At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead Defra's responsible AI strategy and ensure ethical AI practices across the organisation.
- Company: Join the UK government department dedicated to protecting the environment and supporting rural economies.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, job security, and the chance to make a real difference in society.
- Other info: Work in a dynamic environment with opportunities for professional growth and cross-government collaboration.
- Why this job: Shape the future of AI in a role that balances innovation with public trust.
- Qualifications: Experience in governance, assurance, and a strong understanding of AI ethics required.
The predicted salary is between 70100 - 90000 £ per year.
- Location
- Bristol, London, York
About The Job
Defra is the UK government department responsible for safeguarding our natural environment, supporting the world‑leading food and farming industry, and sustaining a thriving rural economy.
Digital, Data, Technology and Security (DDTS) is the trusted team for digital across the entire Defra Group.
We have around 1000 colleagues across DDTS and our ambition is to make it easier and faster than ever for people to interact with Defra.
The Head of Responsible AI and Assurance will provide senior leadership for Defra’s approach to responsible, trustworthy and auditable AI, ensuring AI‑enabled solutions are adopted safely, lawfully, ethically and operating‑sustainably.
Role Summary
The role enables Defra to realise value from AI while maintaining public trust and meeting HMG’s expectations for robust governance and proportionate assurance of digital and data activity.
The postholder will work with senior stakeholders across DDTS, Data Protection, Legal, Commercial and Delivery Group leads.
They will also act as an escalation point on AI risk and assurance and ensure a consistent approach across delivery portfolios.
Responsibilities
- Own Defra’s responsible AI principles and assurance approach; ensure alignment to cross‑government AI guidance and digital functional expectations.
- Set and maintain Defra’s responsible AI and AI assurance framework, tools and associated standards.
- Lead assurance mechanisms (risk tiering, reviews/clinics, evidence requirements, decision routes).
- Establish and chair (or deputise chairing of) AI assurance/design clinics and related governance forums.
- Define risk rating and assurance requirements for AI initiatives.
- Advise senior leaders and delivery teams on complex AI risks and mitigations (bias/fairness, performance drift, data protection, human oversight).
- Ensure AI delivery includes technical and procedural controls for logging, auditability, model/prompt change control and operational monitoring (MLOps / LLMOps).
- Oversee the development of reusable assurance artefacts (templates, checklists, decision records) and embed them into DDTS delivery pathways.
- Represent Defra’s approach in cross‑government and professional forums where appropriate.
Qualifications and Skills
- Governance and assurance: Ability to design proportionate, risk‑based assurance models and frameworks for complex, high‑impact systems.
- Data ethics and responsible AI: Ability to define and operationalise ethical frameworks, translating principles into enforceable controls.
- Stakeholder relationship management: Confidently influence senior stakeholders, clearly articulating risk trade‑offs and enabling informed decision.
- Data science and AI innovation: Applied understanding of end‑to‑end AI/ML lifecycle, evaluation and monitoring to assure system performance and reliability.
- Technical capability: Expert level in applied maths and statistics, data engineering, data ethics and privacy, data science innovation, programming and building data science solutions, developing data science capability.
Experience
- Leading governance/assurance in a regulated or high‑assurance setting.
- Working across multidisciplinary teams to embed standards without blocking delivery.
- Handling novel, ambiguous risks and advising senior decision‑makers.
- Security Clearance
SC clearance required. Applicants must have been UK residents for a minimum of five years. If not met, the application will not progress.
Person Specification
Experience aligned to Digital and Data Profession “Lead Data Scientist” (G6) role, with a specialist focus on AI governance, assurance and responsible AI.
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