Technical Assessment
About The Position
HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) administers criminal, civil and family courts and tribunals in England and Wales. The Forward Deployed Software Engineer II joins Courts AI, a small, hands-on engineering team in the HMCTS CEO Office that builds and ships software to improve how courts work for the judiciary, court staff and the public. The team works closely with court staff, digital teams and the judiciary to develop practical solutions to operational problems. Working under the direction of a technical lead and with guidance from the G6 and wider team, the engineer contributes across the technology stack, including infrastructure, backend services, data, integrations and user-facing interfaces. The role involves building and improving products across the HMCTS estate, spending time in courts and with operational teams, and co-designing solutions with users. The engineer supports delivery from problem discovery and ideation through development, deployment, adoption and ongoing support, taking ownership of outcomes and using evidence to assess whether solutions work. The role calls for technical strength, curiosity, pragmatism, comfort with ambiguity and a commitment to public service. The post is permanent and full-time, with flexible working arrangements available subject to business needs. The successful candidate is expected to work in an HMCTS office at least three days a week, with frequent travel to HMCTS sites. The role can only be worked in the UK. Appointment is conditional on successfully completing Counter Terrorism Check (CTC) security clearance; candidates will normally need at least three years’ UK residency.
Requirements
- Experience building software in production.
- Willingness to work across different parts of the technology stack, from infrastructure-as-code to user-facing interfaces, with support where needed.
- Some experience or a clear interest in integrating with systems outside the engineer’s control, including legacy systems.
- Ability to collaborate, build relationships and help move work forward in a complex organisation.
- Developing judgement about where AI can help and where it could add risk without value.
- Ability to work constructively with stakeholders who have different needs and levels of technical confidence.
Nice To Haves
- Cloud and infrastructure experience, including Azure, Kubernetes/AKS or Terraform.
- Exposure to LLM-based systems, including evaluation, observability or production deployment.
- Data engineering experience or experience making messy operational data useful.
- Experience in a startup, scale-up, product engineering or other delivery-focused environment.
- Prior public sector delivery experience.
Responsibilities
- Work as an engineer on projects under the direction of a technical lead, helping deliver new capability to users.
- Contribute across the technology stack, including infrastructure, backend services, data, integrations and user-facing interfaces.
- Build and improve products used across the HMCTS estate, including web services, integrations, data tooling and, where useful, models and agents.
- Spend time in courts and with operational teams observing workflows and co-designing solutions with the people doing the work.
- Support delivery from problem ideation through building, deployment, adoption and ongoing maintenance.
- Take ownership of outcomes and use evidence to measure whether solutions have worked.
- Collaborate with stakeholders across HMCTS, including court staff, digital teams and the judiciary.
Benefits
- 25 days’ annual leave on appointment, increasing to 30 days after five years’ service.
- Option for qualifying staff to buy or sell up to three days of leave each year.
- Paid public holidays and one privilege day.
- Choice of Civil Service pension schemes.
- Extensive training and development opportunities.
- Opportunity to join employee-run support and advice networks.
- Family-friendly policies, including opportunities to work reduced hours or job share.
- Access to flexible benefits, voluntary benefits, retail vouchers and discounts.
- Paid paternity, adoption and maternity leave.
- Free annual sight tests for employees who use computer screens.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Senior
Education Level
No Education Listed
