Supporting urgent and specialist recruitment to meet a government priority
Artificial Intelligence Security Institute
As a regulator we actively seek to understand how the changing world affects those we regulate. We are constructive, collaborative and solution oriented in the application of our regulatory remit to enable the Civil Service to attract and recruit the best of global talent.
In 2024 the AI Security Institute (AISI) came to us with a new challenge. It wanted to recruit the best people in the world to protect the public from risks posed by frontier AI developments. These are some of the most heavily recruited individuals in their fields and they have established expectations about the way in which they are recruited, for example, application to onboarding is normally carried out in one week.
These are the types of challenges we find most interesting, they encourage us to think deeply about where risk actually lies and how best to mitigate it. In line with our commitment to acting proportionately, predictably and at pace we worked closely with AISI to understand what it wanted to achieve, developing an approach to recruitment which enabled it to assess candidates at pace and in line with its own commitment to technical excellence.
Using the Recruitment Principles
The Commission’s Recruitment Principles are designed to ensure appointments are fair and open. However, they also recognise that, in exceptional circumstances, this may not be possible.
Section 12 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act allows the Civil Service Commission to ‘except’ appointments from fair and open competition where:
- An exception is justified by the needs of the Civil Service, or
- It enables participation in a government employment initiative.
Exceptions are, by definition, exceptional. But when used appropriately they are an important tool for departments to respond to urgent business needs and access highly specialist skills for a fixed period.
An enabling regulator
DSIT approached the Commission with a genuine recruitment challenge that made fair and open competition difficult. The business case to the Commission made clear that:
- The team needed to be set up and operate at pace to meet an urgent strategic goal.
- The roles required highly specialised AI and technical skills that could not be found across government.
To mitigate risks, AISI introduced robust assessment processes, including multiple technical and behavioural interviews. The CSC team worked with AISI to pilot a novel approach of ‘Class Approvals’. This enabled AISI to recruit a small number of individuals within specific parameters or ‘guardrails’ relating to the type of role and the way in which they were recruited, including technical and behavioural interviews. The Commission closely monitors the use of these Class Approvals to ensure that the conditions are met. AISI worked constructively with the Commission to ensure that regulatory oversight was maintained and this enabled the Commission to expand the pilot further. Key to this earned autonomy was regular engagement, reporting and monitoring.
By supporting AISI to strengthen its processes, improve reporting, and build confidence in how exceptions would be used, the Commission was able to increase DSIT’s exception allowance, enabling the organisation to recruit effectively while maintaining appropriate safeguards. One of these safeguards is transparency about the use of these types of appointments, including the publication of all exceptions approved by the Commission at Pay Band 2 and above.
Building on this successful pilot, the Commission has rolled this approach out with other organisations.
Jade Leung, Chief Technology Adviser of the AI Security Institute
“By working closely with the regulator responsible for fair and open competition, we were able to bring world-class AI specialists into one of the government's highest-priority programmes. With the Commission’s guidance and oversight, we devised a process that enabled us to compete successfully for highly technical, globally sought-after talent.”
Kate Owen, Chief Executive of the Civil Service Commission, said:
“Our work with AISI shows how the Commission can support departments to navigate complex recruitment challenges — not by lowering standards, but by applying the Recruitment Principles with judgement, flexibility and close collaboration. Early engagement meant we were able to help DSIT and AISI to deliver on a critical government priority and provide transparency and accountability to the public.”
