Associate Director, Emerging Technology and Industry Practice

Ada Lovelace Institute; London; Hybrid; GBP 76,000 - 100,000; Full time

Job description

Associate Director, Emerging Technology and Industry Practice - Ada Lovelace Institute

• Salary: Starting salary from £76,832 per annum (negotiable based on experience). We will consider market supplements where appropriate.
• Contract: Permanent contract.
• Hours: Full time (35 hours).
• Location: We are London based (Farringdon). Our staff have the option to work part of the week from home.
• Closing: 09:30am (BST), Monday 28th April 2025.

The Ada Lovelace Institute (Ada) is hiring an Associate Director to lead our Emerging Technology & Industry Practice research domain and collectively set its agenda and workplan in our next strategy period (to 2029).

This role will report into the Director and manage a team of 4-8 researchers working on projects aimed at:

• Evidencing the utility, efficacy, and impacts of emerging technologies on impacted communities, primarily in the UK.
• Assessing the effectiveness and impacts of emerging AI governance and accountability practices like audits, impact assessments, and model evaluations.
• Encouraging their adoption by a wider set of public and private sector actors.
• Ensuring global proposals for AI and data regulation reflect our research into emerging accountability practices and technologies and encourage their adoption within other organisations.

This role sits within Ada’s 7-person Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and will manage one of Ada’s core research domains. Currently with 6 staff, this team undertakes research exploring the societal implications of emerging technologies and what steps developers of these technologies can take to address them.

We are looking for candidates with the following qualities:

• Experienced in managing high-performing multidisciplinary research teams with a mixture of accountability, care, and respect.
• Technically knowledgeable about AI technologies, infrastructure, methods, and development practices, and skilled at translating technical concepts for lay audiences.
• Connected within relevant networks across the technology industry, funding bodies, and research communities working on responsible AI and governance issues.
• Proven track record in translating applied research into tangible policy or practice impact.
• Capable of building strategic relationships to advance responsible technology development.
• Highly motivated to work as part of a skilled, ambitious, caring, and expert senior leadership team to provide overall collective leadership for Ada.
• Experience of managing relationships with key funders and leading on fundraising strategies would be highly desirable.

Our previous research has looked at the following areas:

• Examining the Black Box, a seminal report outlining different methods for assessing algorithmic systems.
• In collaboration with AI Now and the Open Government Partnership, we co-published a survey of the first wave of algorithmic accountability policy mechanisms in the public sector.
• A survey of technical methods for auditing algorithmic systems.
• Working with NHSX and several healthcare startups to develop an algorithmic impact assessment framework for firms to use when applying for access to a medical image dataset.
• A project with the BBC to explore how recommendation engines can be designed with public-service values in mind, and a project exploring participatory methods for data stewardship.
• Novel thinking on frameworks for transparency registers.
• A workshop series on the challenges that research ethics committees are grappling with their reviews of AI and data science research, and a workshop series on regulatory inspection and auditing of AI systems.

About us

The Ada Lovelace Institute is an independent research institute funded and incubated by the Nuffield Foundation since 2018. Our mission is to ensure data and artificial intelligence work for people and society. We do this by building evidence and fostering rigorous debate on how data and AI affect people and society. We recognise the power asymmetries that exist in ethical and legal debates around the development of data-driven technologies and seek to level those asymmetries by convening diverse voices and creating a shared understanding of the ethical issues arising from data and AI. Finally, we seek to define and inform good practice in the design and deployment of AI technologies.

The Institute has emerged as a leading independent voice on the ethical and societal impacts of data and AI. We have built relationships in the public, private, and civil society sectors in the UK and internationally.

Our research takes an interconnected approach to issues such as power, social justice, distributional impact, and climate change (read our strategy to find out more), and our team has a wide range of expertise that cuts across policy, technology, academia, industry, law, and human rights. We value diversity in background, skills, perspectives, and life experiences. As part of the Nuffield Foundation, we are a small team with the practical support of an established organisation that cares for its employees.

Further information and how to apply

For further information about the role, please click through to the vacancy listing on our website. The closing date for applications is 09:30am (BST) on Monday 28th April 2025.

We strongly encourage applicants from backgrounds that are underrepresented in the research, policy, and technology sectors (for example, those from a marginalised community, those who did not go to university, or had free school meals as a child). We are committed to tackling societal injustice and inequality through our work and believe that all kinds of experiences and backgrounds can contribute to this mission.

We are committed to inclusive working practices and during the application process, we commit to:

• As a Disability Confident employer, we will offer an interview to a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the essential criteria for the job.
• Making any reasonable adjustments – for example, providing documents in different formats, arranging for a sign language interpreter for interviews, etc.
• Paying for travel costs (and any childcare or care costs) for interviews where in-person attendance is required.

Our benefits package includes:

• Consideration of requests for part-time and/or flexible working (e.g., compressed hours arrangements, job sharing, etc.).
• 28 days holiday per annum and all public holidays (with the option to buy or sell up to 5 days).
• A salary exchange pension scheme that offers employer contributions of up to 11%.
• Life assurance scheme.
• Family leave policies that provide an enhanced level of pay.
• Cycle to work scheme and loans towards season tickets.
• Frequent opportunities for learning and development (including options for coaching and mentoring, and reading weeks).
• Support with your physical, mental, and financial wellbeing including an employee assistance provider, a private GP service, personal health reviews with Bupa, a will and funeral planning service, and a staff network of trained Mental Health First Aiders.
• Staff peer groups and social networks.