Senior Research Associate, Defence and National Security, AI for Intelligence Analysis

The Alan Turing Institute

Named in honour of Alan Turing, the Institute is a place for inspiring, exciting work and we need passionate, and innovative people who want to use their skills to contribute to our mission to make great leaps in data science and AI research to change the world for the better.

Please find more information about us here

BACKGROUND

The Turing has recently been awarded a £1m EPSRC research grant to develop AI methods that can support and enhance intelligence analysis for national security and defence . For this project, the Turing will lead an interdisciplinary consortium that also includes Warwick, Southampton, Dundee and Cardiff Universities, working closely with UK government defence and national security partners. The project, entitled AI Intelligence Triage & Acquisition Support for Human-centred Analysis (AiTASHA), aims to improve the speed and confidence of intelligence analysts assessments by building new AI tools that can work alongside human analysts.

CANDIDATE PROFILE

We are seeking a highly skilled Senior Research Associate, to conduct internationally leading research in machine learning, with applications to intelligence analysis. This role will involve investigating and developing methods that will allow deep learning models to identify subsets of data with the highest potential for reducing uncertainty of model outputs, leveraging and building on existing methods in ML explainability, interpretability, and uncertainty quantification.

The ideal candidate will be experienced working with stakeholders and guide more junior members of the team.

Eligibility for Security Check (SC) clearance is a requirement. Eligibility criteria and further information on the process can be found on the government website .

Successful candidates will be subject to a Dstl research workers form check at offer stage.

KEY DUTIES

• Play a leading role in undertaking high-quality research, actively contributing to, and steering the broader research aims of the Defence and National Security Grand Challenge.
• Provide technical leadership for research projects, ensuring successful outcomes, including that research outcomes meet our government partners requirements and can be deployed in the real world.
• Contribute to, and lead where required, interdisciplinary research teams spanning multiple partner organisations.
• Contribute to software development including planning, execution and package release and management.
• Be a point of contact, supporting the PI in engaging with stakeholders regarding projects and deputising for the PI in meetings where necessary.

Person Specification

• A PhD (or equivalent experience and/or qualification) in a field with significant use of both computer programming and advanced statistical or numerical methods, e.g., machine learning, AI, computer science, mathematics, statistics, physics, engineering.
• Practical experience developing and applying Machine Learning to real world problems OR strong theoretical knowledge and academic experience with Machine Learning and adjacent topics.
• Significant experience in developing and applying computer vision and/or large language models, OR significant experience in machine learning interpretability, explainability, and/or uncertainty quantification.
• Experience developing software in a scientific computing context, ideally using Python/Pytorch, including the use of established libraries used in data science and artificial intelligence research.
• An understanding of the importance of good practices for producing reliable software and reproducible analyses, such as version control, issue tracking, automated testing, package management and literate analysis tools such as Jupyter.

Please see our portal for a full breakdown of the role.

Terms and Conditions

This post is offered on a fixed term basis, for two years from the start date, with an annual salary is £56,840-£58,482 plus excellent benefits, including flexible working and family friendly policies, Employee-only benefits guide The Alan Turing Institute

The Alan Turing Institute is based at the British Library. 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.

Application procedure

Please see our jobs portal for details on how to apply. Please read carefully and note the specification instructions of what to include in your covering letter when applying.

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: Sunday 11th January 2026 at 23:59 (London UK, GMT)

Interviews will take place in late January after the shortlisting process has been completed.

The successful candidate will need to be in post by or close to April 2026

Equality Diversity and Inclusion

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 at .