JOB SUMMARY

The AI Security Institute (AISI) is the largest team in a government dedicated to understanding AI capabilities and risks in the world.
Our mission is to equip governments with an empirical understanding of the safety of advanced AI systems. We conduct research to understand the capabilities and impacts of advanced AI, and develop and test risk mitigations. We focus on risks with security implications, including the potential of AI to assist with the development of chemical and biological weapons, how it can be used to carry out cyber-attacks, enable crimes such as fraud, and the possibility of loss of control.
The risks from AI are not sci-fi, they are urgent. By combining the agility of a tech start-up with the expertise and mission-driven focus of government, we’re building a unique and innovative organisation to prevent AI’s harms from impeding its potential.

JOB DESCRIPTION

This is a rare opportunity to play a central role in the financial strategy of one of the UK government’s high-profile and globally significant initiatives — the AI Security Institute (AISI).
As Finance Systems and Data Lead embedded within AISI, you will provide expert financial insight and constructive challenge to support the Institute’s mission: ensuring the safe and responsible development of frontier AI technologies. This is a fast-paced, high-growth environment, where financial decisions must be both rigorous and agile to support pioneering technical work, international collaboration, and critical research investment.
You’ll work closely with AISI’s Strategic Finance Lead, delivery teams and Senior Leadership to shape AISI’s resource planning, scrutinise high-value investment proposals, and ensure spend is aligned with strategic priorities and value-for-money principles. In doing so, you’ll be at the forefront of enabling world-leading AI security research.
This is a high-impact, strategic finance role offering exposure to some of the most pressing policy and technology challenges of our time.

ESSENTIAL CRITERIA

We are looking for candidates who can demonstrate the following:

EXPERIENCE WITH DIGITAL TOOLS FOR FINANCE AND REPORTING

• In- depth working knowledge of tools such as Power BI, Power Apps, and other automation or dashboarding platforms used for financial tracking, reporting, and streamlining data workflows.

ANALYTICAL ACUMEN AND PROBLEM-SOLVING SKILLS

• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with the ability to interpret policy intentions, financial data, identify trends, make evidence-based recommendations and resolve financial issues.

EXPERIENCE WITH EMERGING FINANCE TECHNOLOGY

• Experience applying AI-driven tools (e.g. data scraping, automation, predictive modelling) to enhance financial forecasting, reporting or insight.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Technical experience will be assessed in interview 2 where a task will be presented.

NATIONALITY REQUIREMENTS

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Partner with programme leads and senior officials to provide financial guidance and analysis and assurance across AISI’s portfolio, to enable strategic decision-making and ensure financial strategies align with organisational goals.
• Understand business needs and translate them into financial strategies, including reviewing and challenging spend proposals, ensuring compliance with financial policies and that investments deliver value for money.
• Create and own innovative and effective tools for forecasting, budgeting, and in-year financial performance tracking.
• Identify financial risks, opportunities and areas for improvement early, including proposing and supporting effective mitigations, to drive performance improvements across AISI.
• Ensure robust month-end and year-end reporting in collaboration with the central DSIT finance team.
• Act as a key conduit between AISI and central finance, ensuring seamless integration into DSIT’s financial planning and reporting cycles.
• Champion strong financial governance, supporting AISI to scale sustainably and deliver its ambitious mandate.