AI capabilities in the life sciences are advancing faster than at any point in history. Foundation models can now design novel proteins, interpret genomic sequences. These are extraordinary tools for scientific progress, but also have the potential for harm if misused.
The AI Security Institute's Chem-Bio team exists to evaluate the capability of both frontier and narrow AI models in chemistry and biology, ensuring the UK government and its partners have an accurate view of risks and capabilities. This team is one of AISI's most consequential paths to impact, at a critical moment. Over the next twelve months it will need to move faster, deliver more complex research programmes, and engage more deeply with partners in major AI labs and security services than it has before.
This role is for the person who makes that possible. You will sit directly alongside the CB team's researchers: helping them structure ambiguous research questions into tractable programmes, ensuring that our research lines up with the rigorous empirical claims the team must be able to evidence to inform policy, recommending which novel technical work to start and stop, or sequence technical dependencies across workstreams. It is a research-programme architecture role, working at the interface between "what should we investigate?" and "how do we actually do so?"
Research programme architecture. You will work directly with researchers to scope projects: refining what questions we're actually trying to answer, what the milestones and success criteria are for novel technical work, and how to sequence technical dependencies, resource and time across workstreams. You will be the person who turns "we should probably look into X" into a tractable research plan with clear deliverables, without imposing process that gets in researchers' way.
Research delivery tracking and unblocking. You will bring a continuous improvement mindset to the team’s existing lightweight research management structures - sprint cadence, dependency maps, progress tracking - that create visibility and grip without overhead. You will surface technical blockers before they become crises and intervene directly to resolve them, and know exactly when and to whom to escalate. The goal is researchers spending their time on research, not logistics.
Cross-government technical engagement. You will manage the technical interface with government partners (Dstl, UKHSA, MOD, and others) where that engagement is about research— data-sharing arrangements, conducting joint technical work, scoping requirements for access for classified compute. This role is about ensuring the work we deliver is technically sound, not about communicating its results, which sits with our exploitation colleagues. You will work closely with the CB team's delivery and exploitation colleagues to make sure the work they do is technically grounded.
Team operations and pace. You will maintain the operational rhythm that lets a small, high-performing research team move at frontier speed inside government. You will ensure the team has what it needs to deliver, and that nothing falls through the cracks.
- A track record as a technical programme manager working directly with researchers or engineers. You have managed complex technical programmes – ideally at an AI lab, a biotech startup, in defence/intelligence R&D, or in a similarly high-ambiguity research environment. You know how to scope and structure novel research work (where the answer isn't known in advance), 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 researchers about our work, strategy and research taste; and understand 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 constraints, respect their expertise, 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 this week and focus the team's energy there while keeping longer-horizon work alive. You have the judgement to recognise work that isn't landing and the confidence to escalate it or recommend that it stop.
- Discretion and judgement in a sensitive domain. You understand that work at the intersection of AI and biology carries dual-use sensitivity. You are comfortable working within classified constraints and can make sound trade-offs between openness, security and pace.
Strong candidates may also have:
- Experience in biosecurity, life sciences, public health or adjacent domains where similar dual-use judgement is required
- Prior experience at a frontier AI lab
- Existing SC or DV clearance
- Experience working in or with Dstl, MOD, DHSC, UKHSA or equivalent national security/adjacent bodies in other settings
- Hands-on comfort with modern productivity tools (coding agents, Linear) 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.
- 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 AISI TPM.
- Behavioural interview - Deeper dive on stakeholder management, prioritisation and team dynamics.
- Senior leadership interview (30 min) - Final conversation with AISI senior leadership.
Appointment is conditional on successfully completing UK Government SC clearance. Prior clearance is not required—we will sponsor and support you. You should normally have been resident in the UK for the past 5 years. You may also be required to undergo Developed Vetting (DV). DV typically requires a longer period of UK residency (around 10 years). Employment is conditional on obtaining and maintaining the required clearance(s). More detail on clearance eligibility can be found on the UK Government website: National security vetting: clearance levels - GOV.UK.
