Hiring nowAI policy, institutions and public accountability

AI Policy Lead

Also called Frontier AI Policy Manager

An AI Policy Lead represents the company to governments on regulation, compute and national security. They help the business shape rules it must live with and spot policy risk before it becomes a product or legal problem.

What they do

They track and interpret AI rules as they form, then turn them into a clear company position. They meet officials, regulators and civil servants, and respond to consultations. They work with engineers and researchers to understand what the technology can and cannot do, then explain it in plain terms to people who do not build it. They brief leadership on risks, from export controls on compute to national security concerns. They also coordinate with peers, trade bodies and international institutions, and write position papers, briefings and testimony.

What a strong hire delivers

In the first months, a strong hire gives leadership a clear map of the policy issues that matter most to the business, ranked by likelihood and impact. They build working relationships with the right officials and regulators. They produce a company position on a small number of priority issues, and set up a simple routine for tracking changes and feeding them back to product, legal and research teams.

How you can tell they are good

Ask them to walk through a policy position they shaped, from first draft to outcome. Listen for who they persuaded and what they gave up. Give them a technical topic and ask them to explain it to a minister in two minutes. Strong people are precise about uncertainty, fair to opposing views, and comfortable saying what a rule would actually do in practice.

Why it is hard to fill

Few people sit across both policy and technology. Titles vary widely, so searching by title misses many good candidates. Government affairs people often lack technical depth, and technical people often lack political judgement. Demand is high and the pool is small, and the best candidates are usually settled in labs or think tanks, so they need a clear reason to move.

Where to find them

Look at policy and government affairs teams in labs and large technology firms, think tanks focused on AI and technology governance, and public bodies working on digital regulation. Useful backgrounds include public policy, political economy, public administration and technical governance. Civil servants who worked on technology or national security files, and researchers who moved into policy, are also strong sources.

Indicative pay

Not enough published evidence yet to give a fair range for this role, which is common for work this new. We benchmark it for you as part of a search.

Interview questions for an AI Policy Lead

  1. Tell me about a policy position you helped shape. Who did you need to persuade, and what changed as a result?

    A strong answer names real stakeholders, the trade-offs made and a concrete outcome. It shows they can separate their own contribution from the team's. Worry if they speak only in generalities or claim sole credit.

  2. How would you explain a technical issue, such as why compute access matters for safety, to a non-technical official?

    They should use plain language, a fitting analogy and an honest account of what is uncertain. They check understanding as they go. Worry about jargon, overstatement or talking down to the listener.

4 more questions, with what a strong answer covers, are in the Role Kit.

Job description you can post

We build AI systems, and the rules around them are being written now. We are looking for an AI Policy Lead to represent us to governments and regulators, shape our positions on regulation, compute and national security, and help the whole company understand the policy environment we work in.

What you will do

  • Develop and maintain our positions on AI regulation, compute and national security
  • Engage with governments, regulators and officials, and respond to consultations
  • Brief leadership on emerging policy risks and recommend action
  • Work with research and engineering teams to ground our positions in technical fact
  • Write briefings, position papers and public submissions
  • Coordinate with peers, trade bodies and international institutions

What you will bring

  • Demonstrated work shaping or analysing technology or AI policy
  • Clear writing and speaking for non-technical audiences
  • Enough technical literacy to discuss AI systems credibly with engineers
  • Experience building working relationships with officials or regulators
  • Sound judgement on risk, trade-offs and uncertainty
  • Experience in public policy, political economy, public administration or technical governance

Nice to have

  • Experience working on national security or export control issues
  • Experience in international or multilateral settings
  • Background in a lab, think tank or public body

Free to use and adapt. If it saves you time, a link back to this page is appreciated.

Skills that matter

  • Public policy and economicsWorkingAnalyse institutional choices and distributional effects
  • Institutional and international coordinationWorkingAlign actors and processes across jurisdictions
  • AI risk managementWorkingIdentify, assess, treat and monitor AI risks
  • Technical communicationWorkingExplain evidence and limitations to relevant readers

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How we wrote this

Role definitions are our own editorial work, checked against occupational classifications, standards, research and employer pages. Titles vary by company, and this is a description of the work, not a job advert.

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