About the job

Job summary

The Deputy Director (DD) for AI Analysis will drive DSIT’s critical response to the emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI), working with policy colleagues in the AI policy team and the AI Safety Institute to rapidly build evidence-based bases and ensure that policymakers have the best-emerging evidence to make the right policy actions.

The rapid advancements in AI capabilities have the potential to be a once-in-a-generation opportunity to deliver long-term changes to the UK – in the economy, society and public services. This role will help understand and deliver on that transformation by ensuring that policy in this rapidly evolving market is made on the best possible evidence; and that policy changes are evaluated to provide insights into the future policy landscape.

As the analyst DD, you will be part of the AI Directorate leadership team, ensuring that decision-making by DSIT and other Departments around AI is informed by the best available supporting evidence and analysis. You will steer the development of the evidence base in a way that informs AI strategy and regulation, as well as the development of the institutions and infrastructure that enable the UK to position ourselves to take advantage of technological developments.

You will also oversee the analytical input to the AI Safety Institute, which is the world’s first state-backed organisation focused on advanced AI safety for the public benefit and is working towards this by bringing together world-class experts to understand the risks of advanced AI and enable its governance. AISI’s first milestone is to build an evaluation process for assessing the capabilities of the next generation of advanced AI systems.

Whilst this role works directly with the policy teams, you will work closely with the Director of Analysis, Alison Kilburn; and will manage on supporting her in her role in building the cross-government evidence base for AI.

Finally, AI forms one of the Government’s five critical technologies; and this role will work closely with analysts across DSIT to support, as necessary, the development of the evidence base across the critical technologies. 

Job description

Key Responsibilities

• You will provide inclusive leadership to a multidisciplinary analytical team, directly line-managing two G6 analysts. You will also be an effective member of the DSIT senior analytical community.
• You will be DSIT's senior representative in cross-government methodical work on AI, ensuring that DSIT plays a leading role in understanding and disseminating the evidence base and in the use of AI within government. This will involve leading the organisation of the cross-government steering board on AI evidence, Chaired by Sir Ian Diamond, Head of the Government Analysis Function and Dame Angela McLean, the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser. 
• You will be an agile part of the AI Directorate's leadership team, overseeing a programme of work to understand AI safety and risks and shape the Government’s response to compute, develop and deployment of options for an AI Safety Institute. You will identify the appraisal and evaluation needs and coordinate and develop the wider evidence base.
• To support the AI Safety Institute, you will drive the development of a framework for national capability for frontier AI, understanding the UK’s international competitiveness, and developing monitoring and evaluation plans.
• To provide senior oversight and support, as necessary, over DSIT’s critical technologies. Drawing synergies and sharing evidence across the department.

Person specification

• A track record of delivering high-quality analysis, and membership of (or eligibility for membership of) one of the four government analytical professions.
• Experience of the evidence base for AI is desirable but not essential. You will, however, be expected to demonstrate where you have rapidly built an evidence base in a rapidly changing market and how you would bring those skills to this role. 
• Ability to see the big picture, drawing together emerging and changing evidence bases to form a clear evidence-based narrative. You will also be expected to demonstrate how you shape and set a systematic narrative for a rapidly changing market.
• Ability to quickly build effective working relationships with a wide range of stakeholders, across multiple departments, making use of data-based and evidence to influence policy and strategy.
• Experience in leading, developing and motivating diverse analytical teams.
• Ability to effectively prioritise cogent workstreams to maximise the impact of the team when delivering against both short-term and long-term goals, and with consideration of the evolving evidence base and policy landscape.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £75,000, Department for Science, Innovation & Technology contributes £21,750 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

How to Apply

To apply for this post please follow the instructions on the CS Jobs website by no later than 23:55 1st April 2024. As part of the application process, you are asked to complete the following:

1.  A CV setting out your career history, highlighting specific responsibilities and achievements that are relevant for this role, relevant achievements in recent posts, together with reasons for any gaps within the last two years.
2. A Personal Statement (no more than 1250 words) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential criteria in the person specification. 
3. Interview, candidates will be required to prepare a presentation which will form part of the final interview. You will be assessed against the following behaviours, Communicating and Influencing, Leadership and Seeing the Bigger Picture. For more information about Success Profiles, please follow this link; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/success-profiles

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is developed vetting (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.