Senior Technologist, AI Governance Lab

The Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) is seeking a Senior Technologist with research and/or applied technical expertise on issues relating to the governance of artificial intelligence. This is a senior role within CDTs AI Governance Lab and will help shape and execute our agenda related to the responsible design testing monitoring and regulation of AI systems.

The Senior Technologist will structure and lead original research as well as contribute to writing and speaking publicly on issues that are core to current AI governance efforts in the public and private sectors. Example topics include: developing effective AI auditing ecosystems analyzing the implications of increasingly personalized and agentic AI systems evaluating and advancing transparency practices such as system cards and model disclosures and evaluating emerging risks from foundation models and their downstream applications. We welcome applicants interested in both technical and sociotechnical approaches to AI risk assessment and mitigation.

As a key part of CDTs AI Governance Lab team the Senior Technologist will have the opportunity to shape cutting-edge efforts to establish norms and requirements for AI governance at a critical moment for the field. Recent developmentsincluding rapid advances in foundation models and frontier AI systems increasing AI deployment across sectors and evolving regulatory frameworksmake this work particularly urgent. The Lab develops and promotes adoption of robust technically-informed solutions for the effective regulation and governance of AI systems by:

• Developing analyzing prototyping and amplifying best practices for AI governance solutions

• Advocating for the adoption of responsible AI governance solutions through multi-stakeholder initiatives standards-setting and direct-to-company engagement

• Advising policymakers on effective legislative and regulatory approaches

• Supporting civil rights organizations consumer protection organizations and other public interest advocates engaging on AI issues by providing technical and operational expertise

• Building bridges for the research community to better participate in and inform current policy debates particularly around technical developments and their societal implication

• Tracking recent technical developments at the frontier of AI research and translating and communicating them to internal and external policy audiences

• Grounding AI research and policy in the needs of impacted stakeholder groups and the use context

The Senior Technologist will help drive each of these activities leading their own projects and initiatives while also serving as part of a fast-paced collaborative team. Some examples of recent projects include developing recommendations for privacy-supporting AI architectures developing contextually grounded evaluations conducting empirical research on AI documentation and explaining foundation model safety concepts.

This role may involve managing junior technologists researchers or fellows on the team as needed; details will be determined on a case-by-case basis depending on the candidates experience and background. This is a full-time role but we are open to a term-limited fellowship for appropriate candidates.

About CDT

The Center for Democracy & Technology (CDT) is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that fights to advance civil rights and civil liberties in the digital age. We champion policies laws and technical designs that empower people to use technology for good while protecting against invasive discriminatory and exploitative uses. CDT was founded in Washington D.C. in 1994 and has operated a second office in Brussels since 2014.

CDT works to protect peoples rights across a range of technology uses and applications with a strong focus onprivacy and data governance (including specific projects on health privacy education worker privacy and disability rights & tech) as well as projects on government surveillance elections & democracy and free expression/platform governance. We engage policymakers in the U.S. and the European Union advocate for companies to adopt best practices represent the public interest in multistakeholder processes and standards bodies file amicus briefs in court conduct original research and raise public awareness about how technology design and governance impact our democracy and social inequality.

CDT is headquartered in Washington D.C. and collaborates closely with its partner organization CDT Europe which is based in Brussels.

Required Qualifications

• An advanced degree in a relevant discipline such as computer science information science engineering economics public policy or similar research qualification and experience (including industry experience) or commensurate practical experience.

• Demonstrated research and/or applied experience in the form of publications (reports conference papers peer-reviewed papers etc.) presentations frameworks GitHub repos or other outputs and the demonstrated ability to translate technical research findings to non-technical and/or non-expert audiences. Hands-on work testing advanced AI systems is particularly desirable.

• Familiarity with the AI governance landscape including current debates around AI system and foundation model evaluation approaches to risk assessment and emerging regulatory frameworks. Candidates with knowledge of ongoing AI safety research stakeholders and related policy discussions including debates around model capabilities alignment approaches and risk mitigation strategies are particularly encouraged to apply

• Interest in technologys societal impacts particularly how AI systems affect individuals and communities based on race gender disability income immigration status or other characteristics

• Excellent writing skills for communicating with technical policy and general audiences

• Some research management experience is a plus

Compensation and Location

The compensation for this position ranges from $105000-$145000. Compensation is determined on a tiered pay scale based on years of experience and the responsibilities of the role. Candidates may request guidance on where they would fall within the salary range prior to their first interview or any time thereafter.

CDT provides a generous benefits package that includes 100% covered health care dental and vision coverage for employees and dependents flexible spending and dependent care accounts life insurance short-term & long-term disability insurance a 403(b) retirement account (CDT contributes 6% of your salary following a year of employment) 13 company holidays closed for the period between Christmas and New Years paid vacation (15 days per year increased with tenure) sick days and parental leave.

This position is based in CDTs Washington D.C. office which operates on a hybrid schedule with three days in-office per week (generally Monday Wednesday and Thursday). A different hybrid schedule may be considered in exceptional cases and is available if needed as a disability accommodation. We may also consider exceptional candidates based outside of Washington D.C.

To Apply

Please send a full CV a relevant writing sample (article report published paper or similar work) and a cover letter describing your interest in the position and your experience/qualifications for such work by clicking the apply for this position button below. The cover letter should also highlight any relevant experience developing analyzing and/or implementing practical guidance for responsible AI system development and deployment. These materials should be compiled into one PDF or document for submission. If you have any questions please feel free to contact