AI Safety & Alignment Principal Lead - SAFERpower.ai

Job Title:
AI Safety & Alignment Principal Lead - SAFERpower.ai


Location:
Remote/Home Based



Job Summary and

Description:



The AI Safety & Alignment Principal Lead is a strategic thought leader focused on developing a deep understanding of emerging AI-enabled energy system needs, engaging EPRI and industry SMEs in evaluating potential innovative AI technologies, assurance and risk models, and deployment solutions to address those needs, while working collaboratively within EPRI's member utilities and industry stakeholders to develop and execute upon an overall strategy to demonstrate and deploy AI safely, accountably, fairly, explain ably, and reliably.

In this role you will work directly with EPRI's R&D Leadership to advance SAFERpower.ai as EPRI's sector-specific AI risk assurance, and alignment initiative for the electric power sector. The role requires building collaborative relationships with key stakeholders across EPRI R&D sectors, member utilities, ISOs/RTOs, technology partners, standards organizations, policy stakeholders, and other industry leaders.

This position is intended for an executive-level leader who can operate across disciplines, not a legal, compliance-only, cyber-only, or generic enterprise AI risk governance profile. The successful candidate will combine senior energy-sector judgment, emerging technology leadership, applied AI credibility, and the ability to translate AI safety and alignment into practical research strategies, evidence packages, pilots, workshops, executive communications, and member-facing deployment guidance.

Job Functions:

• Accumulate and maintain a knowledge base of emerging AI technologies, AI incident and failure patterns, AI governance and alignment practices, assurance methods, standards, and the integration of those technologies into the electric power sector; use this knowledge to develop thought leadership pieces and executive communications.
• Work directly with EPRI R&D Leadership and Program Managers to shape and execute SAFERpower.ai as a cross-sector initiative supporting safe, accountable, fair, explainable, and reliable AI deployment across generation, transmission, distribution, grid operations, planning, customer operations, nuclear, cybersecurity, DER, and enterprise functions.
• Lead matrixed teams across EPRI R&D sectors to develop and execute strategic R&D efforts related to AI Safety, alignment, assurance, testing/evaluation/verification/validation (TEVV), AI system registries, data provenance, product assurance, deployment assurance, and operational monitoring.
• Support other strategic initiatives and projects associated with key EPRI objectives related to AI-enabled energy systems, grid modernization, operational reliability, emerging technology adoption, technology partner due diligence, and the safe operationalization of AI.
• Support leadership in communication of SAFERpower.ai strategy, research initiatives, pilot results, and framework outputs to EPRI member executive advisories, including the EPRI Board of Directors and Research Advisory Committee, as well as member utility executives and other industry stakeholders.
• Support processes by which EPRI program managers develop cross-cutting research strategies to address strategic AI research priorities and integrate AI assurance, and alignment considerations into existing and future EPRI research portfolios.
• Assess the technical, operational, economic, risk, regulatory, and market viability of selected AI technologies and evaluate AI deployment scenarios in conjunction with ongoing scenario planning exercises, member pilots, domain-specific playbooks, and workshops.
• Coordinate with utility executives, EPRI technical staff, ISOs/RTOs, technology partners, implementation partners, standards organizations, policy stakeholders, and other industry SMEs to identify common evidence needs, priority use cases, adoption barriers, and research gaps.
• Help manage technology and knowledge transfer to key internal and external stakeholders by communicating the state of developing AI technology and key developments in AI safety, alignment, and assurance via reports, playbooks, presentations, working groups, workshops, and member engagement.
• Guide the development of SAFERpower.ai framework artifacts, including SAFER principles and glossary, U-SAFER assessment methodology, AI System File, AI use-case dossiers, AI system cards, data and provenance records, autonomy and human oversight profiles, TEVV reports, monitoring and incident plans, product assurance guidance, deployment assurance guidance, and toolkit roadmap.
• Contribute to EPRI strategic planning scenario development efforts and other internal initiatives to ensure AI technology advancement, autonomy risks, governance needs, assurance requirements, and deployment constraints are appropriately accounted for and represented to members.
• Augment the pipeline of future EPRI strategic research initiatives related to AI alignment, agentic AI, foundation models, utility AI use cases,…