The Alan Turing Institute is the UK’s national institute for data science and artificial intelligence. The Institute is named in honour of the scientist Alan Turing and its mission is to make great leaps in data science and artificial intelligence research in order to change the world for the better.

PDRA - ID-as-a Service

The Role

This position is about threat modelling and security analysis of possibly future ID infrastructure aligned to national digital identity systems.

ID-as-a-Service is an emerging requirement in many modern societies across the developed and developing world. New techniques for deployment at scale promise to improve the assurance of users' rights to access to various digital and physical resources, vastly more easily, cheaply and quickly.

Duties and Responsibilities

This role in the project entails research into existing and new tools and techniques to support ID-as-a-service, that meets goals for privacy for users, and does not lead to unintended consequences. This is an opportunity to influence the design of future identity systems around the world - there are many pressures on the design of such systems, and the role should prove fascinating.

PDRA - PETS

The Role

This position is about the design, deployment, and evaluation of Privacy Enhancing Technologies as part of new digital identity systems.

ID-as-a-Service is an emerging requirement in many modern societies across the developed and developing world. New techniques for deployment at scale promise to improve the assurance of users' rights to access to various digital and physical resources, vastly more easily, cheaply and quickly. However, systems come with strong security requirements, including confidentiality and integrity.

Duties and Responsibilities

This role in the project entails research into existing and new tools and techniques to support ID-as-a-service, that meets goals for privacy for users, and does not lead to unintended consequences.

PDRA - Real-time Governance

The Role

This position is about the design, deployment, and evaluation of real-time cyber security technologies as part of new digital identity system protection (real-time governance).

The provision of digital infrastructure such as foundational identity systems is an emerging requirement in many modern societies across the developed and developing world. New techniques for deployment at scale promise to improve the assurance of users' rights to access to various digital and physical resources, vastly more easily, cheaply and quickly. However, systems come with strong security requirements, including confidentiality and integrity.

Duties andResponsibilities

This role in the project entails research into existing and new tools and techniques to support such digital infrastructure, that meets goals for privacy for users, and does not lead to unintended consequences.

PDRA - Risk Modelling

The Role

This position is about modeling and quantification of risk in schemes for national digital identity systems.

National identity schemes can be used to support access to services, including financial, healthcare and food, and there is a strong push to support their implementation across the developing world. New techniques for deployment at scale promise to improve the assurance of users' rights to access to various digital and physical resources, vastly more easily, cheaply and quickly. However, it is vital that such systems are secure against privacy invasions and manipulation by malicious actors.

Duties and Responsibilities

This role in the project entails research into understanding the risk to governments, third sector organisations and those enrolled within the scheme. Specifically, the postholder will be involved in the measurement of risk by considering and quantifying harms and likelihood of compromise of the system.

There is a recognized challenge in effective risk quantification, especially in the area of cyber and information risk. This work will be at the interface between applied mathematics, statistics, probability and cyber security. This project will address such issues by developing the metrics and management strategies or risk in national digital identity schemes.

PDRA - Threat Modelling

The Role

This position is about threat modelling and security analysis of schemes for national digital identity systems.

National identity schemes can be used to support access to services, including financial, healthcare and food, and there is a strong push to support their implementation across the developing world. New techniques for deployment at scale promise to improve the assurance of users' rights to access to various digital and physical resources, vastly more easily, cheaply and quickly. However, it is vital that such systems are secure against privacy invasions and manipulation by malicious actors.

Duties and Responsibilities

This role in the project entails research into understanding the vulnerabilities in national identity systems, exploring those actors that may attempt to compromise such systems, and how they might achieve this exploitation. Issues such as access to the system will need to be considered, as well as the motivations and capabilities of those wishing to abuse the system. The project will also seek to define countermeasures to prevent, or mitigate the effects of, threats to the system.

PDRA - Trust Framework Development

The Role

This position is about the design, deployment, and evaluation of a Trust Framework to be used in the

development of national digital identity systems.

National identity schemes can be used to support access to services, including financial, healthcare and food, and there is a strong push to support their implementation across the developing world. New techniques for deployment at scale promise to improve the assurance of users' rights to access to various digital and physical resources, vastly more easily, cheaply and quickly. However, it is vital that such systems are trustworthy, since there are many actors that aim to abuse the system.

Duties and Responsibilities

This role in the project entails research into developing Trust Frameworks to Support National Identity Systems. There has been some good initial work in developing the principles for such Trust Frameworks by both NIST and OIX. This work will develop on those efforts to develop a trust framework that covers the privacy and security requirements in an evolving world. For example, the 2018 NIST work (https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.IR.8149) highlights the need for Recognizing & Communicating Conformance. This project will address such issues by developing the metrics and conformance assessment mechanisms for the Framework being developed.

The successful candidate will have:

Essential

• Successful candidates will hold (or be close to completing) a PhD in Computer Science or related dsicpline .Appointment at Research Associate level is dependent on having a PhD or having equivalent skills and experience through non-academic routes. Where a PhD has yet to be awarded appointment will initially be made as a research assistant and amended to research associate when the PhD is awarded.
• Experience of or aptitude for rigorous computer system and security design, implementation, measurement and evaluation, including experiment design, data capture, and data analysis. This may have been gained in commercial or industrial settings as well as through production of academic papers. Good to substantial Knowledge of Privacy Enhancing Technologies capabilities and limitations is essential, especially basic privacy technologies, but also newer technologies, e.g. secure enclaves, differential privacy, and secure multi-party computations (for example).
• Ability to communicate clearly in English, in both written and spoken forms.
• Experience of working independently and in medium to large-scale teams, on collaborative and interdisciplinary research projects with academic and industrial partners. Dealing with users in the real world will be very important.
• Evidence of an excellent publication record, commensurate with level of experience. Candidates from outside academia may be able to evidence this by providing examples of technical writing or system design and implementation, published or distributed through channels other than academic conferences and journals, e.g., blog posts and/or software repositories.

Desirable

• Familiarity with data science techniques and applications, including machine learning and statistics.
• Other language skills may be an asset.
• The post holder may be required to travel within the UK and internationally.

Terms and Conditions

This full-time post is offered on a fixed term contract until 2022, with possibility for extension (funding permitting).starting as soon as possible. We are happy to talk flexible working.

The salary range offered for this role is £35,000 – £41,000 (dependent on experience and skills). A competitive benefits package is also available (https://www.turing.ac.uk/work-turing/why-work-turing/employee-benefits).

Application procedure

If you are interested in this opportunity, please click the apply button below. You will need to register on the applicant’s portal and complete the application form including your CV, covering letter and contact details for your referees.

Please specify in your cover letter which of the six PDRA specialisms you are most interested in.

If you have questions or would like to discuss the role further with a member of the Institute’s HR Team, please contact them on 0203 862 3394 or 020 3862 3357, or email [email protected].

Closing date for applications: 23 February 2020

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, religion or belief or sexual orientation. Reasonable adjustments are available to support candidates through the application and interview process.

Please note all offers of employment are subject to continuous eligibility to work in the UK and satisfactory pre-employment security screening which includes a DBS Check.