Head of Responsible Innovation - Generative Biology Institute

Job Details

Description

At the Ellison Institute of Technology (EIT), we're on a mission to translate scientific discovery into real world impact. We bring together visionary scientists, technologists, engineers, researchers, educators and innovators to tackle humanity's greatest challenges in four transformative areas:

• Health, Medical Science & Generative Biology
• Food Security & Sustainable Agriculture
• Climate Change & Managing CO₂
• Artificial Intelligence & Robotics

This is ambitious work - work that demands curiosity, courage, and a relentless drive to make a difference. At EIT, you'll join a community built on excellence, innovation, tenacity, trust, and collaboration, where bold ideas become real-world breakthroughs. Together, we push boundaries, embrace complexity, and create solutions to scale ideas from lab to society. Explore more at www.eit.org.

Welcome to the Generative Biology Institute:

Led by Founding Director Jason Chin, the Generative Biology Institute (GBI) at the Ellison Institute of Technology is tackling the key challenges in making biology engineerable, and thereby unlocking the unrivalled power of biology for the benefit of humanity.

The vision of the GBI is to lay the foundations for engineering biology, and unlock its potential for good. To achieve this, we must overcome two key challenges. First, we need the ability to write in the natural language of biology, enabling the rapid and scalable synthesis of entire genomes with precision. Second, we must understand what to write - determining which DNA sequences will generate biological systems that perform the desired functions. Addressing these challenges will allow us to harness the full power of biology to create transformative solutions across health, agriculture, clean energy and more.

GBI will have sustained and substantial funding to support the unique scale and ambition of its ground-breaking vision for engineering biology. GBI researchers will also be supported by cutting-edge technology hubs including mass spectrometry, flow cytometry, sequencing, automation, imaging, and bioprocessing. GBI will also have access to substantial compute resources that can be leveraged to further accelerate progress, including scientific compute, bioinformatics, and machine learning. The environment at GBI will allow researchers to undertake ambitious, long-term, collaborative research, and we will actively support the translation of research to commercial applications, where appropriate.

The Generative Biology Institute commenced operations in 2025, occupying newly renovated bespoke space in the Oxford Science Park. The team will later move to a purpose-made facility in the Oxford Science Park, currently under construction. Once complete, this state-of-the-art facility will include more than 40,000 m² of research laboratory and office space. It will house over 30 groups and up to 600 employees at scale, focused on solving the two critical challenges in making biology engineerable and applying the solutions to addressing the global challenges encapsulated in EIT's Humane Endeavors.

Your Role:

At EIT we are seeking an experienced and detail orientated Head of Responsible Innovation to lead the development and implementation of ethical, secure, and socially conscious research practices within the institute. This leadership role will ensure that scientific advancements are aligned with global biosecurity standards and societal values, embedding responsible innovation into the core of GBI's research culture.

The successful candidate will collaborate with world-class researchers, shape strategic frameworks, and engage with global stakeholders to anticipate and mitigate risks associated with emerging biotechnologies. This is a unique opportunity to influence the future of synthetic biology and contribute to solutions in health, sustainability, and agriculture.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop and lead GBI's Responsible Innovation strategy, embedding ethical foresight and security into research programs.
• Establish frameworks and processes to forecast and address potential dual-use of emerging technologies.
• Work closely with scientific leadership and research groups to ensure alignment between research outputs and broader societal needs.
• Collaborate with GBI researchers to evaluate potential biological risk from emerging biotechnologies
• Build and chair relevant advisory boards to review innovation pathways and ensure research is conducted in a secure and ethical manner.
• Drive engagement with global stakeholders (academic, regulatory, industry, public) to ensure GBI's work is transparent, trustworthy, and aligned with international best practice in responsible research and innovation.
• Design and implement training programs for researchers to integrate responsible innovation into their projects, cultivating a culture of accountability and foresight.
• Guide the development of technical safeguards, such as hard prompt refusals in models and misuse detection tools
• Identify areas of special concern in emerging technologies to prioritise monitoring and testing schemes
• Ensure responsible innovation is embedded within GBI's research culture, building strong relationships with research teams so that security measures are seen as enabling and supportive

Requirements

Qualifications and Experience:

• A doctoral degree (PhD) in Life Sciences, Bioengineering, Synthetic Biology, or a related field.
• Ideally, demonstrated expertise in forecasting and securing emerging technologies with a proven track record of embedding responsible innovation in complex scientific environments
• Experience developing and leading frameworks for responsible research and innovation in academic, industrial, or policy contexts
• Familiarity and understanding of security, legal, and social implications of synthetic biology, automation, and large-scale data-driven science
• Ability to convene and collaborate with interdisciplinary stakeholders, including scientists, ethicists, regulators, and the public
• Proven track record of team building, with the ability to inspire a culture of responsible, mission-driven science
• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to engage technical and non-technical audiences and represent GBI at the highest levels (academic institutions, regulatory agencies, industry partners)

Benefits

We offer the following benefits:

• Enhanced holiday pay
• Pension
• Life Assurance
• Income Protection
• Private Medical Insurance
• Hospital Cash Plan
• Therapy Services
• Perk Box
• Electrical Car Scheme

Working Together - What It Involves:

• You must have the right to work permanently in the UK with a willingness to travel as necessary. In certain cases, we can consider sponsorship, and this will be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
• You will live in, or within easy commuting distance of, Oxford (or be willing to relocate).