Forward Deployed Engineer III

Our justice system faces serious challenges, from rising demand and staff shortages to siloed systems and inconsistent access. AI presents an opportunity to address these problems at scale. But this opportunity must be seized with care. The Justice AI Unit is a small, fast-moving and innovative team. We build and ship products quickly across the Ministry of Justice. By embedding AI that enhances, not replaces, human judgement, we aim to deliver better outcomes, faster services, and greater fairness for all. Role As Forward Deployed Engineer I in the Justice AI Unit, you will help build and deploy AI products that have real-world impact across courts, prisons, and probation services. You'll work with frontline staff and multidisciplinary teams to understand user needs, develop practical solutions, test and improve products, and support deployment into live operational environments. This is a role designed for engineers early in their career who want to grow fast in a high-agency environment. You'll be paired with a senior engineer, given scoped ownership from day one, and expected to stretch - not to arrive fully formed.This is a hands-on, high-agency role for engineers who want to work at pace, across the full AI and software stack, and in service of one of the most complex and vital systems in the country. Join us to transform justice through practical, responsible AI. We value curiosity, pragmatism, and the ability to work in ambiguity. If you don't meet all of the experience below, don't worry - we're looking for people who can learn quickly on the job and adapt to a rapidly evolving landscape. Responsibilities

• Develop practical AI products, tools, workflows and technical components for use across the Ministry of Justice.
• Work with users in operational settings such as courts, prisons and probation to understand needs, gather feedback and improve solutions.
• Contribute across the software and AI stack, including frontend, backend, databases, APIs, data pipelines, model integration, LLM workflows and deployment support.
• Support end-to-end delivery, from understanding the problem and building prototypes through to testing, documentation, deployment and iteration.
• Apply user feedback to improve products and ensure solutions are useful, accessible and aligned to operational needs.
• Identify and raise quality, usability, data, security, accessibility or operational risks early., Following sift, candidates who meet the required standard will be invited to take part in a two-stage assessment process:
Stage 1: Technical Assessment (Online) Candidates will be asked to complete a technical assessment designed to evaluate their role-specific skills focussing on a realistic engineering scenario, allowing candidates to demonstrate their problem-solving approach and technical judgement. This will be followed by a 30-minute discussion, where we will explore your technical approach. Only candidates who meet the required standard at this stage will progress to the Behavioural Interview. Stage 2: Behavioural Interview (Face-to-Face) Successful candidates from Stage 1 will be invited to attend a full interview. The following Civil Service behaviours will be assessed:
• Changing & Improving
• Managing a Quality Service
• Delivering at Pace
• Working Together
Further details will be provided to candidates invited to each stage. The Justice AI Unit has established a Forward Deployed Engineer (FDE) career framework to provide a clear professional pathway for software and AI engineers to develop their skills, expertise and leadership capability. The framework comprises three levels: Forward Deployed Engineer I (SEO), Forward Deployed Engineer II (Grade 7) and Forward Deployed Engineer III (Grade 6), reflecting increasing levels of technical proficiency, responsibility, influence and organisational impact. As a Forward Deployed Engineer I, you will develop your engineering expertise through hands-on delivery, contributing to the design, build, testing and deployment of AI-enabled products and services. Working as part of multidisciplinary teams, you will apply modern engineering practices, learn from experienced colleagues, and help solve user problems through technology. This role is suited to engineers with strong technical potential who are keen to develop their skills across the software and AI development lifecycle. Forward Deployed Engineer II represents the next stage of progression, where engineers are expected to take ownership of significant products, services or technical workstreams. At this level, you will lead the delivery of complex solutions, make sound technical decisions, mentor and support the development of others, and work closely with stakeholders to ensure products meet user and organisational needs. FDE IIs combine strong technical expertise with increasing responsibility for delivery, service quality and technical leadership. Forward Deployed Engineer III is aligned to principal-level engineering capability. FDE IIIs provide technical leadership across multiple products, teams or problem domains, setting technical direction and helping shape the strategic application of AI across the Ministry of Justice. They are responsible for tackling highly complex technical challenges, establishing engineering standards and best practice, developing organisational capability, and ensuring that solutions are scalable, sustainable and deliver measurable outcomes for users. Working across organisational boundaries, they influence senior stakeholders, support the development of the wider engineering community, and drive the adoption of AI-enabled services at scale. This framework enables us to attract talented engineers at different stages of their careers, support their professional development, and build a sustainable pipeline of software and AI engineering capability. By aligning with the Government Digital and Data Profession's Software Developer framework, it provides a recognised route for progression while helping the Justice AI Unit deliver transformational change across courts, prisons and probation. Additional Information Working Arrangements & Further Information The MoJ offers Hybrid Working arrangements where business need allows. This is an informal, non-contractual form of flexible working that blends working from your base location, different MoJ sites and / or from home (please be aware that this role can only be worked in the UK and not overseas). All employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office, subject to local estate capacity. Some roles will not be suitable for Hybrid Working. Similarly, Hybrid Working will not suit everyone's circumstances. Arrangements will be discussed and agreed with the successful candidate(s) and subject to regular review. For nationally advertised role: all successful candidates will be appointed to the nearest viable office nearest to their home postcode and on its respective pay scale. This will be at either a HQ building (subject to desk allocation, a Justice Collaboration Centre (JCC) or a Justice Satellite Office (JSO) - See Map. All employees will be expected to spend a minimum of 60% of their working time in an office, subject to local estate capacity). For current MoJ employees, your base location will need to be changed to the nearest viable office (to your home postcode), either at a HQ building, JCC or JSO within the National Office Network and moved its location's respective pay scale (any legacy arrangements/locations will need to be amended). Some of MoJ's terms and conditions of service are changing as part of Civil Service reform. The changes will apply to staff joining MoJ who are new to the Civil Service. Staff joining MoJ from other civil service employers will transfer onto the new MoJ terms if they are already on 'modernised' terms in their current post or onto 'unmodernised' MoJ terms if they are on 'unmodernised' terms at their current post. Details will be available if an offer is made. MoJ candidates who are on a specialist grade, will be able to retain their grade on lateral transfer. All candidates who are currently in receipt of Mark Time / Pay Protection should ensure they are familiar with the new policy on permanent and temporary promotion which can be found on the employee intranet. Flexible working hours The Ministry of Justice offers a flexible working system in many offices. Standard full time working hours are 37 hours per week. MoJ welcomes part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns, where they meet the demands of the role and business needs. All applications for part-time, flexible and job-sharing working patterns will be considered in accordance with the MoJ's Flexible Working policy.


