Application Guide

How to Apply for Research Scientist - Red Team

at AI Security Institute (AISI)

🏢 About AI Security Institute (AISI)

The AI Security Institute (AISI) is a UK-based organization focused exclusively on frontier AI safety and security research, positioning itself at the cutting edge of red teaming and adversarial testing. Unlike general AI companies, AISI specializes in proactive security research to keep advanced AI systems under human control, offering researchers the chance to work on novel attacks and defenses before they become mainstream threats. Working here means contributing directly to critical safety infrastructure for next-generation AI systems.

About This Role

This Research Scientist - Red Team role involves designing and implementing automated attacks against frontier AI safeguards, testing AI control measures, and building benchmarks for monitoring misuse across model interactions. You'll be investigating novel data poisoning attacks and defenses for LLMs, making this role impactful by directly improving the robustness and safety of advanced AI systems before deployment. Your work will help establish industry standards for AI security testing.

💡 A Day in the Life

A typical day might involve designing new automated attack methods against the latest frontier models, running experiments to test AI control mechanisms, and analyzing results to improve safety benchmarks. You'll collaborate with other red team researchers to develop novel jailbreak techniques, document findings in research papers, and contribute to building scalable testing infrastructure for monitoring misuse across AI systems.

🚀 Application Tools

Generate Cover Letter

AI-powered, tailored for AI Security Institute (AISI)

Interview Prep

Practice questions for this role

🎯 Who AI Security Institute (AISI) Is Looking For

  • Has hands-on experience with LLM training/fine-tuning and a publication record in top-tier ML venues (NeurIPS, ICML, ICLR, or security conferences like IEEE S&P)
  • Demonstrates practical experience with adversarial robustness or red teaming through published research or open-source projects targeting AI systems
  • Can show clean, documented PyTorch code for ML experiments, preferably with examples of security-focused implementations
  • Has specific experience or strong interest in AI alignment, control mechanisms, or jailbreak detection across multiple model interactions

📝 Tips for Applying to AI Security Institute (AISI)

1

Highlight specific LLM security projects in your portfolio, such as jailbreak attempts, backdoor implementations, or adversarial prompt engineering

2

Include links to GitHub repositories showing PyTorch code for security experiments, with clear documentation of attack methodologies

3

Tailor your research statement to AISI's focus areas: mention specific frontier models you've tested and propose novel attack vectors

4

Quantify your impact in previous roles: e.g., 'Discovered 3 novel jailbreak techniques that improved model robustness by X%'

5

Reference specific AISI publications or research directions in your application to show genuine interest in their work

✉️ What to Emphasize in Your Cover Letter

['Demonstrate understanding of frontier AI security challenges specific to red teaming, not just general ML safety', "Highlight specific adversarial techniques you've developed or studied (e.g., data poisoning, backdoor attacks, multi-model jailbreaks)", "Connect your previous research to AISI's mission of keeping AI systems under human control when misaligned", "Propose 1-2 concrete research directions you'd pursue at AISI based on their published work"]

Generate Cover Letter →

🔍 Research Before Applying

To stand out, make sure you've researched:

  • → Review AISI's published research papers or technical reports on AI security and red teaming methodologies
  • → Study their approach to frontier model testing and any public benchmarks they've developed
  • → Research their team members' backgrounds and publication history to understand their technical focus areas
  • → Look for any public talks, blog posts, or conference presentations by AISI researchers on AI safety topics

💬 Prepare for These Interview Topics

Based on this role, you may be asked about:

1 Walk through a specific adversarial attack you designed against an LLM and how you evaluated its effectiveness
2 How would you design an experiment to test AI control measures for a misaligned frontier model?
3 Discuss trade-offs between different data poisoning techniques for implanting backdoors in LLMs
4 What metrics would you use to build benchmarks for monitoring misuse across multiple model interactions?
5 How would you automate red teaming processes while ensuring comprehensive coverage of attack surfaces?
Practice Interview Questions →

⚠️ Common Mistakes to Avoid

  • Applying with only general ML experience without specific examples of security/adversarial work
  • Failing to demonstrate hands-on coding ability with PyTorch for security experiments
  • Showing limited understanding of the difference between general AI safety and proactive red teaming/research
  • Not having concrete examples of research contributions (publications, open-source projects, or detailed experiment documentation)

📅 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 Security Institute (AISI)!

← Back to Job Listing Apply Now →