Research Scientist/Engineer, Biological Models

Core responsibilities:

• Join a small, talent-driven, multidisciplinary team evaluating state-of-the-art AI models for engineering biology
• Setup and deploy leading biological models and evaluate these models in line with AISI's research objectives
• Design and deliver evaluations and experiments to assess capabilities of AI models in fields such as protein design, structure prediction and biological foundation models
• Lead on research projects to understand the feasibility and effectiveness of potential technical safeguards for biological models
• Investigate critical research questions at the intersection of AI and biosecurity, contributing to a technical evidence base used to advise and inform wider cross-Government efforts

This role creates positive change by conducting technical research to assess evolving AI capabilities related to science R&D and chemical/biological misuse, and the effectiveness of technical safeguards that might mitigate risks arising from those capabilities. The research informs critical decisions on security, opportunities, policy, and risk mitigation made by governments and AI developers globally.

Required skills, experience, qualifications:

• Background in machine learning, having worked directly on training, tuning or evaluating machine learning models using PyTorch or similar
• Experience working on leading biological AI models, such as protein design models, structure prediction or scientific foundation models
• Experience writing production-level Python code that is scalable, robust and easy to maintain, ideally in a team
• Sufficient knowledge of biology and machine learning concepts to understand and stay across the frontier of AI x Bio research literature
• A sense of mission, urgency, and responsibility for success; demonstrated ability to solve challenging problems, implement solutions efficiently and acquire any missing knowledge necessary to get the job done
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to work effectively in a dynamic, multidisciplinary team environment
• Must be a UK national (including dual nationals who hold British citizenship) and normally have been resident in the UK for the past 5 years
• Must be able to spend at least 9 days per fortnight working with the organization and willing to work from the London office at least 3 days/week

Compensation, perks, culture highlights:

• Salary range: £65,000–£145,000 (base plus technical allowance) with 28.97% employer pension contribution
• 5 days off learning and development, annual stipends for learning and development and funding for conferences and external collaborations
• 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)
• Discounts and benefits for cycling to work, donations and retail/gyms
• Incredibly talented, mission-driven and supportive colleagues
• Pre-release access to multiple frontier models and ample compute resources
• Freedom to pursue research bets without product pressure and opportunities to publish and collaborate externally