• Experience and/or working knowledge of building, testing and deploying software, data products or technical components in a real-world environment.
• Experience working across parts of the software or AI stack, such as frontend, backend, databases, APIs, data pipelines, model integration or cloud deployment.
• Experience supporting the development of solutions such as LLM workflows, predictive models, automation tools, scheduling tools, data pipelines or user-facing applications.
• Ability to work and adapt in complex or ambiguous organisational contexts.
• Strong collaboration skills, including the ability to work effectively in multidisciplinary teams.
Desirable Criteria
• Experience with our stack- NextJS, FastAPI, Postgres
• Experience with LLM observability and evaluation tools like Langfuse
• Cloud and infrastructure experience - Terraform, Azure etc.
• Entrepreneurial or startup experience
Agreed Expectations The successful candidate will be expected to work from London as the home base of the Justice AI Unit. Candidates not currently based in London will be required to either relocate or undertake regular travel to London, with attendance expected at least once per week, in line with business needs., Changing and Improving Managing a Quality Service Delivering at Pace Working Together Technical Experience and/or working knowledge of building solutions like predictive models, LLM workflows, scheduling algorithms, data pipelines etc. Level of security checks required DBS Standard

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy. A Great Place to Work for Veterans The "Making the Civil Service a Great Place to work for veterans" initiative includes a guaranteed interview scheme to those who meet the minimum criteria to provide eligible former members of the Armed Forces with opportunities to secure rewarding jobs. Allowing veterans to continue to serve their country, and to bring highly skilled individuals with a broad range of experience into the Civil Service in an environment, which recognises and values your previous service in the Armed Forces. For further details about the initiative and eligibility requirements visit: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/making-the-civil-service-a-great-place-to-work-for-veterans

The national salary range is £42,914 - £46,182, London salary range is £49,325 - £53,081. Your salary will be dependent on your base location, The MoJ offers a range of benefits: Annual Leave Annual leave is 25 days on appointment and will increase to 30 days after five years' service. There is also a scheme to allow qualifying staff to buy or sell up to three days leave each year. Additional paid time off for public holidays and 1 privilege day. Leave for part-time and job share posts will be calculated on a pro-rata basis. Pension The Civil Service offers a choice of pension schemes, giving you the flexibility to choose the pension that suits you best. Training The Ministry of Justice is committed to staff development and offers an extensive range of training and development opportunities. Networks The opportunity to join employee-run networks that have been established to provide advice and support and to enable the views of employees from minority groups to be expressed direct to senior management. There are currently networks for employees of minority ethnic origin, employees with disabilities, employees with caring responsibilities, women employees, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender employees. Support
• A range of 'Family Friendly' policies such as opportunities to work reduced hours or job share.
• Access to flexible benefits such as voluntary benefits, retail vouchers and discounts on a range of goods and services.
• For moves to or from another employer or moves across the Civil Service this can have implications on your eligibility to carry on claiming childcare vouchers. You may however be eligible for alternative government childcare support schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. More information can be found on www.GOV.UK or Childcare Choices. You can determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk/.
• Paid paternity, adoption and maternity leave.
• Free annual sight tests for employees who use computer screens.
Working for the Civil Service The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles. Should you feel that the recruitment process has breached the recruitment principles you are able to raise a formal complaint in the following order
• To Transformative Business Services (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or e mail moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@resourcing.soprasteria.co.uk);
• To Ministry of Justice Resourcing team (resourcing-management-office@justice.gov.uk);
• To the Civil Service Commission (details available here)
As a Disability Confident employer, MoJ are committed to providing everyone with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities, by making adjustments throughout all elements of the recruitment process and in the workplace. MoJ are able to offer an interview to disabled candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria, except in a limited number of campaigns.