Chief AI Officer - GDS - SCS2

Location

Bristol, London, Manchester

About the job

Job summary

The Government Digital Service (GDS), part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), is seeking a dynamic and visionary Chief AI Officer to lead our ambitious agenda on artificial intelligence across the UK public sector.

GDS sits at the heart of digital and data transformation in government. AI now plays a central role in reshaping how we design, deliver, and scale public services to be more efficient, responsive, and impactful. This will be a dynamic and changing brief, given the rapidly evolving nature of AI in government, and the enormous appetite for change from Ministers including the DSIT Secretary of State and the Prime Minister. This is an exciting and innovative team - we are looking for change makers who want to challenge how government operates, leading from within, and driving enormous impact through harnessing the power of AI for the public good

You will be at the forefront of AI adoption in the public sector, balancing cutting-edge innovation with the need for transparency, fairness, and public trust. You will influence across the public sector system, shape policy, and ensure that AI-driven initiatives are deployed responsibly and ethically.  You will build a leadership community across government - drawing on their expertise and needs as a collective, including developing a sourcing framework for this group.

Job description

As the Chief AI Officer, you will lead the AI Group in GDS within the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology. The Group includes the AI Incubator (i.AI) and the Public Sector AI Adoption Unit. This is a large scale and dynamic leadership role designed to drive transformative change throughout government services through the strategic application of AI technologies. This role requires a dynamic and innovative leader to collaborate with government departments and agencies, stakeholders, and technology experts, using AI to solve complex challenges and enhance the delivery of essential public services. 

This will be a dynamic and changing brief, given the rapidly evolving nature of AI in government, and the enormous appetite for change from Ministers including the DSIT Secretary of State and the Prime Minister. This is an exciting and innovative team - we are looking for change makers who want to challenge how government operates, leading from within, and driving enormous impact through harnessing the power of AI for the public good. 

Primary responsibilities

Establish a central AI adoption unit to build and deploy AI into public services: 

• lead the expansion of the work of the Incubator for AI (i.AI) to provide rapid prototyping and innovation, identifying and building solutions focused on public sector productivity which act as exemplars and show scalable impact 
• accountable for building and expanding the existing Public Sector AI Adoption Unit, including the development of a ‘scan’ function to identify new opportunities and work across government to scale AI products
• lead the development and oversight of programmes such as the Frontier Exemplars announced at the Spring Statement, aimed at radically transforming how government delivers its services to enable better customer experience and simpler, more efficient service delivery
• support the building of a strong technical market intelligence capability to inform procurement and design decisions, recognising that AI and its uses are evolving rapidly
• support investment in the enabling infrastructure and common components for the public sector to use AI at scale, including data, development environment and tooling, compute, and generative AI models, and enabling support for private sector commodity tooling 

Grow capacity and capability across government:

• be a thought leader on the practical use of AI technology in government and public services, taking a hands on approach to establish AI communities of practice across the public sector  
• support practitioners across government by providing expert advice on AI and reusable technical solutions, working with colleagues across government to develop training and guidance for best practice AI adoption and usage    
• lead the development of a sourcing framework for AI, including rapid procurement and mission- focused national tenders, and developing partnerships that enable government to procure from startups, scaleups, and established players but also seek innovative solutions from R&D agencies, academia, open source and competitions 

Build trust, responsibility, and accountability into everything we do:

• accountable for the development of clear and actionable guidance to embed best practices and capability in trust and responsibility, building on the work of the Responsible Tech Adoption Unit 
• establish and oversee the provision of specialist assurance support including a red-teaming service to test products before release
• be an active and engaged member of the GDS and DSIT leadership teams, accountable for delivering the public sector digital and data strategy and plans. 

Person specification

We're interested in people who:

• have a track record of delivering complex transformation via new technologies in a mature enterprise environment which has large scale impact 
• are thoughtful and empathetic in working with stakeholders. Ability to make important strategic calls from a position of curiosity and coalition building. Ability to be able to translate highly technical concepts into an accessible language for different audiences
• are a credible leader for highly technical teams – knowledgeable about what high-tech experimentation and delivery looks like and able to create an environment which enables it
• have experience in leading teams through significant periods of change.  
• have the ability to lead thinking and practice in AI across large and complex organisations in the public, private or third sector, working with multiple stakeholder groups, often representing, or holding multiple viewpoints
• have in-depth knowledge of AI technologies (machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing, computer vision, etc.), their practical applications and what they can offer public services
• have experience in developing and implementing AI governance frameworks and policies that prioritise fairness, accountability, and transparency, with a strong understanding of ethical considerations, data privacy and regulations in AI 

This role will play a significant role in the future of AI use across UK Government, improving services for every citizen the Civil Service serves.  

If you are passionate about leveraging AI for societal good and excited about the opportunity to drive change at a national scale, this is the role for you.