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

The Role

The Alan Turing Institute's Defence & National Security Grand Challenge focuses on protecting our country, its people and the places they inhabit, by delivering strategic advantage in AI for the UK and its allies.

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.

As a senior member of the team, you will join this ambitious project to make fundamental advances that will together underpin and enable a future explainable, defensible AI system that can complement, rather than replace, the work of intelligence analysts. You will report directly to the PI for the AiTASHA project and join a vibrant and interdisciplinary team of researchers in the AiTASHA consortium.

Your Profile

We are looking for a highly skilled Senior Research Associate to conduct internationally leading research in machine learning, with applications to intelligence analysis. This 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 successful candidate will have a PhD (or equivalent professional 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. They will have practical experience developing and applying Machine Learning to real world problems OR strong theoretical knowledge and academic experience with Machine Learning and adjacent topics. In addition, they will hold significant experience in developing and applying computer vision and/or large language models, OR have substantial experience in machine learning interpretability, explainability, and/or uncertainty quantification.

The successful candidate will be an excellent communicator and collaborative team player, who is experienced in working with internal and external stakeholders and can guide and mentor more junior members of the team to support their development.

Eligibility for Security Check (SC) clearance is a requirement for this role. Eligibility criteria and further information on the process can be found on the UK Government security vetting website. Successful candidates will be subject to a Dstl research workers form check at the offer stage.

Main 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.

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

Closing date for applications: Sunday 11 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.

Terms and Conditions

This full-time post is offered on a fixed term basis for 2 years from the start date. The annual salary is £56,840-£58,482. We also offer excellent benefits, including flexible working and family friendly policies, Employee-only benefits guide | The Alan Turing Institute

As this role requires eligibility for Security Check (SC) clearance, you are required to include the following information as part of your cover letter:

• Your current nationality
• Your nationality at birth
• Other nationality (include dual nationality if applicable)
• Confirmation that you have been residing in the UK for the past 5 years (if you haven't, please provide details of where you resided, when and the reason)

Please note, if these details are not provided, we will be unable to progress with your application.

The Alan Turing Institute is based at the British Library, in the heart of London's Knowledge Quarter. 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

If you are interested in this opportunity, please click the apply button. It will redirect you to The Alan Turing Institute jobs portal, where you can find more information and a full job description for this role. You will need to register on the applicant portal and complete the application form including your CV (maximum 3 pages, no photo) and covering letter (maximum 2 pages) telling us:

• Your past experience innovating with code and/or data to solve real-world challenging problems.
• Why you would like to become part of the Turing's Defence and Security Programme.
• How your skillset would complement the activities of the AiTASHA project.

Please note, if these details are not provided, we will be unable to progress with your application.

If you have questions about the role or would like to apply using a different format, please email recruitment@turing.ac.uk

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion

The Alan Turing Institute is committed to creating an environment where diversity is valued and everyone is treated fairly. In accordance with the Equality Act, we welcome applications from anyone who meets the specific criteria of the post regardless of age, disability, ethnicity, gender reassignment, marital or civil partnership status, pregnancy and maternity, religion or belief, sex and sexual orientation. Reasonable adjustments to the interview process can also be made for any candidates with a disability.

The Alan Turing Institute is based at the British Library, in the heart of London's Knowledge Quarter. 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.