Technical and Translational Lead - Safeguarded AI (Cybersecurity)

Salary c.£105,000 Location: Kings X, London; Tues - Thurs (3 days) at HQ, Monday + Friday, anywhere Employment Type: We plan for this role to be full-time, but we’re open to discussing flexible working arrangements. Contract: Fixed-term, end date 11 December 2027 Closing Date: 28.06.26 About ARIA ARIA is a new R&D funding agency built to unlock technological breakthroughs that benefit everyone. We fund scientists and engineers to pursue research at the edge of the possible. From climate change to AI, society faces enormous challenges and opportunities that can be uniquely addressed by science and technology. ARIA was created to activate the UK’s world-class R&D in new ways, so we can meet these head on. Our success is shaped by one question: how will ARIA transform the lives of the UK’s future generations? Whether that’s a life-changing new technology or a burgeoning new industry, it should be obvious that ARIA played a catalytic role. If you want to help make breakthroughs like these possible, come and build ARIA with us. Learn more here . Role Summary ARIA is looking for a Technical and Translational Lead to help drive the execution of a £20m funding call on AI-enabled formal methods for cybersecurity, part of ARIA’s Safeguarded AI programme. ARIA’s Safeguarded AI programme , backed by ~£60m, aims to radically expand what is possible through AI-enabled mathematical modelling and formal verification, with the goal of producing formally verified artefacts for consequential cyber and cyber-physical systems. In this £20m cybersecurity call, we will fund teams to build high-impact, security-critical software components whose key properties are backed by machine-checked proofs and tested through coordinated red-team exercises. The programme is built around fast 8-week cycles: 6 weeks of build-and-verify, 1 week of adversarial red-teaming, and 1 week of review and retargeting. The ambition is not only to push the technical frontier of AI-enabled formal methods, but to establish credible routes to deployment in real, societally critical systems. We are looking for someone who can help make this machinery work in practice: driving sprint execution, sharpening technical targets and assurance claims, engaging operational stakeholders, and helping teams move toward field trials and adoption. The role exists to ensure the funding call does not merely produce interesting verified artefacts, but moves toward high-leverage, red-teamed, deployment-relevant cyber-defence systems. What you'll do You will work closely with ARIA Programme Director, Nora Ammann, and her programme team to drive the execution and translational impact of the cybersecurity funding call. Your core responsibilities will include: Technical delivery and sprint rhythm Design and run the operating rhythm for 8-week sprint cycles (build/verify, red-team, review, and retarget) across funded teams Work with funded teams to drive ambition, technical excellence and precise assurance claims, surface blockers and track progress. Coordinate red/blue-team interactions so findings are timely, actionable, and shape next-cycle decisions Shape and run programme workshops, milestone reviews, go/no-go or double-down recommendations, and final showcase moments. Strategic awareness and target selection Help us continually ask: how can this programme drive the largest possible gains for cyber resilience in the UK and globally? Monitor targets and programme strategy in light of AI capability and tooling progress, cyber misuse risk, formal-methods tractability, and real-world adoption potential. Spot high-leverage opportunities for driving what is possible through AI-enabled formal methods, and advise where ARIA should push, redirect, double down, or stop. Translation and adoption Engage and leverage the UK cyber/CNI/AI/FM ecosystem to ground targets in real operational needs, validate specifications and threat models, source field-trial partners, and open adoption pathways. Help teams turn successful outputs into field trials, upstreamed components, partnerships, commercial routes, open-source adoption, procurement pathways, or spinouts. Who you are We are looking for someone who combines technical judgement, strategic awareness, and executional drive in a fast-moving, high-ambiguity R&D effort. The strongest candidates will likely have: Technical judgement across cyber, systems security, and formal methods — not necessarily deep expert-level proof engineering, but enough fluency to challenge fuzzy threat models, vague assurance claims, weak proof boundaries, or low-leverage targets. Strategic taste about cyber resilience in an AI-accelerated world — able to reason about where AI-enabled formal methods could matter most, what is urgent, what is tractable, and where £20m could be genuinely transformative. Executional excellence — able to drive the sprint cycles, create cadence, coordinate and unblock multiple ambitious technical teams, and keep technically ambitious work moving without adding unnecessary process. Translational instincts — experience getting outputs into the world: demonstrations, field trials, adoption, upstreaming, commercial routes, open-source uptake, procurement pathways, or spinouts. Stakeholder engagement — comfortable working with researchers, engineers, red-teamers, operators, government, funders, and senior technical stakeholders, and able to use those relationships to sharpen targets and open adoption paths. Qualifications Experience in industry, government, or applied research working on security-critical software, systems security, vulnerability research, formal methods or the deployment of cyber-defence technologies. This may come from a PhD or equivalent deep R&D experience in computer science, mathematics, cybersecurity, systems engineering, or a related field. We care less about a specific credential than about demonstrated judgement: the ability to sharpen technical targets, challenge weak assurance claims, coordinate ambitious teams, and help verified artefacts become useful cyber-defence capabilities. Benefits 27 days annual leave provision, with the option to buy/sell additional days Hybrid working arrangements; 60% in office / 40% at home Supportive environment for learning and development opportunities Enhanced family leave arrangements A free and confidential 24/7 employee assistance programme 2 days of paid volunteer days 5% defined contribution pension scheme with Smart Pension Cycle to Work scheme An excellent office location in Kings X, London Not sure you meet 100% of our criteria? Don’t worry. If you believe that you could excel in this role, we encourage you to apply. We want to attract the broadest array of candidates, including those with diverse workplace experiences and backgrounds. Whether you’re new to this, returning to work after a gap in employment, simply looking to transition, or taking the next step in your career path, we will be glad to have you on our radar. Please use your cover letter to tell us about your interests and what you hope to bring to this role. If you require any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment process, please notify us and we will make every effort to accommodate you. Disclosing any requests are intended to provide ARIA with the best opportunity to support candidates and will have no negative impact on your recruitment process. Please note; You will be required, as and when necessary, to travel to different locations around the UK and internationally to support projects, depending on the Programme you are designated to. ARIA adopts a highly considered approach to ethical and social responsibility. You can read our policy here . Our research and development activity will abide by the 3Rs principle. You can read about those here .