Job Overview
Our justice system faces serious challenges, and AI offers a chance to address them at scale. As a Forward Deployed Engineer at the Justice AI Unit, you will build and deploy AI products that impact courts, prisons, and probation services, working directly with frontline staff to understand their needs and owning the full delivery lifecycle.
Responsibilities
- Develop high‑impact AI products, models, and agents for widespread use 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.
- Demonstrate the Civil Service behaviours: Changing & Improving, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace, and Working Together.
Qualifications
- Experience building and deploying AI‑native software in production environments.
- Experience owning all parts of the software and AI stack – frontend, backend, database, AI and ML.
- Experience building solutions such as predictive models, LLM workflows, and scheduling.
- Ability to work and thrive in complex organisational contexts.
- Up to date with the latest developments in AI.
Desirable Criteria
- Experience with our stack – Next.js, FastAPI, Postgres.
- Experience with LLM observability and evaluation tools like Langfuse.
- Cloud and infrastructure experience – Terraform, Azure, or equivalent.
- Entrepreneurial or startup experience.
Working Arrangements
The role is based in London. Candidates not currently based in London will need to relocate or travel to London at least once per week. Hybrid working is offered where business need allows, with a minimum of 60% of working time spent in an office.
Technical Assessment
Candidates will complete a technical assessment that evaluates role‑specific skills through a realistic engineering scenario, followed by a 30‑minute discussion of the technical solution.
Evaluation Methods
- CV or work history evidence of experience.
- Assessment of Civil Service behaviours: Changing and Improving, Managing a Quality Service, Delivering at Pace, Working Together.
- Technical experience in building predictive models, LLM workflows, scheduling algorithms, and data pipelines.
Equality, Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attracting, retaining and investing in talent wherever it is found. The Ministry of Justice welcomes candidates from all backgrounds, with additional support for veterans, disabled candidates and under‑represented groups. The role is a Disability Confident position and the recruitment process complies with Civil Service Commission principles.
Benefits
- Annual leave: 25 days on appointment, increasing to 30 days after five years.
- Pension: choice of Civil Service pension schemes.
- Training: extensive opportunities for staff development.
- Family friendly policies: reduced hours or job share options.
- Flexibility: voluntary benefits, retail vouchers, and discounts on goods and services.
- Paid paternity, adoption and maternity leave.
- Free annual sight tests for employees who use computer screens.
#J-18808-Ljbffr…