Jobs in Santa Monica, CA

About the role

RAND’s Center on AI, Security, and Technology (CAST) , part of the Global and Emerging Risks (GER) Division conducts cutting-edge research on transformative, high-impact technologies—including artificial intelligence and biotechnology—to shape policies that protect global security and advance the public good. Your work will address key questions related to securing AI systems, understanding their cyber capabilities, and examining their policy implications. You will be responsible for leading complex projects that span technical research, policy analysis, and infrastructure development. For example, you might lead projects to develop AI-specific threat models, build software tools for AI cyber capability evaluations, or identify critical areas for new security R&D. Your work will inform analysis delivered to senior government and industry leaders. You will communicate the results of your work to both technical and non-technical audiences through quick-turnaround policy briefs and detailed written research products. A recent example of one of our research products is the Securing AI Model Weights report, which explored protecting frontier AI models from theft and misuse. This position is structured as a two-year appointment with options to renew and explore opportunities for longer-term employment at RAND thereafter. As a Visiting AI Security Resident, you'll maintain that excellence while engaging with some of the most pressing challenges of our time.

What you'll bring

• All research positions at RAND require excellent analytic skills
• the ability to communicate clearly and effectively, both orally and in writing
• the ability to work effectively as a member of a multi-disciplinary team
• and a strong commitment to RAND's core values of quality and objectivity.
• Technical experience in security engineering, software engineering, firmware engineering, hardware engineering, or related fields
• Technical management experience, including leading cross-functional teams, managing project budgets, and mentoring and developing team members
• Demonstrated ability to successfully lead complex projects to completion
• Proficiency in Python, Java, C/C++, or other popular programming languages
• Ability to develop rigorous and comprehensive threat models and identify potential system vulnerabilities
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, tailored to technical and non-technical audiences
• Ability to reason about policy options given different technical considerations
• Ability to work effectively in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment

Benefits

Locations