At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead AIWI's tech, from architecture to deployment, ensuring security and efficiency.
- Company: Join a mission-driven non-profit focused on AI safety and whistleblower protection.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, flexible scheduling, and comprehensive benefits including gym and learning funds.
- Other info: Onsite in London preferred; remote work considered for the right candidate.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in AI safety while tackling diverse tech challenges.
- Qualifications: 10 years in software engineering with strong DevOps and project management skills.
The predicted salary is between 70000 - 90000 £ per year.
About AIWI
AIWI is an independent non-profit that exists to ensure that insiders at frontier AI companies can speak up safely and effectively when they see something that should be addressed. We do this by integrating the ecosystem of lawyers, AI researchers, AI advocacy organizations, journalists, regulators, and policymakers who can act on what they learn.
About the role
You will own all of AIWI's technology: architecture, implementation, deployment, security, and maintenance. Delivery will be hands-on and you will manage a budget for executing items defined on your roadmap. You will work closely with the founders, Head of Security, and translate requirements from our operations, research, and advocacy teams into working systems. The work is demanding, sensitive, and consequential; conviction in our mission is essential.
Areas of Ownership
- Internal tooling: We operate in a highly sensitive environment. Many commercial SaaS products, and hosted AI models in particular, do not meet our security and data sovereignty requirements. You will build and operate our self-hosted, primarily OSS stack end to end: A secure CRM tailored to our needs, state-of-the-art self-hosted AI models and agent systems integrated into knowledge management, call recording, communication tooling, other OSS software we self host, and in-house development of news tracking solutions. If you are excited about designing architecture that allows air-gapping and decentralized access, this role is for you.
- External-facing technology: You take offerings from prototype to production end-to-end: Zero-knowledge proof solutions for anonymous coordination, interactive scenario simulators, or automated legislation trackers. Projects can span months or require rapid 3-day delivery. You will also oversee the tech-side of our website. Your solutions will directly drive the impact and safety of AI whistleblowers.
This means you will frequently handle multiple projects simultaneously. You will be the first non-volunteer engineer working on AIWI dedicated technology. Across all areas, security is foundational. You will work closely here with our Head of Security.
Given nature of role, onsite London preferred; remote considered.
Requirements
- Genuine, demonstrable passion for AI safety and whistleblower protection
- 10 years in software engineering with DevOps experience in fast-moving settings
- Excellent proficiency across systems-, backend- and web-development; proficiency with systems languages (Rust, Go, C, C++ etc.) required
- Experience with JS/TS, HTML, CSS, web frameworks required
- Python for AI and Data pipelines required
- Excellent project management abilities and communication skills especially towards non-technical colleagues
- Strong grasp of CI/CD, security hardening, cloud and self-hosted infrastructure
- IAC experience (Ansible, OpenTofu, etc.) required
- Experience deploying and integrating existing AI models and tooling (self-hosted open-weight models, agent frameworks, APIs where appropriate) — this is systems integration, not ML research or model training
- Ability to rapidly execute and ability to distinguish between levels of QA and security required for different projects
- Rigorous approach to threat modeling and operational security. You do not have to be a security expert as you will be working with our Head of Security -- but should bring a strong mindset and strong foundational knowledge.
Benefits
What we offer:
- Work as part of an ambitious team committed to a high leverage intervention: A single whistleblower disclosure can move the world if handled well. We get up every morning to make it go well.
- Work on a vast breadth of technological challenges and varying project sizes
- Ownership and responsibility from day 1
- Chance to define your personal career development
- Competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits
- Coaching by AIWI board member and serial entrepreneur/ CTO as well as close collaboration with an extremely experienced Head of Security.
Compensation
Salary: £70,000-£90,000 per annum
Benefits (Pension, Gym benefit, L&D fund, co-working space, & occasional travel for company-wide offsites)
Leave: Flexible scheduling; occasional out-of-hours work required
Referral programme: We provide a reward of £4,000 for successful referrals upon completion of a 6-month employment period. Allocation will occur based on a successful applicant's attribution in the case of multiple referrers.
Principal Engineer in London employer: The AI Whistleblower Initiative
At AIWI, we pride ourselves on being an exceptional employer that fosters a collaborative and inclusive work culture. Our Operations Coordinator role offers the opportunity to engage with a diverse team dedicated to impactful AI development while enjoying competitive compensation and comprehensive benefits, including a pension scheme, gym benefits, and a learning and development fund. With a focus on employee growth and the flexibility of working from various locations, we empower our team members to thrive in their careers and contribute meaningfully to our mission.
Contact Details:
The AI Whistleblower Initiative Recruitment Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Principal Engineer in London
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We think you need these skills to ace Principal Engineer in London
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Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at The AI Whistleblower Initiative.
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How to prepare for a job interview at The AI Whistleblower Initiative
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If The AI Whistleblower Initiative uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
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While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.
