Location
Central London (home base of the Justice AI Unit). Candidates not currently based in London will be required to relocate or undertake regular travel to London, with attendance expected at least once per week in line with business needs.

Hours
Full Time

Salary
£85,257 per annum

About the Role
The Justice AI Unit is a small, fast-moving, and innovative team within the Ministry of Justice, focused on building and deploying AI products that enhance human judgement to deliver better outcomes, faster services, and greater fairness across courts, prisons, and probation services. As a Forward Deployed Engineer III, you will work directly with frontline staff to understand their needs, co-develop solutions, and own the full delivery lifecycle from problem discovery to product deployment and scaling. This is a hands-on, high-agency role requiring work across the full AI and software stack in one of the most complex and vital systems in the country. The role values curiosity, pragmatism, and the ability to work in ambiguity, welcoming candidates who can learn quickly and adapt to a rapidly evolving landscape.

Responsibilities
- Develop high-impact AI products, models, and agents widely used across the Ministry of Justice
- Work directly in the field (courts, prisons, probation) to understand user needs and operational challenges and co-build solutions
- Own end-to-end delivery: identifying problems, building products, deploying them, and scaling adoption

Experience
- Building and deploying AI-native software in production environments
- Owning all parts of the software and AI stack including frontend, backend, database, AI and ML
- Developing solutions such as predictive models, large language model (LLM) workflows, and scheduling algorithms
- Thriving in complex organisational contexts
- Staying up to date with the latest developments in AI

Desirable Experience
- Familiarity with NextJS, FastAPI, Postgres
- Experience with LLM observability and evaluation tools like Langfuse
- Cloud and infrastructure experience including Terraform and Azure
- Entrepreneurial or startup experience

About You
You are a pragmatic and curious engineer who enjoys working at pace and across diverse technical stacks. You are comfortable working in ambiguity and complex environments and are motivated by the opportunity to create practical, responsible AI solutions that transform the justice system.

Qualifications
No specific qualifications are mandated, but a strong technical background and demonstrable experience in AI and software engineering are essential.