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Job summary

Sovereign AI:

In January 2025, the Prime Minister launched the AI Opportunities Action Plan, placing artificial intelligence at the centre of the UK’s economic and national security strategy. The Sovereign AI Fund sits at the heart of this mission, with a clear mandate: to identify, back and scale the companies that will define the UK’s position in one of the most consequential technologies of our time.

Backed by up to £500 million, the Fund exists to turn ambition into action, supporting high-potential AI startups and scaleups to become national champions and strengthening the UK’s sovereign capability in frontier AI.

The Team:

SovAI’s Private Office team is a small, fast paced team whose goal to is support the investment team to operate efficiently and effectively. The primary remit of the team is to provide executive support to the Managing Partner, Investors, Chair and Deputy Director.

The team will play a critical role in ensuring the Managing Partner and Investment Team are well briefed, that decisions do not fall through the cracks, and that they have clear and effective information flows including via the CRM. This team also plays a key role in ensuring effective cross-team governance and comms, and can represent Sovereign AI to founders and Government stakeholders.

Beyond this core remit, the role will provide project-based and operational support as SovAI scales. This could include leading on operational projects such as appointing a new fund administrator or setting up a new office, acting as the lynchpin between the investment team and wider organisation. Inputting the investment team's view into ministerial engagement. There may also be scope to lead on the venture team's perspective on strategic initiatives, such as the potential expansion of SovAI.

This is unique opportunity to be at the centre of one of the UK Government's most high-profile and globally significant initiatives, as we build the Sovereign AI Unit.

Job description

You will own:

• Founder communication: You will coordinate founder and government stakeholder communications, following up promptly with founders to confirm decisions, references, and next steps

• Dealflow follow-ups: You will convert discussions from investment meetings into clear, actionable trackers with defined owners, deliverables, and deadlines

• CRM data integrity: You will maintain CRM hygiene and data integrity, ensuring all deals discussed are accurately logged and updated in the CRM (Attio), proactively flagging any gaps

• Closing ownership gaps: You will identify ownership gaps across the investment team, escalating or clarifying accountability rather than making assumptions

• Cross team communication: You will liaise across teams within the Sovereign AI Unit, connecting the investment team with other functions (e.g. compute team) to surface relevant context on companies. You will also help ensure the investment team's perspective is reflected in wider organisational asks and external requests (e.g. government correspondence, parliamentary questions).

• Operations and Projects: You will be involved in both operational work and projects. This could include business management activities such as software and recruitment approvals, sourcing a new office, or appointing a fund administrator. You will be actively involved in new projects and strategic initiatives, such as expanding the Fund.

• Scheduling: You will own the scheduling and cadence of key meetings, ensuring critical checkpoints (e.g. Investment Committee) have confirmed dates, and follow up when timelines are vague

• Meeting agendas: You will design and circulate structured meeting agendas, preparing clear, time-boxed agendas for recurring meetings to drive efficient decision-making

• Judgement and discretion: You will exercise judgement and discretion, knowing when to make a reasonable assumption versus flagging ambiguity back to the team for clarification

You will support the wider team on:

• Resourcing and staffing on deals: You will support resourcing and staffing on deals, helping coordinate additional support (e.g. second reviewers) when requested by Investment Principals.

• Legal and diligence processes: You will support legal and diligence processes, tracking outstanding actions on signed term sheets and legal documentation through to completion

What success looks like:

First 6 months:

• You have a strong grasp of SovAI's investment process, systems (CRM, trackers), and key stakeholders
• Dealflow tracking and CRM are running smoothly, with consistent follow-ups
• You’ve had direct experience engaging with founders, senior leaders, or external stakeholders in a way that builds confidence and strong working relationships
• You've gained direct experience supporting the operational set-up of the team, such as business management processes, office set-up, fund administrator selection, or software procurement.

