Full Stack Engineer - Justice AI Unit

As a Full Stack Engineer at the Justice AI Unit, you will build and maintain AI-powered products that transform how courts, prisons, and probation services operate. You'll work on scaled products like Justice Transcribe- a production application that uses speech-to-text and LLM technology to automatically generate case notes for frontline justice staff. This is a hands-on engineering role where you'll own features end to end: from database schema to API design to polished user interfaces. You'll work directly with users to understand their needs, ship iteratively and see your code make a real difference in one of the most complex and vital systems in the country. Join us to transform justice through practical, responsible AI.,

• Build and maintain full-stack features across our Next.js frontend and FastAPI backend, ensuring seamless user experiences for frontline justice staff
• Develop and integrate AI capabilities including LLM workflows, speech-to-text processing, and intelligent document generation
• Own end-to-end delivery: from designing database schemas and API contracts to building accessible, responsive UIs
• Work with production infrastructure on Azure, including App Services, Blob Storage, PostgreSQL, and container deployments managed via Terraform
• Collaborate directly with users in courts, prisons, and probation to understand their operational challenges and co-build solutions
• Ship reliable, well-tested code with comprehensive unit and integration tests, observability, and error monitoring
• Contribute to technical decisions around architecture, tooling, and AI model selection, A collaborative, high-agency environment where engineers have direct input into product direction
• Direct access to users- you'll regularly meet with courts, prisons, and probation staff to understand their needs
• Work at the cutting edge of applied AI in government
• A team that values shipping iteratively, learning from users, and continuous improvement
The Justice AI Unit is part of the Ministry of Justice, building AI tools that make a difference for frontline staff and the people they serve. 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., 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. 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., Expected early June Behaviours Changing and Improving Managing a Quality Service Delivering at Pace Working Together Technical Experience building solutions like predictive models, LLM workflows, scheduling algorithms, data pipelines etc. Level of security checks required Baseline Personnal Security Standard (BPSS)


• Strong experience building production web applications with modern JavaScript/TypeScript frameworks (React, Next.js) and Python backends (FastAPI, Django, or Flask)
• Database experience with PostgreSQL or similar, including schema design and migrations
• Experience integrating with APIs and external services, including authentication flows (OAuth/Azure AD)
• Comfortable working across the full stack- you can debug a CSS layout issue in the morning and optimise a database query in the afternoon
• Experience with version control and CI/CD workflows
• Strong communication skills and ability to work with non-technical stakeholders to understand requirements and explain technical trade-offs
• Ability to ship code quickly and iteratively, Experience building LLM-powered features: prompt engineering, structured outputs, multi-provider routing, or RAG pipelines
• Familiarity with LLM observability and evaluation tools like Langfuse, LangSmith, or similar
• Cloud and infrastructure experience: Terraform, Azure (App Service, Blob Storage, Container Registry), or equivalent AWS/GCP services
• Experience with speech-to-text or audio processing pipelines
• Entrepreneurial or startup experience- comfortable with ambiguity, fast iteration, and wearing multiple hats
• Up to date on the latest developments in AI and excited to apply them pragmatically
• The opportunity to work on AI products with real-world impact across the justice system, We will assess your experience for this role via the following methods
CV or Work History Evidence of Experience CV or Work History

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 £71,381 £80,419, London salary range is £75,674 - £85,257. 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.