NCSC Senior AI Technologist

About us

GCHQ is an intelligence, cyber and security agency with a mission to keep the UK safe. We use cutting-edge technology, ingenuity and partnerships to identify, analyse and disrupt threats. Working with our intelligence partners, MI5 and MI6, we protect the UK from terrorism, cyber-attacks and espionage.

At GCHQ, you’ll do varied and fascinating work in a supportive and inclusive environment that places a strong emphasis on teamwork.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), part of GCHQ, is the UK Government’s lead authority on cyber security. The organisation is at the heart of the Government’s cyber security strategy and aims to make the UK the safest place to live and work online.

The role

AI is transforming how organisations design, build and defend technology — and the NCSC is looking for outstanding technical talent to help protect the UK in ways that only we can. Join us to research, develop and deploy agentic solutions that strengthen the nation’s cyber security and resilience.

We’re looking for talented AI technologists to join us across a variety of departments at the NCSC. You’ll be at the forefront of applying AI to some of the UK’s most important cyber security and resilience challenges. You’ll help explore how increasingly capable AI systems can strengthen defence, improve security outcomes and enhance our understanding of adversaries. You’ll also support organisations across the public and private sectors to adopt AI confidence and contribute to the development of secure, resilient and innovative technology.

Working in highly specialised and classified environments, you’ll help design, build, deploy and scale intelligent solutions that transform how people work, learn and interact with technology. You’ll work alongside multidisciplinary teams and some of the world’s leading cyber experts to advance AI capabilities and turn breakthrough ideas into production-ready systems that support some of the UK’s most important national security missions.

These roles support a wide range of GCHQ and NCSC missions, offering opportunities across engineering, cyber operations and AI security and applied research. Depending on your expertise, you could develop AI-enabled systems and agents, assess and secure AI technologies, apply AI to complex cyber security challenges and build and deploy innovative capabilities, or conduct research into emerging technologies and threats.

We’re recruiting across a range of technical specialisms and disciplines. Depending on your background and interests, opportunities may include:

• Agent development, software engineering, infrastructure engineering and solution architecture.
• AI security, agentic security analysis, assurance and security testing.
• Applying AI to cyber security challenges, including threat detection, vulnerability research and malware analysis.
• MLOps,workflow automation and deployment of AI-enabled capabilities.
• Research into machine learning, generative AI, LLMs and agentic systems, alongside cyber consultancy and data-driven insight.

As your expertise grows, you’ll have the opportunity to collaborate with some of the world’s leading organisations, helping us stay at the forefront of AI innovation and its application to cyber security. You’ll also work alongside multidisciplinary teams and some of the UK’s leading cyber specialists to turn emerging ideas into operational capability.

This is an opportunity to be part of one of the most significant technological shifts of our time within the UK’s National Technical Authority for cyber security. AI is transforming both offensive and defensive cyber capabilities, shaping the future of intelligence missions and what it means to keep a nation secure.

We’re looking for people who combine technical expertise with curiosity, creativity and a passion for solving complex challenges. If you enjoy exploring new technologies, thinking ahead to future engineering challenges, and contributing to a mission that makes the UK safer to live and work online, we’d love to hear from you.

Open to UK nationals only.

What to expect

Our recruitment process is fair, transparent and based on merit. Here is a brief overview of each stage, in order:

• Initial online application.
• Online Situational Judgement Test (SJT) in which you rate the appropriateness of responses to a series of short scenarios.
• Application sift.
• Online Interview.
• If successful, you’ll receive a conditional offer of employment.

Please note you must successfully pass each stage of the process to progress to the next. Your application may take around 6 to 9 months to process including vetting, so we advise you to continue in your current employment until you have received your final job offer.

Before you apply

To work at NCSC, you need to be a British citizen or hold dual British nationality. You can read our full eligibility criteria here.

This role requires the highest security clearance, known as Developed Vetting (DV). It’s something everyone in the UK Intelligence Community undertakes. You can find out more about the vetting process here.

Please note we have a strict drugs policy, so once you start your application, you can’t take any recreational drugs, and you’ll need to declare your previous drug use at the relevant stage.

Before you apply, we recommend setting up a separate email address for your contact with us, to ensure your personal and application correspondence remain separate. Try to avoid having identifying features in your email address, such as your first and/or surname and date of birth. This is good practice and will help you to manage your application with us more securely.

The role is based in London or Manchester, so you’ll need to live within a commutable distance. Please consider any financial implications and practicalities before submitting an application, as we do not offer relocation costs.

We offer reasonable reimbursement of travel costs for candidates attending in-person appointments during the recruitment and vetting process. Full details will be provided with your interview or assessment invitation.

Reimbursement is discretionary and will only be made in line with the Candidate Expenses Policy, as amended from time to time. Candidates must book their own travel using the most economical option and provide original hard copy receipts for reimbursement.

Please note that you should only launch your application from within the UK. If you are based overseas, you should wait until you visit the UK to launch an application. Applying from outside the UK will impact on our ability to progress your application. You should not discuss your application with anyone other than with your partner or a close family member.

The closing date for this role is: 2nd September 2026 at 23:55

Right to withdraw statement:

Please be aware that we reserve the right to bring forward the closing date for this role once a certain number of applications have been received. Please submit your application at the earliest opportunity to avoid disappointment.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.