Birmingham, Cardiff, Darlington, Edinburgh, London, Manchester Job Summary In January 2025, the Prime Minister launched the AI Opportunities Action Plan. The Prime Minister has put seizing the benefits of AI at the heart of national renewal, be it driving economic growth, or transforming working people’s lives by improving healthcare, education and how citizens interact with the state. The AI Opportunities Directorate is directly responsible for many of the levers to make this happen, be it building the foundations for the AI economy through new infrastructure, talent and pro-growth regulatory reform and changing lives through adopting AI in the public and private sectors. It is also responsible for, ensuring the UK is a maker, not just a taker, of the technology. This is the mission of the newly-established Sovereign AI Unit. Job Description Policy Advisors in the Sovereign AI Unit work across a wide range of fast-moving policy problems. You will work within the AI Opportunities Directorate and across Government to strengthen the Sovereign AI Unit’s ‘offer’ to the UK ecosystem. This will require designing and building capability to make high-impact interventions through levers like direct investment, or access to data and compute. You will also shape and implement the wider strategy of the Sovereign AI Unit and the UK frontier capabilities it seeks to develop. You will conduct rapid research and policy analysis on emerging opportunities to inform and influence AI decision-making across government. In this role you will work directly with the Prime Minister’s adviser on AI, Matt Clifford, the AI Security Institute, Ministers, business leaders, academics and senior officials across government. Policy Advisors in the Sovereign AI Unit work across a wide range of fast-moving policy problems. You will work within the AI Opportunities Directorate and across Government to strengthen the Sovereign AI Unit’s ‘offer’ to the UK ecosystem. This will require designing and building capability to make high-impact interventions through levers like direct investment, or access to data and compute. You will also shape and implement the wider strategy of the Sovereign AI Unit and the UK frontier capabilities it seeks to develop. You will conduct rapid research and policy analysis on emerging opportunities to inform and influence AI decision-making across government. In this role you will work directly with the Prime Minister’s adviser on AI, Matt Clifford, the AI Security Institute, Ministers, business leaders, academics and senior officials across government. Person specification Essential Criteria Mission-focused - motivated by public service and the potential to harness AI for national advantage. Commercial and political acumen - strong judgment under pressure. Problem-solver who grasps complex technical and commercial issues quickly. Communicator who presents compelling cases to diverse audiences. Resilient - able to work at considerable pace whilst maintaining high levels of motivation. Entrepreneurial mindset - comfortable with ambiguity, calculated risk-taking, and iterative problem-solving. Awareness - able to situate the problem at hand within a wider context. Desirable Understanding of frontier AI or the wider UK tech landscape. Behaviours We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process: Communicating and Influencing Seeing the Big Picture Delivering at Pace Alongside your salary of £40,415, Department for Science, Innovation & Technology contributes £11,708 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides. The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology offers a competitive mix of benefits including: A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours. Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme, with an employer contribution of 28.97%. A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30. An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue. Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts. Office attendance The Department operates a discretionary hybrid working policy, which provides for a combination of working hours from your place of work and from your home in the UK. The current expectation for staff is to attend the office or non-home based location for 40-60% of the time over the accounting period. Selection process details This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience. As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a CV and personal statement. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form. Please use your personal statement (in no more than 750 words) to display how your skills and experience would allow you to succeed in the role. Applications will be sifted on CV and personal statement. In the event of a large number of applicants, applications will be sifted on the CV. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to assessment/interview. The Interviews Will Consist Of INTERVIEW 1 : Light-touch conversation focusing on experience and cultural fit. INTERVIEW 2 : Task-based assessment and questions focusing on Civil Service behaviours. INTERVIEW 3 : Meeting senior stakeholders. Further details will be shared prior to interview. Sift and interview dates Sift and interview dates to be confirmed. Further Information Existing Civil Servants and applicants from accredited NDPBs are eligible to apply,and can be considered on loan basis (Civil Servants) or secondment (accredited NDPBs). Prior agreement to be released on a loan basis must be obtained before commencing the application process. In the case of Civil Servants, the terms of the loan will be agreed between the home and host department and the Civil Servant. This includes grade on return. For further information on National Security Vetting please visit the Demystifying Vetting website. Reasonable Adjustment We are proud to be a disability confident leader and we welcome applications from disabled candidates and candidates with long-term conditions. Information about the Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) and some examples of adjustments that we offer to disabled candidates and candidates with long-term health conditions during our recruitment process can be found in our DSIT Candidate Guidance. A DSIT Plain Text Version of the guidance is also available. We encourage candidates to discuss their adjustment needs by emailing the job contact which can be found under the contact point for applicants section. If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section. If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out. New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band. A location based reserve list of successful candidates will be kept for 12 months. Should another role become available within that period you may be offered this position. Please note terms and conditions are attached. Please take time to read the document to determine how these may affect you. Any move to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare; for further information visit the Childcare Choices website. DSIT does not normally offer full home working (i.e. working at home); but we do offer a variety of flexible working options (including occasionally working from home). DSIT cannot offer Visa sponsorship to candidates through this campaign. DSIT holds a Visa sponsorship licence but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify. In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service /Disclosure Scotland on your behalf. However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading. For further information on the Disclosure Scotland confidential checking service telephone: the Disclosure Scotland Helpline on 0870 609 6006 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email Info@disclosurescotland.co.uk Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant’s details held on the IFD will be refused employment. A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role within the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5 year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government. Feedback Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment. This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience. Security Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks. Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks. 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) (opens in a new window) 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 (opens in a new window) Working for the Civil Service The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy. The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy. Diversity and Inclusion The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window). This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative. Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records. Contact point for applicants Job Contact Name : Andrew Crawford Email : andrew.crawford@dsit.gov.uk Recruitment team Email : Farah.Chowdhury@dsit.gov.uk Further information Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles, and wish to make a complaint, then you should contact in the first instance DSITrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk . If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages: Click here to visit Civil Service Commission/Complaints.. Location : London, England, United Kingdom