Senior Researcher (Civil Safety Sciences)

TL;DR

Senior Researcher (Civil Safety Sciences): Developing detection sciences and resilience technologies to mitigate novel AI-enabled hazard classes with an accent on biosecurity and biosphere-scale vulnerabilities. Focus on designing next-generation detection approaches, analyzing deep resilience capacities, and coordinating global scientific efforts.

Location: Remote (Global). Candidates outside the U.S. will be engaged as independent contractors; U.S. work authorization is required for direct employment.

Company

The Center for AI Risk Management & Alignment (CARMA) focuses on lowering risks to humanity and the biosphere from transformative AI through rigorous analysis and technical safety approaches.

What you will do

• Conduct horizon-scanning for novel AI-enabled threat classes and develop rigorous reasoning methodologies for hazards lacking historical data.
• Investigate next-generation detection sciences, including adaptive pathogen surveillance and emerging hazard modalities.
• Perform feasibility analyses on deep resilience and lifeline capacities engineered for extreme scenarios where conventional infrastructure fails.
• Analyze biosphere-scale vulnerabilities, including geoengineering, synthetic microbes, and nontraditional environmental toxicology.
• Advance defensive, stabilizing, and transparency-enhancing technologies to favor human safety.
• Coordinate global scientific capacity through standards, convenings, and cross-border working relationships.

Requirements

• Advanced degree (PhD or MS preferred) in a hard-science or engineering discipline (e.g., biosecurity, microbiology, physics, chemistry, or resilience engineering).
• Substantive experience with adversarial reasoning, security studies, red-teaming, or dual-use technology assessment.
• 5+ years of relevant research or applied experience with a track record of running independent projects.
• Strong publication record or body of work regarding technological risk, resilience, or detection science.
• Substantive grounding in modern AI capabilities and trajectories.
• Authorized to work in the U.S. for employment status; otherwise, must be able to work as an independent contractor.

Nice to have

• Interdisciplinary credentials bridging multiple fields like biology, chemistry, physics, or computer science.
• Direct experience in biosurveillance, civil defense, emergency preparedness, or critical infrastructure protection.
• Background in scientific metaresearch, structured expert elicitation, or foresight methodologies.
• Experience in grant writing, science diplomacy, or standards development.
• Technical skills in modeling, tool building, or risk visualization dashboards.

Culture & Benefits

• 100% remote work arrangement.
• High degree of intellectual autonomy in project management.
• Opportunity to address high-impact, civilizational-scale risks.
• Collaborative environment integrating civil safety with broader AI governance and risk assessment.
• Occasional travel for laboratory visits and technical demonstrations.