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 AccessAI Research & Development AccessEnterprise Frontier SafeguardsCyber 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 requirementsConducting due diligence and verifying supporting informationEvaluating nuanced or higher-risk applications and documenting decision rationaleRouting or escalating cases requiring additional reviewSupporting 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 casesReviewing potential misuse, policy-evasion, or inappropriate model-access risksMaking and documenting access decisions against established criteriaInvestigating concerning activity and escalating higher-risk casesSupporting 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 criteriaConducting business and identity verificationReviewing data-retention, privacy, access, or other customer-specific exception requestsPartnering with commercial and account-facing teams to resolve eligibility questionsDocumenting 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 casesDistinguishing legitimate security research from potentially harmful or inappropriate activityReviewing evidence related to security operations, vulnerability research, threat activity, or technical misuseInvestigating concerning activity and documenting defensible access or enforcement decisionsEscalating 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 criteriaVerify organizational, identity, account, and use-case informationMake consistent, defensible decisions to approve, restrict, escalate, suspend, or revoke access as appropriateDocument evidence, reasoning, and case outcomes clearly for internal review and auditabilityInvestigate potential misuse, compromised accounts, policy violations, or activity outside approved scopeProcess exceptions and specialized access requests requiring manual reviewDraft clear internal and external communications regarding access decisionsPartner with policy, enforcement, engineering, legal, commercial, and operational stakeholdersRe-review disputed or potentially misclassified decisionsIdentify gaps between written policies and real-world cases and recommend process improvementsSupport review surges during new launches or program expansionsTrack 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 criteriaStrong judgment when applying detailed or evolving policies to ambiguous situationsExperience reviewing evidence and determining when to make an independent decision versus escalateStrong written communication and ability to produce concise, defensible decision rationalesMeticulous case documentation and attention to auditabilityAbility to work effectively in high-volume operational environmentsComfortable adapting to evolving workflows, policies, and toolingStrong cross-functional communication skillsInterest 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 complianceAI safety, generative AI, developer platforms, technical abuse, or model-access operationsKYC/KYB, business verification, sanctions screening, due diligence, enterprise risk, or customer eligibilityCybersecurity operations, threat intelligence, incident response, vulnerability research, or security investigationsAccess governance, entitlement review, onboarding, suspension, or offboardingAccount compromise, policy violations, fraud, or abuse investigationsAI-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.