Future Labs and Research Graduate London 2024

The Artificial Intelligence (AI) space is exciting, fast moving, and with recent breakthroughs like ChatGPT, Bard, DallE-2 and MidJourney, it is becoming more accessible. Unlike traditional code, AI can function without being explicitly programmed for every possible situation and adapts in response to new data and experiences to improve efficacy over time. With the influx in recent technology, accessibility of AI will continue to accelerate, impacting all of us as individuals and the infrastructure systems and solutions society relies upon. Rail is no exception.  

About the role

This graduate opportunity spans the two key RSSB teams of Research and Futures Lab and is primarily focussed on AI. Future Labs and Research Graduate will help the work we are about to undertake to support the sector in embracing and adapting to AI powered solutions for rail with greater confidence. In particular our work will look at how the regulation and standards being developed in the AI world can transition effectively and efficiently into rail and address rail specific challenges.  You will work closely with the Director of Research and Director of Sector Strategy and their teams as RSSB delves into the exciting area of AI and starts to create useful guidance and support that the rail sector will need. This role will gain an understanding of how new technologies are embedded in the sector, what challenges needs to be overcome in this process, and the considerations and analysis to enable their safe introduction. They will work across mainly the Research and Futures Lab teams but will also get exposure to Information Management and Technology, System Safety and Health, and Standards teams.

Responsibilities

• Support the analysis of the emerging and fast evolving standards and regulatory landscape linked to AI.
• Support the development of a railway specific AI assurance and decision-making approach linked to embedding and integrating AI into railway systems and functions.
• Support the Futures Lab and Research teams in engaging with RSSB’s members and wider stakeholders and customers in understanding their AI aspirations and existing use cases.
• Gain an understanding and appreciation of emerging AI assurance and assessment approaches in related industries such as other transport mode and infrastructure.
• Gain a sound understanding of railway related legislative and regulatory processes to support the development of AI specific aspects.
• Conduct research and monitor AI developments from key AI centric forums and centres of excellence in the UK and beyond.

Qualifications

Essential

• Qualifications - A minimum of a 2:2 bachelor’s degree or equivalent and competence with Microsoft Office 365 suite of applications including MS Teams, Excel, etc.
• A willingness to learn about train operations and other aspects of the railways such as it regulatory and legal environment, as well as technical aspects of the railway and AI as a technology. Graduates wanting to understand how AI can be embedded and applied in a safety critical sector.
• Research skills plus ability to work through use cases of AI to understand the implications for railway functions and systems.
• Drive for achievement – Willing to take control of your own development by actively engaging with the graduate programme, identifying areas for improvement, and working collaboratively with your line manager to develop your personal development plan and evaluate your performance. To show determination and capacity to achieving challenging goals and proactively seeking opportunities to broaden your skills and experience within the workplace.
• Communication – Communicate effectively and share thoughts and ideas through methods appropriate to the audience with a keen attention to detail. Active listening skills and the ability to extract the necessary information to get to the heart of the matter.  
• Problem solving – Able to see both the bigger picture and think critically to define a problem before finding suitable solutions.
• Adaptability and resilience – Adapt to the situation by being open to new ideas and challenges from others, and also by positively question the input received and put forward alternative views constructively. You can adapt to and positively view change within the workplace as well as manage and learn from challenging situations and work under pressure.
• Collaboration and teamwork – Actively contribute as part of a team and work towards achieving team goals and outcomes. It’s about building positive working relationships that help everyone achieve goals and business objectives whilst appreciating other motives and concerns.
• Personal effectiveness – Take responsibility and demonstrate accountability in completing tasks and achieving objectives, actively seeking to resolve problems and identify opportunities. You can prioritise, work efficiently and productively, and manage your own time, you can show how you decide what is important to focus on and get done and how you go about meeting deadlines.
• Analytical thinker – Able to work with different kinds of information, see patterns and trends and draw meaningful conclusions. Adopting a systematic and logical approach in order to identify the relevant points and evaluate the most appropriate options.
• Stakeholder management - Build effective professional relationships with stakeholders, understanding their unique goals and motivations, gaining credibility and effectively influencing to achieve desired outcomes.
• Customer centric approach - Committed to customer service and placing customer satisfaction at the heart of our success to ensure we deliver against our shared goals.

Desirable

• A background in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) is desirable although background in legal and social sciences with a keen interest in aspects exploring implications of technology and technological change would be equally desirable.
• Exposure to research and gap analysis type approaches and methodologies
• Graduates interested in careers such as machine learning engineer; algorithm developer; and understanding a range of programming languages such as Python, Java, Apache Spark, etc would add value, but it should be noted that this is not a barrier to being selected. 

Candidates should note: The scheme will involve a rotation to include a placement internally or externally and flexibility would therefore be required to travel.

Choose ‘Apply now’ to submit your CV and a short supporting statement, so that we can find out more about you. Please include your extracurricular activities and additional responsibilities and you will need to attach a short submission responding to the following question in no more than 500 words: ‘why do you want to work for RSSB and what interests you about the profession?’ If you’re successful there will be a telephone interview, followed by an assessment centre comprised of a face-to-face interview and a presentation.