Researcher / Senior Researcher - AI Policy and Standards

The Institute for AI Policy and Strategy (IAPS) is a think tank of aspiring wonks working to understand and navigate the transformative potential of advanced AI. To apply for the Researcher or Senior Researcher positions on the Policy and Standards Team at IAPS, please click "Apply Now", respond to the prompts in the application form and submit your CV.

We ask that you spend no more than two (2) hours preparing your responses to the prompts. (You can complete the application in multiple sittings. Please make sure to click 'save application for later' at the bottom of the application form before closing the web page).

Application Deadline: Monday, October 21, 2024 at the end of the day (11:59 PM) anywhere on earth (GMT-12). 

Q&A Webinar: October 9, Wednesday, 2024, 7 PM EDT. If you’d like, you can sign up here. The webinar will be recorded and shared here.

Note Before Applying: We invite anyone who is interested in this role to apply, and will assess applications primarily based on anonymized prompt answers, so please ensure they represent your fit for the position well.  We will advance candidates to the next stages based on their quality of responses during our hiring process, putting only minimal weight on CVs and references. Please do not include a cover letter, photograph, or headshot of yourself, or any personal information that is not relevant to the role for which you’re applying (including marital status, age, identity traits, etc.). Additionally, please do not ask our staff members involved in the hiring process to meet with you – to ensure fairness, we try to minimize these interactions, and requests for meetings with the hiring committee members during the process will be declined. 

Contact: Please email info@iaps.ai if you have any questions.

About the Positions

The Institute for AI Policy and Strategy (IAPS) is seeking two Researchers / Senior Researchers (level dependent on experience) to join our Policy and Standards team in exploring concrete interventions to secure the benefits and manage the risks of advanced AI systems.

Between the two roles advertised, we will hire for a mix of the following functions (candidates are welcome to apply even if only interested in one of these):

• Producing detailed research reports such as our work on Coordinated Disclosure of Dual-Use Capabilities and Deployment Corrections.
• Producing rapid-response deliverables including policy memos and responses to government requests, such as our memo "Assuring Growth" for the UK government and our response to the NIST RFI on Auditing, Evaluating, and Red-Teaming AI Systems.

Location: This role is fully remote, and we are able to legally hire in most countries, though we have a preference for one of our two roles to be based in Washington DC. As a global remote team, we welcome applicants from all time zones (and already have staff across a wide variety of time zones). In certain cases, we may be able to provide visa sponsorship to the US or UK and help candidates relocate. If you have questions about whether we can hire or provide visa sponsorship in another country and if this will influence your decision about applying, please contact info@iaps.ai before submitting your application.

Hours: We ideally seek candidates who can commit to at least 30 hours per week. However, we are open to considering exceptional candidates with reduced availability. Please note that the salary is based on a 40-hour workweek and will be prorated accordingly. 

About IAPS and its Policy and Standards Focus Area

The Institute for AI Policy and Strategy (IAPS) is a remote-first think tank dedicated to securing the benefits and managing the risks of advanced AI systems. 

We:

• Conduct policy research, looking over the horizon to identify policy proposals that are actionable today and relevant tomorrow, and
• Cultivate policy talent, forging a community of researchers and practitioners who are thoughtful about uncertainty but able to get things done.

Our key audiences are US and UK policymakers and leading AI companies. However, we also inform policymakers in other countries, civil society groups, and grantmaking foundations. Across all our work, intellectual independence is a core value; we are nonpartisan and do not accept funding from for-profit organizations or other money that would compromise our independence.

We welcome you to review our database of published work here.

Our Policy and Standards team identify concrete interventions that could improve the safety, security, and governance of advanced AI systems.

Some examples of projects the Policy and Standards team is working on currently:

• Identifying ‘affordances’ for AI systems (e.g. internet access, ability to conduct financial transactions) and how managing these can allow for AI systems with less human oversight than today, without significantly increased risk.
• Tasks include: literature review, expert consultation, threat modeling, novel solution generation.
• Summarizing the current state of R&D funding for AI safety globally, identifying underfunded and promising agendas, and assisting funders in eliciting promising proposals from civil society.
• Tasks include: data collection and analysis, expert surveys, taxonomy creation, tailored stakeholder solutions.
• Designing information-sharing frameworks between government, AI companies, and industry or civil society organizations, in order to respond securely, quickly and effectively to new model capabilities.
• Tasks include: significant outreach with government, industry, civil society and academia, iterative solution design and refinement, analysis of agency functions and budgets, legal and cybersecurity consultations, writing memos.

Key Responsibilities

If hired as a Researcher, your responsibilities would include:

• Collaborating with team members on extended research projects and / or rapid-response deliverables such as policy memos, requests for information, and responses to stakeholder requests.
• On occasion, performing these functions independently. However, we tend to work collaboratively most of the time.
• Conducting outreach to relevant stakeholders (e.g. government agencies, AI companies) and thought partners (e.g. other think tanks, academics).

If hired as a Senior Researcher, your responsibilities would also include:

• Identifying new research opportunities and assisting the Policy and Standards Research Manager with prioritizing and planning for these.
• Leading extended research projects and / or rapid-response deliverables such as policy memos, requests for information, and responses to stakeholder requests.
• Mentoring other researchers in the team on your areas of expertise.
• Reviewing and advising other research projects outside your own.
• Option to directly manage one or two researchers, with potential to grow into managing a full research team depending on mutual interest. (Note: this is not required! You are welcome to apply even if you have no interest in people management.)
• Establishing IAPS as go-to, highly trusted experts for AI policy issues relating to your area of expertise. This would involve thought leadership, presenting in public forums such as conferences, proactive network building, and consistently delivering sound and well-researched advice to partners and stakeholders on request.

