Research Director

AI Security Institute; City Of London; On-site; GBP 105,000 - 145,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading organization in AI safety based in London seeks a Senior Technical Leader. You'll lead research teams to drive impactful AI safety studies while collaborating with governments and security partners. Ideal candidates will have a proven track record in impactful research and a strong vision for AI governance. This role offers a competitive salary, hybrid work flexibility, and generous benefits including extensive leave and pension contributions.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Flexible hybrid working

Generous paid parental leave

Professional development stipends

Pension contributions

Qualifications

• Proven track record in senior industry roles or as an academic lab director.
• Ability to turn research vision into actionable results.
• Focus on impactful research in AI safety and governance.
• Extensive experience in evaluations, safeguards, alignment or interpretability.

Responsibilities

• Lead a team of 10-30, set vision, roadmaps, and talent strategy.
• Mentor mid-level and junior researchers.
• Shape the organization-wide technical agenda.
• Engage with national security partners and research community.
• Raise quality standards in methodology and scientific writing.

Skills

Leading impactful research teams

Modern ML research experience

Vision for advancing AI safety

Adaptability to research and policy

Job description

About the AI Security Institute

The AI Security Institute is the worlds 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 and we work with frontier developers and governments globally.

We’re here because governments are critical for advanced AI to go 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.

Shape how the world responds to advanced AI.

Join the team most deeply embedded in the UK’s response to AI risks. You’ll lead critical research that directly impacts development and policy decisions working closely with frontier developers, national security partners and allied governments.

This role is for experienced technical leaders who want their research to drive real‑world action, not just understanding. You’ll direct one of three technical teams (Safeguards, Cyber & Autonomous Systems or Control) or propose and build new ones. You’ll set your teams’ vision, ensure high output and rigor and keep it responsive to emerging developments.

As a senior technical leader you’ll also work with Chief Scientist Geoffrey Irving and CTO / Prime Minister’s Advisor Jade Leung to shape org‑wide strategy, set the bar for research excellence and develop researchers across our 100‑person technical team.

The timing is critical: we’ve scaled significantly, our government influence is growing and this is the moment governments worldwide are deciding how much to prioritize AI security. With access to global decision‑makers and AISIs well‑resourced mission‑driven team you’ll be positioned to drive some of the most consequential research of this decade.

What you’ll do

• Lead a 10‑30 person team: set the vision, roadmaps, standards and talent strategy. Propose a new area you could lead or take on, or lead one of our current research areas. Among our current areas we are especially excited about leaders in:
  • Safeguards
  • Cyber and Autonomous Systems
  • Control
• Mentor and scale: develop our strongest mid‑level and junior researchers; build momentum for more ambitious goals.
• Shape the org‑wide technical agenda: help determine which research questions matter most and adapt plans to industry and governance developments.
• Engage externally at senior levels: work with frontier labs, national security partners, allied governments and the wider research community.
• Raise our quality bar: in methodology, scientific writing, technical hiring and culture.

What you’ll need

• A proven track record leading impactful research teams, whether in industry (Senior Staff or Principal roles) or as an academic lab director.
• A clear vision of what research most advances AI safety and governance and the ability to turn that into teams’ roadmaps and results.
• Focus on impact: ability to recognize and adapt to frontier research and policy developments.
• Extensive modern ML research experience – typically 5 years in areas like evaluations, safeguards, alignment, interpretability or LLM capabilities.

Logistics requirements

• Spending at least 3 days per week in our London office. We support hybrid work.
• Joining for at least 12 months. We may be able to support secondments.

What We Offer

• 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 learning and development 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 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.

Salary

AISIs senior technical staff are generally paid 105‑145k but we will consider higher salaries for the Research Director role. Your talent partner will work with you throughout our assessment process to explain our internal benchmarking process. This role sits outside of the Civil Services DDaT pay framework given the scope of this role requires in‑depth technical expertise in frontier AI safety, machine learning and empirical research experience.