Senior/Research Associate, AI Evaluation and Assurance in London

The Research Associate will lead a scoped research project on the combination of evaluation evidence and explanation methods about machine-learning systems. Drawing on evidence theory, probabilistic reasoning, machine reasoning and human interpretation, you will develop theoretical approaches and demonstrate them using results from the themes evaluation platform. Alongside the theoretical work, the role contributes to evaluation studies and assurance frameworks in defence and civil aviation, while helping shape a longer-term research programme exploring AI evaluation, verification and uncertainty across emerging technologies such as language models and agentic systems. You’ll collaborate closely with a team of research software engineers developing the theme’s evaluation infrastructure, colleagues across Fundamental Research and other missions, and external industry stakeholders.

About you

You’ll be a technically strong and curious researcher with expertise in machine-learning evaluation, uncertainty or assurance, and an interest in developing credible evidence that AI systems can be trusted. You’ll combine strong technical skills with experience designing and analysing machine-learning evaluations, using Python, statistical methods and reproducible research practices to turn complex results into meaningful insights. The successful candidate will be comfortable working across disciplines and communicating technical ideas clearly to researchers, engineers and external stakeholders, including those in defence and regulated environments. At Senior level, you’ll also have the confidence to lead research independently, shape research direction, influence partners and mentor others.

How you will make an impact

• Lead research for a peer-reviewed paper on combining evaluation and explanation evidence for machine-learning systems.
• Design and analyse evaluation studies, selecting appropriate metrics, experimental protocols and statistical methods.
• Map evaluation evidence to assurance and certification frameworks and structured assurance arguments.
• Develop protocols for eliciting requirements from domain experts and operators, including relevant ethics and data protection processes.
• Communicate research findings to diverse stakeholders and contribute to dataset specifications and evaluation platform design.
• Promote reproducible and ethical data science and secure data handling.

Additional Senior duties

• Provide intellectual and technical leadership, shaping research direction with the Principal Investigator and wider team.
• Lead engagement with partners and stakeholders on research priorities and assurance requirements.
• Support proposals, applications and reports for follow-on funding and partnerships.
• Coordinate delivery across researchers and research software engineers, managing dependencies, risks and key decisions.

This post is offered on a fixed term basis. The annual salary range is £46,415 - £52,494 for Research Associate level / £57,000 - £59,000 for Senior level. Our offers include excellent benefits including flexible working and family friendly policies. 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.