synthetic nucleic acid screening governance
    • Medical countermeasure development
    • Early warning systems and biosurveillance
    • AI biosecurity risks and benefits
    • Personal protective equipment
    • Deterrence and attribution
    • Emerging threats
    • Supply chain resilience for extreme events
    • Transmission suppression for the in‑built environment
  • Line management of one or more direct reports;
  • Supporting team members to do their best work, including through offering; feedback; and
  • Overseeing a team of contractors
• Biosecurity policy development (approximately 30% of the role):
  • Prioritising workstreams based on the magnitude of the extreme risk they would affect and their importance, neglectedness and tractability;
  • Collaboratively overseeing the development of robust and evidence‑based policy recommendations;
  • Refining policy suggestions through in‑depth evaluation, analysis, and independent research of high‑priority topics;
  • Liaising with relevant external stakeholders in academia, industry and think tanks to develop policy informed by expert views;
  • Presenting at biosecurity conferences, meetings and other public and private events, representing CLTR and our Biosecurity Policy Unit; and
  • Assisting with running CLTR biosecurity events, including workshops and roundtables, in line with our strategic priorities.
• Stakeholder engagement (approximately 20% of the role):
  • Liaising with government stakeholders, including planning, attending and leading meetings with senior government officials;
  • Delivering research or policy analysis in response to high‑value requests from government stakeholders, where and when these align with our strategic priorities;
• Evaluating government plans and strategies relevant to our biosecurity priority workstreams, suggesting areas for improvement and methods to support;
• Assisting with maintaining our positive relationships with current government stakeholders while actively strengthening our network;
• Connecting leading subject matter experts to government stakeholders; and
• Promoting our policy recommendations to government audiences through private and public engagement, including media outreach.

CLTR teamwork (approximately 20% of the role):

• Working with the broader CLTR team to further the organisation’s mission;
• Contributing to proactive and reactive fundraising work;
• Undertaking comms and advocacy initiatives;
• Contributing to the development and creation of organisation‑wide policy frameworks;
• Participating in comprehensive stakeholder analysis with the broader team;
• Actively contributing to strategic plans, organisational development, and regular team meetings;
• Providing constructive feedback to colleagues and reciprocating with support to team members; and
• Collaborating on cross‑unit projects, uniting our policy areas and workstreams under the CLTR mission.

What you’ll bring

The CLTR Biosecurity Policy Unit is seeking candidates who can develop impactful, pragmatic policy recommendations to reduce extreme risks from biology, and who have an aptitude for building and maintaining strong relationships with relevant stakeholders.

In particular, we are looking for:

1. Strong motivation to reduce extreme biological risks and alignment with CLTR’s mission
2. Experience in biosecurity or a related field
3. A good understanding of the biosecurity landscape, with an awareness of key threats and relevant national and international governance measures
4. The ability to think clearly and independently about extreme biological risks, and the role of government in mitigating those risks
5. Strong research and critical thinking skills, including literature reviews and evaluating technical topics
6. Excellent interpersonal skills
7. Excellent written communication skills
8. Excellent verbal communication skills
9. Policy entrepreneurship and high agency with the ability to scope projects from scratch and drive them to completion
10. The ability to maintain a high level of confidentiality and discretion when required
11. Experience working in policy or advocacy
12. The ability to balance deep strategic thinking with pragmatic implementation
13. Line management experience and skills
14. Ability to develop theories of change and iterate project plans rapidly in light of new intelligence or political shifts
15. Work experience in one or more leadership roles
16. Proven ability to manage multiple parallel workstreams and conflicting priorities effectively
17. Able to exercise a high degree of accountability and ownership
18. Experience in upskilling team members, coaching high‑performers, and managing underperformance
19. Ability to review and elevate the written work of others to a high standard

We may consider particularly experienced candidates for the role of Deputy Director. For this role, in addition to the criteria above, we are looking for:

1. Ability to represent CLTR in high‑stakes external environments
2. Experience growing a team
3. Ability to make high‑stakes judgment calls and elevate when necessary
4. Ability to foster an impact‑focused, fast‑paced, and collaborative team environment

We also expect all staff to model our values of integrity, people first, and targeted real‑world impact.

If you are passionate about CLTR’s mission and think you could thrive in this role, even if you don’t check all the boxes, please apply. We would greatly appreciate the opportunity to consider your application.

Salary and benefits

£90,000 to £100,000 depending on experience. However, we would be open to considering a higher salary for a truly exceptional candidate who meets our Deputy Director criteria. If you are interested in this position, but the salary is a barrier to applying, please get in touch with our team to discuss.

In addition to your salary, CLTR offers a generous benefits package which includes:

• 30 days annual leave, plus public holidays;
• £5,000 (before tax) annual wellbeing budget, for you to spend at your discretion on items such as gym membership, therapy, meditation, etc;
• £3,000 annual learning and development budget, plus up to five days paid work time;
• £2,000 onboarding grant for equipment and supplies;
• A pension contribution scheme (up to 7% employer‑matched contribution);
• Private health insurance;
• Group life insurance;
• Generous parental leave benefits;
• Budget for relocation if required; and
• Paid office lunches twice a week including on Mondays.

As both a unit and team, we also run strategy retreats and away days during the year to discuss big‑picture questions, analyse and decide priorities and promote team bonding.

Location and travel requirements

Flexible location within the UK, with the expectation of attending our central London office at least twice a week, including on Mondays. However, we may open to exploring remote working arrangements in exceptional circumstances for a limited period of time.

We may be able to sponsor visas for this role, so please do not let this keep you from applying.

Application Process

Joining our team at CLTR involves a thorough but straightforward and transparent application process. Here is what a successful candidate is likely to experience and do:

Stage 1: Submit your application by the 18 January 2026 deadline, including uploading your resume/CV and the details of two references. This form includes answers to 3-6 paragraph questions, depending on which role you are applying for, with word limits ranging from 150-250 words. We anticipate that this form may take 1-4 hours to complete.

Stage 2: Complete a 90‑minute combined work test and virtual interview. We aim to schedule these between 2 – 12 February 2026.

Stage 3: Complete a 120‑minute final interview, after which we’ll conduct a reference check. We aim to schedule these in the week 16 – 20 February 2026.

Email invitations and any process updates will be sent to all candidates progress at each stage.

Our goal is to make an offer to successful candidates by the end of February 2026, with a desired start date as soon as possible, depending on any notice period and individual circumstances.

As an employer we encourage candidates from all backgrounds to apply and do not discriminate …

Reasonable adjustments It’s really important that all candidates who have the potential to succeed at CLTR are provided with an equitable experience in the application process. So if you require adjustments to provide you with the best opportunity to succeed through our hiring process, please feel free to contact [e-mail] at any stage.

It’s really important that all candidates who have the potential to succeed at CLTR are provided with an equitable experience in the application process. So if you require adjustments to provide you with the best opportunity to succeed through our hiring process, please feel free to contact [e-mail] at any stage.