Onboarding Lead- i.AI

Job summary

The Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (i.AI) is the UK government’s engine room for building products that shape national outcomes. We will be building tools used daily by thousands of civil servants, directly impacting millions of citizens. We take on the hardest problems in government, backed directly by No10, and solve them with a small, high-performing team. Our work is shaping how government adopts AI in practice; through what we build, who we hire, and the standards we set.

Job description

The central Recruitment Operations team across i.AI and AISI is responsible for attracting, selecting and onboarding the exceptional technical and policy talent needed to deliver on our mission. We are a small, high-performing team that enables the organisation we support to hire and retain the world-class engineers and policy professionals who do the work that matters.

The team covers end-to-end recruitment for all of the AI Security Institute and the i.AI incubator, as well as onboarding, process improvement and operational delivery. We work closely with Hiring Managers, the People Team, GRS, and a range of internal and external stakeholders. The team is building out its infrastructure and processes as the organisation scales rapidly.

This is an exciting time to join Recruitment Operations focussing on the Incubator for AI. We are building something from scratch, and the person in this role will have genuine scope to shape how i.AI onboards its people — with a direct and visible impact on the experience of every new joiner.

Person specification

Essential Criteria:

1. Experience managing complex HR, onboarding or people operations processes — including cases with non-standard requirements (e.g. visa, security clearance, contractor arrangements)
2. Strong organisational skills — able to manage multiple cases, deadlines and stakeholders simultaneously without losing accuracy or pace
3. Process improvement mindset — comfortable identifying inefficiencies, designing solutions and building guidance that reduces manual effort
4. Excellent written communication skills — able to produce clear, accessible guidance and documentation for a range of audiences
5. Strong stakeholder management — able to work confidently with candidates, hiring managers, HR teams and external partners
6. High level of discretion and sensitivity — this role involves handling complex personal circumstances, pay cases and sensitive information
7. Self-starter — able to work independently and make sound judgements without close supervision

Preferred Criteria:

1. Experience working with visa, immigration or security clearance processes in a government or large organisation context
2. Familiarity with government recruitment systems such as GRS, Civil Service Jobs or equivalent ATS platforms
3. Experience facilitating workshops or cross-team process improvement initiatives
4. Understanding of Civil Service HR frameworks, pay policies and contractor/secondee arrangements

Behaviours

We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:

• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together
• Managing a Quality Service

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £39,850, Department for Science, Innovation & Technology contributes £11,544 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).

The Department for Science, Innovation and Technology offers a competitive mix of benefits including:

• A culture of flexible working, such as job sharing, homeworking and compressed hours.
• Automatic enrolment into the Civil Service Pension Scheme, with an employer contribution of 28.97%.
• A minimum of 25 days of paid annual leave, increasing by 1 day per year up to a maximum of 30.
• An extensive range of learning & professional development opportunities, which all staff are actively encouraged to pursue.
• Access to a range of retail, travel and lifestyle employee discounts.
• A hybrid office/home based working model where staff will spend a norm of 40-60% of their time in the office (minimum of 40%) over a month with flex dependent on balancing business and individual need.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

Sift: Applications will be assessed on CV and personal statement. Candidates should demonstrate their experience against the essential criteria, with particular focus on their ability to manage complex onboarding or HR processes and their approach to process improvement.

Stage 1 : Experience Interview

Stage 2 — Structured Interview: Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a structured interview assessing experience and behaviours against the person specification. The interview will include a short exercise or presentation element — details to be confirmed at shortlisting stage.

Stage 3 – SCS Leadership Panel

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is counter-terrorist check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Sian McGrowder
• Email : Sian.McGrowder@dsit.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : Farah.chowdhury@dsit.gov.uk

Further information

Appointment to the Civil Service is governed by the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles. If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the recruitment principles, and wish to make a complaint, then you should contact in the first instance dsitresourcing.GRS@cabinetoffice.gov.uk. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission. For further information on bringing a complaint to the Civil Service Commission please visit their web pages at: https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/contact-us/