The Ada Lovelace Institute (Ada) is hiring a Policy Researcher to support our research on the impacts of AI and data on people and society.  

Working closely with our UK Public Policy Lead, this researcher will design, deliver, and support the dissemination and impact of Ada’s projects in our Law and Policy domain, considering how AI governance, including regulations, assurance and standards, helps to ensure that AI technologies meet the interests of people and society. They will work on a range of projects and will have the support of Communications, Operations, and Policy & Public Affairs specialists. This role may also advise and contribute to other projects within other research domains.  

We are looking for a researcher with excellent policy and research skills and a strong interest / background in AI and data, particularly in legislative, regulatory and other governance approaches that can address its impacts. We are interested in candidates familiar with Ada’s current range of research methodologies, including policy and legal analysis, desk-based research and synthesis, working groups and expert convenings, public deliberation, and quantitative surveys. We welcome new kinds of expertise and methodologies including data science, computer science, futures thinking, or other disciplinary backgrounds.    

You’ll enjoy working in a team environment, willing to jump into projects and keen to explore new policy areas and emerging technologies that you may not be familiar with.  You’ll appreciate the importance of rigorous research but also want to think creatively about communicating and influencing in novel ways (including engaging with both technical communities and lay audiences on these topics).  

This role is an excellent opportunity for an early career researcher to shape emerging policy and practice around AI and data-driven technologies. Working with an interdisciplinary team of social scientists, lawyers, policy experts, and more, you will have the opportunity to create research outputs that are designed to deliver Ada's strategy and mission. 

For further information about the role, please download the full job description (PDF).

About us 

The Ada Lovelace Institute is an independent research institute funded and incubated by the Nuffield Foundation since 2018. Our mission is to ensure data and artificial intelligence work for people and society. We do this by building evidence and fostering rigorous debate on how data and AI affect people and society.  We recognise the power asymmetries that exist in ethical and legal debates around the development of data-driven technologies and seek to level those asymmetries by convening diverse voices and creating a shared understanding of the ethical issues arising from data and AI. Finally, we seek to define and inform good practice in the design and deployment of AI technologies.   

The Institute has emerged as a leading independent voice on the ethical and societal impacts of data and AI. We have built relationships in the public, private and civil society sectors in the UK and internationally. Please find details of our work here.  

Our research takes an interconnected approach to issues such as power, social justice, distributional impact, and our team have a wide range of expertise that cuts across policy, technology, academia, industry, law and human rights.   

As part of the Nuffield Foundation, we are an Institute with the practical support of an established organisation that cares for its employees. We value diversity in background, skills, perspectives and life experiences. Further information on the Foundation’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion work can be found here. 

Further information and how to apply 

The closing date for applications is 09:30AM (BST) on Monday 15th September 2025, with a first stage of interviews expected to take place the 23rd, 24th and 25th September 2025.

If you have any questions about the role ahead of applying (or need to make an application in a different format), please email recruitment@nuffieldfoundation.org and a member of the Nuffield Foundation’s HR team will respond to you.  

We use the Applied platform to reduce potential cognitive biases in our hiring process.  You will be required to complete some questions as part of this application process, and you are also required to upload an up-to-date copy of your CV. The Applied platform lets you save an application and resume it ahead of submitting before the application deadline.  

The Nuffield Foundation and its Centres think deeply about the role of emerging technology in society. All recruitment decisions are made by a person (we do not use AI tools to rate or reject applicants). We ask applicants to respond to the questions using their own experience, thinking and opinion, writing in their own tone of voice rather than using generative AI tools such as ChatGPT. The use of generative AI can result in generic responses to individual questions which stand out less to reviewers.

We are committed to inclusive working practices and during the application process we will:  

• As a Disability Confident employer, we will offer an interview to a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the essential criteria for the job. 

• Make any reasonable adjustments – for example providing documents in different formats, arranging for a sign language interpreter for interviews etc   

• Reimburse reasonable travel costs for interviews where in-person attendance is required   

Our benefits package includes:   

• 28 days holiday per annum and all public holidays (with the option to buy or sell up to 5 days each year).    

• A salary exchange pension scheme that offers employer contributions of up to 11%.    

• Life assurance scheme.    

• Family-friendly leave policies and enhanced maternity, adoption and paternity/partner leave.    

• Cycle to work scheme and loans towards season tickets.    

• Ongoing opportunities for learning and development (including options for coaching and mentoring, and 4 personal development/reading weeks each year)   

• Support with your physical, mental and financial wellbeing including an employee assistance provider, a private GP service, personal health reviews with Bupa, a will and funeral planning service and a staff network of trained Mental Health First Aiders.   

• Staff peer groups and social networks.