Technical Programme Manager, Cyber & Autonomous Systems

2 нед. назад

United KingdomEuropeOnsite

Manage complex AI security research programmes focused on cyber and autonomous systems to deliver impactful insights and engagement with partners.

О компании

AI capabilities in cybersecurity and autonomy are advancing fast. Frontier models can now work through multi-step cyberattacks, discover and exploit software vulnerabilities, and work independently for days with increasing reliability. 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 AI Security Institute's Cyber and Autonomous Systems Team (CAST) exists to evaluate 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 continuously build  out   more realistic cyber ranges   and a CTF suite ;  run pr

Обязанности

aims to turn progress on important research questions in AI security into real insight and impact for our partners and the public. This requires running research programmes that actually deliver, and making these programmes rigorous and fast is its own discipline. The AI Security Institute is hiring a Technical Programme Manager for our Cyber and Autonomous Systems team to do exactly this.  
Over the next twelve months, this team will need to move faster, deliver more complex research programmes and evaluations, and engage more deeply with partners in major AI labs and across government than ever before.  
Technical Programme Managers make this work possible. You will work directly with the team's researchers and engineers to turn vast research questions into tractable programmes. You will be held responsible for ensuring our research stands up to rigorous empirical standards to inform policy, recommending which technical work needs to happen, and untangling knotty dependencies across workstreams.

Требования

A track record  working with  technical colleagues.   You have delivered technical programmes in a similarly high-ambiguity environment. You know how to  scope  and structure  open - en ded goals (not just deliver against a pre-defined plan). You have earned the trust of technical teams by understanding their work deeply enough to provide critical challenge and engage beyond process.  
Comfort  operating  at the frontier of AI.   You do not need to be a machine learning researcher, but you need to be fluent enough in frontier AI to operate in constant conversation with technical staff about our work,  strate gy ,  and research taste; you   should have your own taste on what's hard, what's speculative, what's blocked, and what "good" looks like for a given experiment or evaluation.  
High agency and ownership.   You take responsibility for outcomes, not activities. When something is stuck, you pick up the phone. You do not wait for someone else to escalate.  
Credibility with technical teams.   Researchers trust you because you understand their work, respect their constraints, and demonstrably make their lives easier. You influence through competence and service, not authority or process.  
Strong prioritisation under pressure.   You can  identify  what  actually matters  on a daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly level and focus the team's energy. You have the judgement to recognise work that  isn't  landing and the confidence to recommend that it stop.  
Discretion and judgement in a sensitive domain.  You understand that the work we do often carries sensitivity.   
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).

Условия

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, 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.  
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)

Другое

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 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.
Programme architecture. You will work directly with your team's technical staff to set the scope of projects: refining what questions we're actually trying to answer, what the milestones and success criteria are for technical work, and how to sequence dependencies, resource, and time across the team. You will turn "we should probably look into X" into a tractable plan with clear deliverables, without imposing process that gets in the team's way. You must be comfortable with ambiguity: you will be immersed in a fast-moving environment and  won’t  always have a settled roadmap.   . 
Delivery tracking and unblocking. You will spot and solve problems so that the team's delivery continually improves, and own tracking progress to create visibility and  establish  control without overhead. You will surface technical blockers before they become crises, intervene directly to resolve them, and know exactly when and to whom to escalate. The goal is the team spending their time on the work, not  logistics .  
Cross-government technical engagement. You will speak  with  government part ners on a technical level and be a trusted representative and ambassador for good relationships with them.   
Team operations and pace. You will  determine  the operational rhythm that lets a small, high-performing team inside government move at the speed of billion-dollar AI companies. You will ensure the team has what it needs to deliver  and  be  unfussy  about doing whatever needs to be done to unblock things and prevent them from falling through the cracks.  
Existing security clearances.  
Fluen cy  in ,  or eager ness  to adopt , modern productivity tools (coding agents, Linear, Slack) and willingness to use AI tools as part of daily work.  
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. We encourage you to apply early. 
Application -  CV and a short cover note (max 500 words) explaining what draws you to this role and what you would bring. Please also indicate which team you would prefer to join.   
Screening interview -  Lightweight conversation on trajectory, motivation and fit.  
Work test -  A take-home exercise designed to test programme management judgement in context. You will receive this after the screening interview.  
Technical interview -  Discussion of your work test with a current TPM.  
Behavioural interview -  Deeper dive on stakeholder management, prioritisation and team dynamics.  
Senior leadership interview (30 min) -  Final conversation with senior leadership.  
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.
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 att