AI Risk & Access Operations Specialist (Safeguards)

AI Risk & Access Operations Specialist (Safeguards)

Locations: New York, NY; San Francisco, CA; or Washington, DC

Work Model: Hybrid / Flexible Onsite

Openings: 4

Contract: 6-month W2

Pay Rate: $100-$120/hour

Staffing Partner: Russell Tobin

Internal Title: Safeguards Access Operations Specialist

About the Opportunity

Russell Tobin is supporting a leading AI research and technology company in hiring AI Risk & Access Operations Specialists to support high-stakes access decisions involving advanced AI models and capabilities.

There are four openings, with one hire aligned to each specialty area:

• Bio / Life Sciences Access
• AI Research & Development Access
• Enterprise Frontier Safeguards
• Cyber Access

These roles sit within access and safeguards operations for advanced AI capabilities. Specialists will review organizations, applicants, and proposed use cases against established eligibility criteria, verify relevant identity and organizational information, make well-supported access decisions, document clear rationale, and escalate higher-risk or ambiguous cases when appropriate.

The work is highly operational and judgment-driven. Successful candidates will be comfortable applying evolving policies to real-world cases, handling sensitive reviews, maintaining strong documentation, and working cross-functionally with policy, technical, legal, commercial, and operational stakeholders.

Specialty Areas

Bio / Life Sciences Access

Support access reviews involving pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology organizations, academic laboratories, researchers, and other life sciences organizations seeking access to advanced AI capabilities.

This work may include:

• Reviewing organizational identity, research affiliation, and proposed use cases against program eligibility requirements
• Conducting due diligence and verifying supporting information
• Evaluating nuanced or higher-risk applications and documenting decision rationale
• Routing or escalating cases requiring additional review
• Supporting monitoring and re-review of participating organizations

A scientific or biology background is not required. Experience in due diligence, research operations, compliance, business verification, regulated environments, or life sciences is valuable.

AI Research & Development Access

Review researchers, laboratories, developers, and organizations seeking access to advanced AI capabilities for AI research and development.

This work may include:

• Evaluating applicant eligibility, identity, organizational affiliation, and stated research use cases
• Reviewing potential misuse, policy-evasion, or inappropriate model-access risks
• Making and documenting access decisions against established criteria
• Investigating concerning activity and escalating higher-risk cases
• Supporting evolving safeguards related to advanced AI development and deployment

Strong candidates may come from Trust & Safety, fraud/risk operations, platform integrity, technical abuse, developer-platform operations, or AI safety environments. Direct AI research experience is helpful but not required.

Enterprise Frontier Safeguards

Support enterprise eligibility and exception workflows involving advanced AI capabilities, including data-handling and access-related requirements.

This work may include:

• Reviewing enterprise customers against established eligibility criteria
• Conducting business and identity verification
• Reviewing data-retention, privacy, access, or other customer-specific exception requests
• Partnering with commercial and account-facing teams to resolve eligibility questions
• Documenting clear decisions and escalating cases that fall outside established criteria

Experience in KYC/KYB, due diligence, compliance, enterprise risk, vendor risk, customer onboarding, access governance, or regulated operations is particularly relevant.

Cyber Access

Review organizations and security professionals requesting access to advanced AI capabilities for cybersecurity-related use cases.

This work may include:

• Evaluating cybersecurity organizations, researchers, and proposed technical use cases
• Distinguishing legitimate security research from potentially harmful or inappropriate activity
• Reviewing evidence related to security operations, vulnerability research, threat activity, or technical misuse
• Investigating concerning activity and documenting defensible access or enforcement decisions
• Escalating novel or technically complex cases

Unlike the other specialty areas, this opening requires meaningful cybersecurity domain knowledge. Relevant backgrounds may include security operations, threat intelligence, incident response, abuse investigations, vulnerability research, security risk, or related technical security work.

Core Responsibilities

• Review access applications and requests against documented eligibility and safeguards criteria
• Verify organizational, identity, account, and use-case information
• Make consistent, defensible decisions to approve, restrict, escalate, suspend, or revoke access as appropriate
• Document evidence, reasoning, and case outcomes clearly for internal review and auditability
• Investigate potential misuse, compromised accounts, policy violations, or activity outside approved scope
• Process exceptions and specialized access requests requiring manual review
• Draft clear internal and external communications regarding access decisions
• Partner with policy, enforcement, engineering, legal, commercial, and operational stakeholders
• Re-review disputed or potentially misclassified decisions
• Identify gaps between written policies and real-world cases and recommend process improvements
• Support review surges during new launches or program expansions
• Track review volume, turnaround time, outcomes, and escalations

Qualifications

• 2+ years of relevant experience in Trust & Safety, risk operations, fraud, compliance, due diligence, KYC/KYB, cybersecurity, investigations, research operations, or another environment requiring decisions against written criteria
• Strong judgment when applying detailed or evolving policies to ambiguous situations
• Experience reviewing evidence and determining when to make an independent decision versus escalate
• Strong written communication and ability to produce concise, defensible decision rationales
• Meticulous case documentation and attention to auditability
• Ability to work effectively in high-volume operational environments
• Comfortable adapting to evolving workflows, policies, and tooling
• Strong cross-functional communication skills
• Interest in AI safety, responsible deployment, and emerging technology risk

Preferred Qualifications

Depending on the specialty area, relevant experience may include:

• Life sciences, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, academic research, or research compliance
• AI safety, generative AI, developer platforms, technical abuse, or model-access operations
• KYC/KYB, business verification, sanctions screening, due diligence, enterprise risk, or customer eligibility
• Cybersecurity operations, threat intelligence, incident response, vulnerability research, or security investigations
• Access governance, entitlement review, onboarding, suspension, or offboarding
• Account compromise, policy violations, fraud, or abuse investigations
• AI-assisted or automated operational review workflows

Important: Candidates do not need experience across all four specialty areas. Each opening is aligned to a specific specialty, and applicants will be considered based on the area that most closely matches their background.

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For workers in the United States, PrideGlobal and it's affiliates offers eligible employee's comprehensive healthcare coverage (medical, dental, and vision plans), supplemental coverage (accident insurance, critical illness insurance and hospital indemnity), 401(k)-retirement savings, life & disability insurance, an employee assistance program, legal support, pet insurance and employee discounts with preferred vendors.

Equal Employment Opportunity

PrideGlobal and it's affiliates are an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate on the basis of the race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, reproductive health decision making, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation, veteran or military status, or any other characteristic protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.

Fair Chance Employment

PrideGlobal and it's affiliates are a Fair Chance employer. We consider all qualified applicants, including those with criminal histories, in a manner consistent with applicable state and local Fair Chance laws and ordinances, including, the California Fair Chance Act and all applicable local Fair Chance ordinances.

Accommodations

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities. If you require a reasonable accommodation to participate in the application or interview process, or to perform the essential functions of this role, please contact us.

Only applicable for San Francisco Candidates: Under the San Francisco Lactation in the Workplace Ordinance, we will provide written notice of lactation accommodation rights, and this notice will automatically be given upon hiring, any inquiry of parental leave or lactation accommodation.

Only applicable for Kentucky positions: For this type of employment, state law requires a criminal record check as a condition of employment. This applies to direct care staff (Examples: RN, LPN, Nurse Aides, Therapists) referred to Kentucky nursing facilities, assisted living communities, or long-term care facilities, in accordance with KRS 216.793.