What We Are Looking For

Knowledge and Experience

All applicants will be expected to have expertise that could be applied to IAPS’ AI policy work.

Experience level:

• Senior researchers are expected to have 5+ years of experience in a research or policy role, and be willing to mentor and uplift other researchers in the team. 
• Researchers are expected to have 2+ years of relevant professional or academic experience.

“Relevant experience” is intentionally broad and would include any amount of the following:

• Time spent completing a postgraduate degree (e.g., Masters / PhD) in a STEM field, or in policy.
• Any prior work in policy (such as in government, in academia, at another think tank / non-profit organization, and/or in industry), including policy work unrelated to technology.
• Any work in the tech industry.
• Any work in a related field such as cybersecurity, procurement, national security, safety evaluations in any industry, or risk management in any industry.
• Technical or academic experience in a related field such as machine learning, antitrust law, or standard-setting.
• Relationship-building in relevant government agencies (particularly in the US or UK), or in leading AI companies.

Note that the above examples are just illustrative. This list is not comprehensive, and we are excited to explore relevant backgrounds we may not have considered. Please feel free to apply if your speciality is not listed.

That being said, IAPS operates collaboratively. Thus, in addition to relevant experience, we also want someone who can get outside their speciality and be comfortable engaging with a relative breadth of work.

Skills and Competencies

• Excellent ability to write clearly and concisely for a range of audiences, particularly policymakers.
• Excellent ability to find, read, critically assess, and apply research or policy from various disciplines to AI-specific contexts and concerns.
• Good critical thinking skills and ability to generate novel solutions to policy and technical problems.
• Good interpersonal skills and ability to work as part of a team.
• Good ability to prioritize well and meet deadlines.
• Willingness and ability to conduct outreach with relevant stakeholders and experts, particularly in government and AI companies.
• Proactiveness, resourcefulness, and problem-solving ability.

We encourage candidates to apply even if they do not meet all requirements listed. We are open to hiring someone with strengths in some areas but lacking in others, and to adjusting the role around their strengths and / or helping that person develop missing attributes.

What We Offer

Compensation

• Annual salary between the following ranges for a full-time position, prorated for part-time work:
• Senior Researcher: 
• $114,000 - $118,500 USD pre-tax.
• £88,122 - £91,529 GBP pre-tax.
• €101,573 - €105,582 EUR pre-tax.
• Researcher: 
• $82,500 – $100,500 USD pre-tax.
• £64,270 - £77,900 GBP pre-tax.
• €73,507 - €89,544 EUR pre-tax.
• Compensation is not restricted to the currencies listed above. 
• The exact salary will be based on the candidate’s prior relevant experience and corresponding title level and calculated using IAPS salary algorithm.

Other Benefits

• Comprehensive global benefits package, including fully paid health insurance. 
• Generous paid time off (PTO) leave and:
• Unlimited vacation with a minimum 30 days off per year (incl. public local holidays, vacation time, and “mandated” 3-weeks total mid- and end-year organization-wide breaks).
• Unlimited (within reason) personal and sick leave.
• Parental leave - up to 6-9 months of a combination of paid and unpaid parental leave that can be taken prior to and/or during the first 2 years after a child’s birth or adoption. 
• Technology stipend of the equivalent of $2000 USD every 3 years that can be used to cover costs of purchasing work and office equipment.
• We encourage proactive professional development and offer learning opportunities, including conferences and workshops. We also encourage staff to set aside 10% of work time dedicated to professional and personal development.

Additional Information

• Extension requests: We will try to accommodate extension requests that are made before the deadline and are up to three (3) days. We generally cannot accommodate extension requests made on or after the application deadline, or are longer than 3 days, and cannot accept late submissions to ensure fairness to other applicants. 
• Language: Please submit all of your application materials in English and note that we require professional level English proficiency.
• Travel: This job has a lot of opportunities for business travel. However, all travel is optional and travel is not required to take this position. Trips are fully paid and may involve visits to Washington DC, San Francisco, London, one team retreat annually, and relevant conferences.
• Accessibility: We’re committed to running an inclusive and accessible application process. We warmly invite you to reach out to info@iaps.ai with any questions or accessibility requests.
• Inclusivity and fairness:  IAPS is committed to building an inclusive, equitable, and supportive community for you to thrive and do your best work. Please don’t hesitate to apply for a role regardless of your age, gender identity/expression, political identity, personal preferences, physical abilities, veteran status, neurodiversity or any other background. We provide reasonable accommodations and benefits, including, for example, flexible work schedules and locations, mental health coverage in medical benefits (as available), as well as technology budgets and professional development time that can be used, for example, to purchase assistive technology or engage in job coaching.
• Hiring Software: We use a program called Pinpoint for our recruitment and hiring processes and all of the email correspondence is via Pinpoint. We encourage you to add Pinpoint domain (@pinpoint.email) to your trusted contacts and/or check your 'spam', 'promotions' and ‘updates’ folders, if you don’t hear from us within the expected timeframe.
• Hiring Process Timeline: Note that due to IAPS’ organization-wide break from December 21-Jan 6, no hiring activities will take place over this time period. We expect to send offers to successful candidates in January 2025.