Government’s tax agency stresses that the new post will provide a coordinator but ‘will not replace existing specialist functions such as data protection, cybersecurity, legal, commercial, architecture, risk or ethics’
HM Revenue and Customs is offering a six-figure salary to a new leader who will act as a “senior alignment point” for managing the ethical, legal and security considerations related to the widespread deployment of artificial intelligence tools throughout the department.
The tax agency is currently advertising a vacant deputy director-level position as head of AI assurance. The chosen candidate will be expected to “lead HMRC’s approach to assuring the responsible, safe and effective deployment of AI across the organisation”.
The job advert says that the creation of the post, which sits within HMRC’s Chief AI Office unit, is not intended to “replace existing specialist functions such as data protection, cyber security, legal, commercial, architecture, risk or ethics [but], instead, they will act as the senior alignment point for AI assurance, bringing together the right expertise at the right point in the lifecycle and ensuring that teams receive clear, proportionate and practical assurance advice”.
Tasks assigned to the job include “ensuring that central, local and federated AI activity meets a consistent assurance bar”, while also working to “establish clear assurance routes for AI use cases, from early idea through experimentation, deployment, scaling and live service”.
Related content
HMRC promises fully digital inheritance tax by 2028 as AI delivers ‘protection and recovery of £10bn’EXCL: DSIT mothballs AI tools and s digital procurement strategy in ‘strategic changes’ to delivery plansGovernment launches AI assurance tools for businesses
Once assurance mechanisms have been developed, the appointee will be asked to “work with senior colleagues across HMRC to embed proportionate assurance into existing governance, delivery, security, data, commercial and change processes”.
The chosen applicant will also take on responsibility overseeing HMRC’s decision-making regarding AI assurance, with an expectation of “ensuring that risks, mitigations, dependencies and decisions are recorded, evidenced and traceable”.
It is HMRC’s wish that the assurance process “supports responsible acceleration rather than unnecessary delay, helping teams understand what is required to progress safely”. The department also hopes that the work of the new deputy director will “support external confidence in HMRC’s use of AI by ensuring transparency, audit readiness and clear evidence of responsible redeployment”.
Applications for the post are open until 11.55pm on 14 September.
The successful candidate will earn an annual salary of between £86,000 and £110,000 “dependent on experience”.