Research Lead - AI Security Policy

RAND Corporation
Washington, DC, USA2026-02-10Full time

About the job

You’ll lead our engagement with the White House, regulatory agencies, the intelligence community, and other national governments. You'll leverage your policy network to identify emerging opportunities and challenges, utilize your understanding of policy needs to drive research work at RAND CAST, translate technical AI security conclusions into actionable policy recommendations, and ensure RAND's expertise informs key policy decisions.

Responsibilities

Organize and lead policy roundtables and briefings

Represent RAND in congressional testimonies and agency meetings

Maintain a regular presence at key policy forums and events

Be involved in policy working groups and industry consortia, working closely with our technical teams to develop and communicate policy-relevant insights

Qualifications

Minimum

6+ years of policy experience, with a focus on cybersecurity or emerging technology

Strong relationships and credibility in the cybersecurity or technology policy fields

Familiarity with U.S. cybersecurity agencies, authorities, and policy development processes

Experience with advising non-technical stakeholders on technical topics

Strong ability to communicate effectively in English, both verbally and in writing

Ability to work effectively in a collaborative, multidisciplinary environment

Fluency with MS Office suite

Preferred

Experience working with or for congressional committees, regulatory agencies, or executive branch offices

Technical experience in security engineering, software engineering, firmware engineering, hardware engineering, or related fields

Understanding of advanced persistent threat (APT) tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) and experience with defending against them

Familiarity with the AI/ML hardware and software stack

Experience working on AI research, ML model training, or model deployment

Experience with securing AI systems