Forward Deployed Software Engineer

HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) is responsible for the administration of criminal, civil and family courts and tribunals in England and Wales. Our roles support our service users and colleagues, where people and businesses access potentially life-changing justice. We're looking for individuals who are committed to public service and want to make a difference in people's lives in delivering justice. If you're interested in developing a career with a real purpose, please apply., Courts AI is a small, hands-on engineering team inside HMCTS. We build and ship software that makes the courts work better: for the judiciary, for court staff, and for the people who come before them. We are an engineering team with exceptional direct links to users and real problems, and a mandate to do something about them. We value engineering excellence, high agency and empathy.

We work closely with court staff, digital teams and the judiciary to develop practical solutions that improve how courts operate.

The role is hands on, with a high degree of agency - engineers are encouraged to work at pace and independently discover the next set of problems to pursue.

Build and ship products used across the HMCTS estate - web services, integrations, data tooling, and where appropriate and it genuinely helps, models and agents.

Work in the field. You'll spend real time in courts and with operational teams, watching how work actually happens, and co-designing with the people doing it.

Lead technical delivery end to end - set the technical direction for net new projects, make architecture and implementation decisions, and stay hands-on from framing the problem through building, deployment, adoption and ongoing operation. You won't just build products and hand them over. You'll stay accountable for making them work in practice.

Make the case with evidence. Measuring whether a thing worked, and being honest when it didn't, is part of the job.

People that thrive in this position will be

Public service motivated. The work is genuinely consequential, with opportunities to make a tangible difference to how justice is delivered. You'll be motivated by solving difficult problems and delivering better outcomes for the people who rely on our courts.

Deeply Technical. We are building the future government software stack. This is in flux, and needs deep technical expertise to understand how we can move rapidly and safely.

Pragmatists. You are able to identify the meaningful, viable paths forward that enable us to ship today.

High agency and comfort in ambiguity. The problem space is open ended, and needs independent exploration. You're comfortable navigating that space and making progress

Bridge-builders. You will interface with a huge variety of stakeholders, with a broad range of with different perspectives and priorities. You can hold a technical design conversation and a conversation with a court clerk on the same afternoon, and take both seriously.

Your role as Forward Deployed Software Engineer will encompass several key responsibilities listed below (but not limited to):

Key Responsibilities

Develop high-impact AI products, models and agents that will be widely used across the Ministry of Justice

Work directly in the field (e.g., courts, prisons, probation) to understand user needs, operational challenges and co-build with users

Own end-to-end delivery: from identifying the problem, building the product, deploying it, and scaling adoption

Substantial experience building and running software in production - you've owned things that other people depended on.

Breadth across the stack: you're comfortable somewhere between infrastructure-as-code and a user-facing interface, and willing to go to either end.

Experience integrating with systems you don't control, including older ones.

Ability to work effectively in a complex organisation - negotiating, aligning, and getting things over the line without formal authority.

Sound judgement about where AI genuinely helps, and where it adds risk without adding value.

Desirable Criteria:

Cloud and infrastructure experience - Azure, Kubernetes/AKS, Terraform.

Experience deploying LLM-based systems in production, including evaluation and observability (e.g. Langfuse or similar).

Working with sensitive or regulated data, and the assurance that comes with it.

Data engineering, or making messy operational data useful.

Startup, scale-up, or other high-ownership environments.

Prior public sector delivery - helpful, but not required. We'll help you navigate the system.