Named in honour of Alan Turing, the Institute is a place for inspiring, exciting work and we need passionate, sharp, 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.

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The Defence & Security (D&S) programme at the Turing is looking to build a newly funded dedicated research group – the Applied Research Group (ARG) – working on real-world cyber-security and machine learning problems for the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

As a team, we will aim to advance the state-of-the-art and produce academic reporting, code repositories, supporting documentation and pilot studies. Projects will vary in scale, from small-term literature reviews to early-stage research engineering and longer-term proofs-of-concepts. Day-to-day, we will collaborate closely with partners’ technical and subject matter experts as well as academics from across the Turing’s research community.

The team will practice an agile, experiment-driven approach and values a positive, supportive and collaborative environment in which ‘radical candour’ and ‘lifelong learning’ are encouraged. We embrace failure as a learning opportunity and necessary precursor to success. We are empowered to take ownership of our work and operate with a high level of autonomy in our roles to deliver measurable impact to our partners.

ROLE PURPOSE

We are looking to hire a Research Associate to act as the applied research lead, manage the Research Assistant, and co-lead on partner engagement alongside the other ARG leads. The ARG will be a cross-disciplinary team – therefore able to respond to a wide variety of problem sets – and encourage applications from both generalists and specialists including those who self-identify as statisticians, software engineers, machine learning practitioners, data scientists or data engineers.

If not already held, successful candidates will need to be willing to undertake the SC/DV process once in-post. Eligibility criteria and further information on the process can be found on the UK Government security vetting website.

DUTIES AND AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

• Lead on the development of high-quality collaborative research and the translation of complex user requirements into potential technical solutions
• Lead frequent partner engagements (in-person at partner sites and virtually) to present on technical findings and give pilot-scale demonstrations
• Work alongside the ARG leadership team to help develop partner co-working and placement opportunities
• Act as a technical mentor to existing initiatives such as the ATI/MoD CyberFirst summer school
• Ensure compliance with the secure handling of data and health and safety in all aspects of work

• PhD or equivalent qualification/experience in cyber security, machine learning or a closely related discipline.
• A willingness to undergo the SC/DV process once in-post if not already held.
• General cybersecurity or machine learning knowledge/experience.
• The ability to initiate, develop and deliver high quality research of maximum value to core partners.
• Experience of leading research within formal or informal teams and interacting within a team of researchers.
• Able to collaborate with experts across teams and domains.
• Experience in some of the following languages: Python, C, C++, C#, SQL, JavaScript, HTML, Java, Kotlin, Rust, Go and Pandas.
• Prior experience developing software in a scientific computing context, ideally in Python and including familiarity with packages like Pandas, Numpy and Matplotlib.

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

This full time post is offered on a fixed term basis for two years. The annual salary is £40,850 - £46,200 plus excellent benefits, including flexible working and family friendly policies, 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 portal and complete the application form including your CV and covering letter. If you have questions about the role or would like to apply using a different format, please contact us on 020 3970 2148 or 0203 862 3340, or email [email protected].

CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS: Monday 13th February 2023 at 23:59

If you are applying for more than one role at the Turing, please note that only one Cover Letter can be visible on your profile at one time. If you wish to apply for multiple roles and do not want to overwrite your existing Cover Letter, please apply for the role using the button below and forward your additional cover letter directly to [email protected] quoting the job title.

If you are an internal applicant and wish to apply, please send your CV and Cover Letter directly to [email protected] and your application will be considered.

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

We are currently assessing the results of our hybrid working trial, which ran for six months. We will soon publish a long-term workplace policy: as a guide, we anticipate this will be between 2-4 days per month. Some roles may require the jobholder to spend a greater number of days in the office, but the hiring manager will be able to confirm this during the interview.

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.

We are committed to building a diverse community and would like our leadership team to reflect this. We therefore welcome applications from the broadest spectrum of backgrounds.

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 [email protected] to find out how we can assist you.

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

Full details on the pre-employment screening process can be requested from [email protected].