6-12 months:

• You're contributing to strategic discussions about the Fund, such as expanding the Fund or evolving parts of our offer
• You're fully owning the operating rhythm of the team (agendas, scheduling, follow-ups) with minimal oversight
• Founders and government stakeholders see you as a reliable point of contact
• You're beginning to add value beyond coordination, e.g. spotting patterns in dealflow, proactively flagging risks or opportunities

Beyond 12 months:

• You're informing the strategic direction of the Fund, and owning operational aspects of its delivery
• You've helped shape and improve how the Private Office team operates, not just executed within it
• You're owning higher-judgement tasks (e.g. supporting diligence, engaging directly with founders on more substantive questions)
• You've contributed to strengthening SovAI's reputation and network within the wider VC/startup ecosystem

Person specification

You'll thrive if you bring:

• Agency – You're a self-starter who takes ownership and drives actions through to completion. You can evidence examples of proactively closing loops, for instance, chasing outstanding actions, following up with stakeholders, or ensuring nothing falls through the cracks, rather than waiting to be told what to do.
• Organisation – You use structure and systems to stay on top of complex, fast-moving work. You can provide strong evidence of building trackers, managing CRM data with accuracy, and juggling multiple deals or workstreams simultaneously without losing sight of deadlines.
• Judgement & Discretion – You know when to make a decision independently and when something is too ambiguous to assume, choosing to flag it back rather than guess. You can evidence examples of exercising sound judgement in fast-paced or high-stakes environments.
• Stakeholder Management – You build effective working relationships across different teams and seniority levels. You can evidence examples of coordinating between multiple stakeholders, for example, Investment Principals, founders, or teams working on different priorities, to keep information flowing and actions on track.
• Communication – You turn complex or unstructured discussions into clear, actionable outputs. You can evidence examples of producing structured trackers, agendas, or summaries that others have relied on to make decisions or drive a meeting forward.
• Genuine Passion for the Mission – You have a real interest in venture capital and the startup ecosystem, and you're genuinely motivated by the opportunity to help build the UK's sovereign capability in frontier AI. You can evidence this through personal projects, prior experience, or a demonstrable curiosity about how deals, founders, markets, and national AI strategy come together.
• Eligibility for SC Clearance - You should normally have been resident in the UK for the last 5 years. Applications with a minimum of 2 out of the last 5 years of UK residency will be considered, at least one year of which must be 12 consecutive months.

This might not be the role for you if:

• You prefer clear, well-defined tasks and structured processes, rather than navigating ambiguity and figuring things out as you go

• You'd rather wait for direction than take ownership and drive things forward yourself

• You find it uncomfortable to flag gaps, ask questions, or push back when something isn't clear, rather than making assumptions

• You find it difficult to stay on top of multiple moving parts (e.g. trackers, CRM records, deadlines) simultaneously

• You're looking for predictable rhythms, rather than a fast-moving, high-stakes environment where priorities can shift quickly

• You don't have a genuine interest in venture capital, startups, or the mission of building the UK's sovereign AI capability, this role works best for someone who's excited by the substance of the work, not just the process

Behaviours

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

• Communicating and Influencing
• Delivering at Pace
• Making Effective Decisions

Benefits

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.

Application: Apply here - Job Application for Founder's Associate - Sovereign AI Unit at SovAI

You will be asked to submit a CV & answer 3 application questions:

• Why do you want to work at the Sovereign AI Fund, and why is this role where you want to contribute? (250 words max)
• What do you think defines the Sovereign AI Unit, and why would a founder choose us as an investor over other options? (250 words max)
• Describe a time where you've dealt with competing demands coming through from multiple senior stakeholders. Please set out who was involved, what the stakes were, and what you did to manage the situation. (250 words max)

Interview 1: Experience interview

Interview 2: Task & Civil Service Behaviours Interview. The task details will be communicated ahead of interview 2.

Interview 3: Interview with Senior Leadership

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.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 : Georgia Stone
• Email : Georgia.Stone@dsit.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : Georgia.Stone@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/

Attachments

DSIT T&Cs v1.2 Opens in new window (docx, 179kB)