Defra seeks £80k tech leader to spearhead ‘approach to responsible, trustworthy and auditable AI’

The UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is hiring a head of responsible AI and assurance with a salary over £80,000 to lead its approach to trustworthy and auditable AI. The role involves setting frameworks and standards to ensure AI adoption is safe, ethical, and compliant with government governance expectations.

Whitehall’s environment department is seeking to appoint an expert who will work with technologists, commercial professionals, legal representatives and others to help ‘realise value from AI while maintaining public trust’ The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is offering a salary of more than £80,000 for a figurehead “to provide senior leadership for Defra’s approach to responsible, trustworthy and auditable AI”. The environment department is recruiting for a post as head of responsible AI and assurance who will “set and maintain… framework, tools and associated standards”. The postholder will also be asked to “provide expert leadership on ethical, sustainable and societal considerations in AI adoption and use” and “ensure AI solutions include appropriate controls for auditability, transparency, evaluation, validation and monitoring”, according to the job advert. This work will be intended to “enable delivery through clear, proportionate guardrails rather than creating barriers”. The successful candidate will be expected to “work with senior stakeholders” throughout Defra, including senior representatives from the digital, data protection, legal, commercial, and delivery professions. Once appointed, the postholder “will also act as an escalation point on AI risk and assurance and ensure a consistent approach across delivery portfolios”. Related content Defra explores use of AI to help officials drafting policy and legislation https://www.publictechnology.net/2026/05/21/environment/defra-explores-use-of-ai-to-help-officials-drafting-policy-and-legislation/ Defra outlines £500m spend this year on digital service transformation https://www.publictechnology.net/2026/06/08/environment/defra-outlines-500m-spend-this-year-on-digital-service-transformation/ We need to get better at asking questions about government AI systems https://www.publictechnology.net/2026/05/13/society-and-welfare/we-need-to-get-better-at-asking-questions-about-government-ai-systems/ “The head of responsible AI and assurance will provide senior leadership for Defra’s approach to responsible, trustworthy and auditable AI, ensuring AI-enabled solutions are adopted in a way that is safe, lawful, ethical and operationally sustainable,” the advert adds. “The role exists to enable Defra to realise value from AI while maintaining public trust and meeting HMG’s expectations for robust governance and proportionate assurance of digital and data activity. It establishes and operates the department’s AI assurance approach, including assurance standards, risk tiering, and decision routes for high-risk AI use cases.” Prospective applicants are advised that the position broadly aligns with the post of ‘lead data scientist’ as set out in the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework. Applications for the role are open https://www.civilservicejobs.service.gov.uk/csr/index.cgi?SID=c2VhcmNoc29ydD1vcGVuaW5nJnBhZ2VhY3Rpb249dmlld3ZhY2J5am9ibGlzdCZ1c2Vyc2VhcmNoY29udGV4dD0xOTY2MjY2ODcmcGFnZWNsYXNzPUpvYnMmc2VhcmNocGFnZT0xJm93bmVyPTUwNzAwMDAmam9ibGlzdF92aWV3X3ZhYz0yMDAzNDk2Jm93bmVydHlwZT1mYWlyJnJlcXNpZz0xNzgyOTMzNzQ2LTEzNGViZWNiZjdkNzlhYTA0MDgyMGMyMjNhNGExNzYxZTRkZGY5ZWQ= until 11.55pm on 15 July and those interested in the post are advised that their appointment will be subject to Security Check clearance – which requires an individual to have been a resident of the UK for at least five years.