Director, AI Economics Institute (AIEI) in London

Location: Hybrid Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Darlington, Edinburgh, London, Manchester, United Kingdom

Salary: £105,000 - £162,500 / year

Job Type: Full-time

Experience Level: Mid-level

Deadline to apply: August 3, 2026

As Director of the AI Economics Institute (AIEI), you will work closely across both HM Treasury (HMT) and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), ensuring they are embedded in senior teams in both departments, and that the AIEI’s programme of analysis and research underpins both departments’ policy agendas. This includes close work with HMT officials to ensure the institute addresses core macroeconomic, fiscal, labour market, and productivity questions arising from AI and DSIT’s AI policy work. AIEI should also provide input for other Government departments’ work, including the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), the Department for Education (DfE) and the Department for Business and Trade (DBT).

The Director’s initial focus will be on set-up and launch, designing the detailed operating model, financial planning within the agreed budget, recruiting senior leaders and early staff, establishing governance with HMT and DSIT, and agreeing an initial research agenda. The Director will work closely with Professor Simon Johnson, Chair of the AIEI.

Responsibilities

• Establishing the Institute: Lead the next phase of the detailed design and establishment of the AI Economics Institute following its launch by the Chancellor and Secretary of State on 8 June. This includes its target operating model, governance and ways of working, ensuring it can operate effectively as a joint DSIT–HMT unit. Work with DSIT, HMT and central finance teams to complete further formal governance steps, including the Institute’s detailed business case, financial plans and pay frameworks, and arrangements for corporate services such as technology (including frontier AI capability) and talent sourcing. Ensure rapid and effective follow-up from the launch of the Institute, including agreement of a more detailed organisational identity, building on the published Prospectus, and external positioning.
• Strategic leadership and direction: Set a clear strategic vision for AIEI, focused on rigorous, policy‑relevant research into the economic impacts of AI, spanning productivity, labour markets, and growth. Work in partnership with the AIEI Chair and the senior team, including the Chief Economist, to shape the Institute’s research agenda and ensure analytical quality and credibility. Ensure AIEI maintains a disciplined focus on its comparative advantage so that it complements, rather than duplicates, existing capability across government, academia and international partners, including AISI and other AI programmes.
• Joint working with DSIT and HMT and cross‑government impact: Embed joint ownership of AIEI across HMT and DSIT, ensuring the Institute’s work speaks directly to both departments’ priorities. Build strong relationships across Whitehall, No. 10 and delivery departments, ensuring AIEI’s agenda is informed by live policy issues and that its findings inform decisions. Translate complex research findings into clear insights for Ministers and senior officials.
• Building a high‑performing organisation: Recruit and lead the Institute’s senior leadership team, including Deputy Directors and the Chief Economist (once appointed), and oversee early ‘no regrets’ recruitment. Create a culture that combines analytical rigour with pace, relevance and openness, suitable for a policy‑facing research institute. Determine the structures for corporate and operational services in AIEI. Work closely with the AIEI’s Chair, Professor Simon Johnson.
• External credibility and engagement: Represent AIEI with credibility to a wide range of groups, including academia, civil society, the private sector, AI labs, international institutions and think tanks. Support the Chair in building the Institute’s profile, helping attract high‑calibre talent and partnerships. Position the UK as a serious global contributor to debates on the economics of AI.

Scope and scale

Management of a directorate combining civil servants and externally recruited researchers. Leadership of multiple senior roles (including SCS1 Deputy Directors and a Chief Economist). Budget primarily R&D classified, with significant scrutiny from DSIT, HMT and central finance teams. High visibility with Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, HMT and DSIT senior leadership teams, the Cabinet Office and No. 10.

Leadership expectations

This role requires a leader who can combine strategic clarity, delivery grip and intellectual seriousness. The Director will need to be equally comfortable shaping long‑term economic thinking about AI and making pragmatic early decisions to get an organisation up and running quickly. The post holder will be expected to model the highest Civil Service leadership standards, including integrity, inclusivity, collaboration across government, and a strong focus on public value. They will also be expected to build a team with the majority of roles outside of London.

Skillset

Essential criteria:

• Senior Leadership & Organisational Agility: Proven experience operating at executive level with a strong track record of inclusive leadership and the agility to rapidly set up, scale, or redesign organisations and programmes within complex, ambiguous environments.
• AI & Economic Policy Expertise: A deep understanding of AI and economic policy issues, combined with the professional credibility required to engage and collaborate effectively with senior economists, analysts, and researchers.
• Economic & Financial Expertise: Experience working directly with central government finance departments (like HM Treasury) or managing complex financial and economic policies at a senior level.
• High‑Stakes Analysis Under Pressure: A proven track record of leading critical economic analysis within contested, uncertain contexts, with the ability to deliver high‑quality insights under significant time pressure.
• Strategic Programme Delivery: Demonstrated experience shaping and leading coherent, sustained work programmes of strategic importance that successfully sit at the intersection of raw analysis and actionable policy.
• Strategic Judgement & Stakeholder Influence: Strong judgement when navigating non‑linear change and long‑term risk, backed by exceptional stakeholder management skills to influence across departmental boundaries and with senior external figures.

Desirable criteria:

• Direct experience working on the economics of technology, productivity, labour markets or structural economic change.
• Experience leading or sponsoring research‑intensive organisations or programmes.
• Experience representing government in international or high‑profile external settings.