AI Security Research Engineer in London

We are looking for an AI Security Research Engineer to join The Alan Turing Institute's Defence & National Security team, helping to bridge the gap between cutting-edge research and robust technical delivery. This role will focus on designing and running rigorous, reproducible experiments, building high-quality prototypes and research tooling, and evaluating AI systems for security, robustness, reliability and adversarial behaviour.

Working closely with researchers and external partners, the postholder will combine strong software engineering skills with curiosity about how modern AI systems behave under stress, helping turn innovative ideas into reliable, extensible technical solutions with real-world impact.

Your Profile

We are looking for a technically strong and rigorous research engineer who combines excellent software engineering fundamentals with a real interest in how modern AI systems behave in practice, particularly under stress, attack or failure conditions. The ideal candidate will be confident working with programming languages used in data science, experienced in structuring and analysing research data or computational experiments, and comfortable operating both independently and collaboratively in a research-driven environment. They will care about clean, well-tested, reproducible work, communicate effectively with both technical and non-technical audiences, and bring a thoughtful, problem-solving mindset to real-world security challenges. Experience in deep learning, interpretability, AI security, red teaming or cybersecurity would be beneficial, but the strongest fit is someone with solid technical foundations, curiosity, and the ability to turn ideas into reliable technical outputs. Eligibility for DV clearance is essential.

How You'll Make an Impact

• Co-design experiments with researchers, ensuring methodological rigour, appropriate controls, robust evaluation design, and reproducibility.
• Prototype new ideas quickly and robustly, developing research code that is clean, traceable, and ready for iteration and extension.
• Adapt, assess, and extend existing research (from within the Institute and beyond) to understand how it behaves in realistic settings.
• Evaluate models for robustness, security and reliability - including adversarial behaviour, red teaming performance, interpretability signals, and other security relevant properties.
• Design and develop experimental infrastructure, including pipelines for training, evaluation, adversarial testing, and automated results tracking.
• Ensure reproducibility and scientific rigour, using strong software engineering practices: testing, version control, CI, environment management, and documentation.
• Work across disciplines to turn research findings into shareable artefacts and early-stage capabilities for partners.
• Communicate clearly with researchers, engineers, and operational stakeholders through demonstrations, documentation, and technical discussions.

Application Procedure

If you are interested in this opportunity, please click the apply button below. You will need to register on the applicant portal and complete the application form including your CV (maximum 3 pages, no photo) and covering letter (maximum 2 pages).

As this role requires eligibility for Developed Vetting (DV) clearance, it is an essential part of the application process that you include the following information as part of your cover letter:

• Your current nationality
• Your nationality at birth
• Other nationality (include dual nationality if applicable)
• Confirmation that you have been residing in the UK for the past 5 years (if you haven't, please provide details of when and where you resided and the reason)
• Country where you were born.
• County in which you were born.
• Town where you were born.

Please note, if these details are not provided, we will be unable to progress with your application for this role. If you wish to share links to blog posts, public code repositories or research papers containing work that you have made significant contribution to, please add a link to those in your cover letter.

For questions about the role and the recruiting process please get in touch with us. If you would like to apply using a different format, please contact the Recruitment team.

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: SUNDAY 26 APRIL 2026 AT 23:59 (LONDON, UK BST)

We reserve the right to close this vacancy early or to interview suitable candidates before the closing date if enough applications are received.

Terms and Conditions

This full-time post is offered on a permanent basis. The annual salary is £45,505-£51,241 plus excellent benefits, including flexible working and family friendly policies.

The Alan Turing Institute is based at the British Library, in the heart of London’s Knowledge Quarter. We expect staff to come to our office at least 4 days per month. Some roles may require more days in the office; the hiring manager will be able to confirm this during the interview.

Security Clearance

Eligibility for Developed Vetting (DV) clearance is a requirement for this role. Eligibility criteria and further information on the process can be found on the UK Government security vetting website. Applicants should check if they are eligible for DV clearance before applying to this role. The successful candidate will be required to undergo a pre-screening check. This check will be carried out by HMG Defence and Security Partners. Please be advised, by submitting your application you are consenting to this check, and your personal details (full name, date of birth and home address) to be passed onto our HMG Defence and Security Partners to carry out this check.

Many roles in the Defence and National Security Programme require higher levels of National Security Vetting where applicants must typically have 5 to 10 years of continuous residency in the UK or a NATO country depending on the vetting level required for the role, to allow for meaningful security vetting checks, amongst other factors. These roles are subject to security restrictions by Turing’s partners. The restrictions mean that factors such as your nationality, any nationalities you may have previously held, your foreign connections, and your place of birth can restrict your eligibility to perform the role.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

We value diversity of background, experience, and perspective, and are proud to be an inclusive employer. We warmly encourage applications from all backgrounds, particularly from groups currently under-represented in our sector. If you feel passionate about this role but don’t meet every single requirement, please apply - we recognise that great candidates may bring strengths beyond the criteria listed.

We are committed to making sure our recruitment process is accessible and inclusive. This includes making reasonable adjustments for candidates who have a disability or long-term condition. Please contact us to tell us how we can assist you.

Please note all offers of employment are subject to obtaining and retaining the right to work in the UK and satisfactory pre-employment security screening which includes a DBS Check.

Full details on the pre-employment screening process can be requested.