This is a 12 Month Fixed Term Appointment

Applications for this role close 19th July 23:59 UK Time

About the Incubator for AI (i.AI)

The Incubator for AI (i.AI) is a fast moving, autonomous technical unit within the UK government. Our mission is to pioneer transformative applications of AI to build a better Britain.

We operate under three core principles:

Talent: We bring together the UK’s best AI talent across a range of functions. You will work alongside exceptional researchers and top government leaders, staying at the cutting edge of technology.

Innovation: We set precedents for what is possible in government. We combine the pace of a start-up with the influence of being at the digital centre of government. You will test new ideas, expand what is possible, and leverage unique government data to create novel solutions.

Impact: We are dedicated to using AI as a tool for public good - this can mean improving outcomes in schools, boosting housebuilding or providing more personalised support for those in need. With the backing of the Prime Minister, you will turn technical breakthroughs into real-world applications that affect millions of citizens.

About the job

We are a team at the forefront of applying cutting-edge AI to transform how people experience government services.

Gov Voice is building a trusted, reusable AI voice service that makes it easier for people to access government services by phone. For millions of people, contact centres are one of the most important and highest-volume ways they interact with government. We are creating an AI-enabled voice capability that can make those interactions simpler, faster and easier to navigate.

Gov Voice is part of the Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), which is working to make digital government simpler, clearer and faster for everyone.

This is not innovation for its own sake. We are building a real service for real users in a high-trust, high-scrutiny environment. Our aim is to create something practical, reusable and trusted that departments across government can adopt with confidence.

This is a rare opportunity to work at the intersection of frontier AI and real-world delivery. You will be part of a multidisciplinary team bringing together product, delivery, AI, policy, operations, service design and technical expertise to solve complex problems that matter. If you are motivated by improving public services, shaping how AI is applied responsibly in government, and helping build services that could improve the experience of millions of people, this is an opportunity to make a genuine impact.

What you will do

As a Senior Business Analyst, you will play a central role in shaping how Gov Voice delivers value for users, departments and government as a whole. You will lead analysis across complex service environments, helping the team understand user needs, operational realities, business constraints and opportunities for change.

You will work in a highly adaptive agile environment, carrying out deep analysis of organisations, processes and systems, and working closely with colleagues across product, delivery, policy, operations and technology. You will engage partner organisations through workshops, targeted investigation and collaborative problem-solving, and you will be comfortable interacting with senior stakeholders in fast-paced environments.

As a Senior Business Analyst, you will:

• Lead discovery and ongoing research to build a strong understanding of user needs across complex service journeys, ensuring the direction of the work remains focused on solving real problems for citizens
• Shape future service models, mapping how services work today, identifying where AI voice technology could add value, and setting out clear, evidence-based opportunities for improvement
• Define and maintain high-quality business requirements, collaborating with product, policy, technical and operational teams to ensure services develop in a coherent, user-centred and measurable way
• Guide the team through planning and product development cycles, helping to prioritise features, refine hypotheses, and design meaningful tests that build confidence before wider rollout
• Develop clear measures of success, including how the team will evaluate performance, quality, risk, and user and business outcomes
• Bring stakeholders together across departments and professions, communicating insight clearly, facilitating alignment, and ensuring decisions are transparent, evidence-based and well understood

This role will require you to move confidently between strategic thinking and hands-on delivery. At times, you will be helping define the future shape of a cross-government service; at others, you will be working closely with teams to break down problems, clarify requirements and support effective delivery.

Person specification

Essential experience

We are interested in people who have:

• Experience determining and shaping the analysis approach for complex business and user needs within an agile delivery environment, agreeing priorities and scope with teams, and producing high-quality artefacts such as user stories, acceptance criteria, and functional and non-functional requirements
• Experience guiding teams to choose and apply effective modelling techniques to represent complex situations, understand context and root causes, and assess options in order to support clear recommendations
• Experience leading the analysis and design of end-to-end processes, and testing and evaluating improvements to deliver measurable performance gains
• Experience building and maintaining strong relationships across complex environments, influencing stakeholders, resolving issues and ensuring effective communication
• Experience leading the analysis of system functionality and data flows, creating or overseeing models and documentation, and assessing the impact of system changes with relevant stakeholders
• Experience advising on the value and scope of testing, defining business scenarios and acceptance criteria, and reviewing test plans, prototypes and outcomes to ensure requirements are met
• Experience recommending appropriate user-centred analysis and user experience techniques, validating needs, and communicating how these shape service and system design to achieve business and user outcomes

You may also bring experience of working across organisational boundaries, helping multiple teams align around a shared problem, and supporting the design of reusable services in complex operational settings.

If you meet some of these criteria, but not every single one, we would still encourage you to apply.

Why join us

This is the kind of role that comes along rarely: a chance to help shape how AI is used in real public services, in a setting where the work is visible, important and capable of making a real difference.

You will work with talented, supportive and mission-driven colleagues across disciplines, and you will have the opportunity to contribute to a service that could be adopted widely across government. The problems are complex, the environment is fast-moving, and the potential public impact is significant.

If you want to help build trusted AI-enabled services that are practical, scalable and focused on real user needs, we would love to hear from you.

Salary explanation

Salary is paid within the grade range shown below.
As this is a GDAD role, the maximum salary includes a non-pensionable technical allowance, and successful candidates will be appointed somewhere within that range depending on assessment.

Grade 7: £61,620 + potential GDAD non pensionable technical allowance of up to £9,214. Total compensation up to £70,834 inclusive.

What we offer

Career-defining projects with outsized impact

• Backing from the Prime Minister and No10 to scope and build transformative AI projects.
• Unique opportunities to apply technology that could transform the public sector and impact citizens’ lives.
• Talented, supportive and mission-driven colleagues.

Resources & access

• Access to frontier models and ample compute.
• Extensive operational, engineering, strategy, design and delivery support so you can focus on shipping.
• Work with experts across national security, policy, AI research and adjacent sciences.

Growth & empowerment

• A team culture and development support that prioritises personal growth.
• Opportunities to own important products early and develop them in small empowered teams.
• 5 days off for learning and development, annual stipends for learning and development, and funding for conferences and external collaborations.

Life & family*

• Hybrid working, flexibility for occasional remote work abroad, and stipends for work-from-home equipment.
• Generous annual leave — 25 days plus one additional day for each year of service.
• Generous paid parental leave (up to 39 weeks full pay, with the option of additional unpaid time).
• On top of your salary, we contribute 28.97% of your base salary to your pension.
• Discounts and benefits for cycling to work, dental insurance, donations and retail/gyms.

*These benefits apply to direct employees. Benefits may differ for people joining through other employment arrangements such as secondments.

Selection Process

Candidates will be required to submit a CV and responses to two application questions. Applications will be sifted against the essential criteria, including relevant experience and motivation for the role. Shortlisted candidates will be invited to a preliminary call.

Those who progress will then attend an interview, which will include questions on their application, a technical assessment, and a behavioural interview. For the technical assessment, candidates will be asked a scenario question by the panel and should be expected to respond to follow-up questions. Further details will be provided in advance, including the opportunity for candidates to prepare for the technical interview. Candidates may use AI tools to support this preparation.

Appointment is conditional on successfully completing UK Government SC clearance. Prior clearance is not required — we will sponsor and support you.You should normally have been resident in the UK for 2 of the past 5 years. Employment is conditional on obtaining and maintaining the required clearance(s).

Due to the nature of this role, we are advertising this vacancy in London only.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. As part of the application process, we monitor statistics on D&I.