Forward Deployed Software Engineer (Ref: 24113)

This position is based Nationally

HM Courts and Tribunals Service

Job Title: Forward Deployed Software Engineer

Grade: G6

Directorate: CEO Office

Location: London / National

Contract Type: Permanent

Working Pattern: Full-time/ Flexible Working

This is a full-time position only due to the nature of the role.

Successful applicants will be expected to be office based 3 days per week in any HMCTS Office (subject to business availability).

Level of Clearance: To apply for this role, you will be required to successfully complete Counter Terrorism Check (CTC level as a condition of appointment. For further guidance click here

Introduction

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.

Job Description

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

Essential skills:

• 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.

The below criteria are desirable only. These will not be assessed throughout the recruitment process, but will be used in the event of tied scores between candidates

Application process:

This role will be recruited using a combination of Government Digital and Data (GDD) Profession Capability Framework and Success Profiles Frameworks during the sift and interview process. Using GDD we will then determine if you will be paid an additional allowance, on top of your basic salary. This role is within the Technical job family and is a Software Developer role at Lead Developer level but carries the title, Forward Deployed Software Engineer in the CEO office.

Stage 1 - Sift:

To apply for this position, you must submit the following as part of your application:

An anonymised CV, setting out your career history, key responsibilities and achievements. Your CV will be assessed against the essential criteria outlined within the Essential Skills section of this advert.

A Statement of Suitability which should give us real life examples of how your skills and experience match those needed for this role. We recommend following the STAR format.

Should we receive a high volume of applications, a pre-sift may be conducted on the CV criteria. Candidates who pass the pre-sift will be fully assessed on all the sift criteria.

Please access the following link for guidance on how to apply - Application Guidance

Successful candidates who passed the sift will be invited to a first stage interview via Microsoft Teams.

Stage 2 - First Stage Interview:

First stage interview will be held via MS Team. At the first interview stage you will be assessed against a Technical Assessment.

For further guidance on the interview process please click here

Successful candidate who meet the required standard will be invited to a second interview assessment in line with the Civil Service Success Profile Framework and the Government Communications Service (GCS) competencies. Interviews will take place over two stages.

Stage 2 – Second Stage Interview:

Second stage interview will be held via MS Team. At interview stage, you will be assessed against Technical, Strengths and Behaviours.

• Making Effective Decisions
• Communicating and Influencing
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pace

Should you be unsuccessful in the role that you have applied for but demonstrate the capability for a role at a lower level, we reserve the right to discuss this opportunity with you and offer you the position without needing a further application.

Important information

Level of Clearance

To apply for this role, you will be required to successfully complete Counter Terrorism Check (CTC level as a condition of appointment. To meet these requirements, you will normally need to have been resident in the UK for at least 3 years. For further information please click here

Salary details

New recruits to the Civil Service joining MoJ are expected to join at the band minimum.

Existing Civil Servants applying on promotion, will usually be appointed on the salary minimum of the new pay band, or receive an increase of 10 percent on the current base salary, whichever is higher (This is restricted to the pay maximum of the new band).

Travel requirements

There will be a requirement to travel frequently to any HMCTS site in line with business needs.

Proud to Serve. Proud to keep justice going.

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours, Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.