Application Guide

How to Apply for Staff/Principal Security Engineer, Trust & Risk

at AI Safety Ideas (AISI)

🏢 About AI Safety Ideas (AISI)

The AI Security Institute (AISI) is the world's largest and best-funded organization dedicated to understanding and mitigating advanced AI risks, operating at the intersection of government, frontier AI developers, and global policy. With direct access to the UK Prime Minister's office and international influence, AISI uniquely positions itself to shape both AI development and government action on a global scale. This makes it an ideal workplace for those who want to have tangible impact on AI safety at the highest levels of decision-making.

About This Role

As a Staff/Principal Security Engineer in Trust & Risk, you'll be founding the Security Engineering team in a greenfield cloud environment, treating security as a measurable, researcher-centric product. You'll build continuous assurance platforms, design policy-as-code pipelines for regulatory compliance, and create automated governance systems that enable researchers to move fast while maintaining security. This role is impactful because you'll directly protect AISI's people, partners, models, and data while shaping security practices for one of the world's most influential AI safety organizations.

💡 A Day in the Life

A typical day might involve collaborating with research teams to understand their security needs while designing automated governance systems, then developing policy-as-code pipelines that translate regulatory requirements into testable assertions. You'd likely spend time building and refining the continuous assurance platform, generating automated evidence for controls, and working with core technology teams to implement intelligence-led detection that protects AISI's people, partners, and sensitive AI models.

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Interview Prep

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🎯 Who AI Safety Ideas (AISI) Is Looking For

  • Has extensive experience building security platforms in greenfield cloud environments, particularly with continuous assurance and automated governance systems
  • Demonstrates deep expertise in policy-as-code implementations and translating regulatory frameworks (like GovAssure, CAF) into testable assertions
  • Possesses strong collaboration skills to work 'shoulder to shoulder' with research units, balancing enablement with security controls
  • Shows experience in intelligence-led detection systems and a track record of optimizing for researcher enablement over gatekeeping

📝 Tips for Applying to AI Safety Ideas (AISI)

1

Highlight specific examples of building security platforms from scratch in greenfield environments, not just maintaining existing systems

2

Demonstrate how you've translated regulatory requirements into automated, testable controls in previous roles

3

Emphasize your experience working directly with research teams or technical stakeholders, showing how you've enabled their work while maintaining security

4

Showcase projects where you've implemented policy-as-code or continuous assurance platforms with measurable outcomes

5

Tailor your application to AISI's unique position at the government-AI developer intersection, showing understanding of both technical and policy contexts

✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter

['Your experience founding or building security engineering teams in greenfield environments', 'Specific examples of implementing policy-as-code pipelines for regulatory compliance', "How you've balanced security controls with researcher enablement in previous roles", "Your understanding of AISI's unique position bridging government policy and frontier AI development"]

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🔍 Research Before Applying

To stand out, make sure you've researched:

  • → Study AISI's published work on AI risks and their unique government positioning with direct lines to No. 10
  • → Research the UK's regulatory frameworks mentioned (GovAssure, CAF) and how they apply to AI systems
  • → Understand the specific security challenges of frontier AI development and model protection
  • → Review AISI's organizational structure and how security engineering interfaces with research units like CAST

💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics

Based on this role, you may be asked about:

1 Technical deep dive on designing continuous assurance platforms that programmatically validate controls
2 Scenario-based questions about translating regulatory requirements (GovAssure, CAF) into policy-as-code implementations
3 Discussion of your approach to balancing security with researcher productivity in a fast-moving environment
4 Questions about your experience with intelligence-led detection systems and protecting sensitive AI models/data
5 Your understanding of AISI's mission and how security engineering supports global AI safety efforts
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⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Focusing too much on traditional security gatekeeping rather than researcher enablement and proportionate controls
  • Presenting generic security experience without specific examples of building platforms in greenfield environments
  • Failing to demonstrate understanding of AISI's unique government-AI developer intersection and policy implications

📅 Application Timeline

This position is open until filled. However, we recommend applying as soon as possible as roles at mission-driven organizations tend to fill quickly.

Typical hiring timeline:

1

Application Review

1-2 weeks

2

Initial Screening

Phone call or written assessment

3

Interviews

1-2 rounds, usually virtual

✓

Offer

Congratulations!

Ready to Apply?

Good luck with your application to AI Safety Ideas (AISI)!

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