Senior Data Engineer

Location: Leeds

Closing Date: 18^th November 2026

Interviews: Interviews will take place in person in Leeds on 1^st and 2^nd December 2026

Grade: SEO

(MoJ candidates who are on a specialist grade will be able to retain this grade on lateral transfer)

Salary**: 42914 - 46182 (which may include an allowance of up to 9424)

Working pattern: Full-time Part-time Flexible working

Contract Type: Permanent

Number of vacancies: 1

Vacancy number: 23703

*We offer a hybrid working model allowing for a balance between remote work and time spent in your local office. Office locations can be found ON THIS MAP

Please note that unless you are an existing member of staff at Justice Digital Data and Science the only London location being recruited to is 10 South Colonnade E14 4PU. We are no longer recruiting to 102 Petty France SW1H 9AJ.

Please note this role requires you to pass Security Check clearance. Please click on the link for details.

Were recruiting for a Senior Data Engineer here at Justice Digital Data and Science to be part of our warm and collaborative property team.

This role aligns against Senior Data Engineer from the Government Digital and Data Framework

This isa great opportunityto work with leading cloud technology and help change the way data is used in the public sector. Data engineers at MoJ play a critical role in our mission to put data at the heart of for people with the drive to develop a deep understanding of data needs and data availability across specific areas of the Ministry of Justice.

You will work with other Data Engineers and alongside Analytics Engineers to bridge the gap between data producers and data users exploring cutting edge GenAI/AI tooling developing analytical pipelines and self-service tools toacquireand transform data making it available on our Analytical Platform.

The Property domain works with a wide range of structured and unstructured data including documents and text-based records. As part of ongoing development of the Data and Analytics Engineering capability we are exploring how emerging technologies including GenAI can support the processing and structuring of this data at scale. This includes example use cases such as document enrichment and classification to improve data accessibility for stakeholders.

Youll receive a range of excellent benefits when you join our department including:

• A generous employer pension contribution of 28.97% through the Civil Service Pension Scheme.
• 25 days of annual leave (increasing to 30 days once you have reached 5 years of service) plus 8 bank holidays and a privilege day for the Kings birthday.
• Flexible working arrangements including hybrid working working part time or compressed hours. Designed to support a positive worklife balance.

You can find more details of the Benefits we offer here. To help picture your life at MoJ Justice Digital Data and Science please take a look at our blog.

• Designing and building robustscalableautomatedand genericdata engineer tooling to improve ramp-up time for new pipelines primarily using Python.

• Designingwritingand maintaining ETL (extract transform load) scripts and code to ensure the ETL process performs optimally.

• Designing and building data pipelines that integrate ML and GenAI capabilities (e.g. batch inference text processing or enrichment workflows) and evaluating their performance cost and reliability in production settings.

• Using a range of AWS services to deploy your solutions in a reproducible sustainable manner with the core ones being: S3 Glue Athena Lambda and LakeFormation.

• Using infrastructure-as-code(Terraform)to deploy pipelines as AWS cloud infrastructure.

• Working with a range of structured and unstructured data including text-based data to support analytical and data science use cases.

• Using GitHub Actions to automaterepositoryevents.

• Both ensuring and contributing to standards around engineering.

• Developing and optimising codetoolsand services that enable people to use data effectivelysuch as cataloguing and metadata.

You may also be expected to carry out the following day to day activities:

• Designing andmaintainingtechnical documentation.

• Creating and promoting best practices within the team and wider.

• Responding to incident reports ensuring relevant prioritisation and detail to allow for effective investigation.

• Developing novel solutions to fit the needs of a range of stakeholders.

• Initiatingteam buildingand development initiatives.

• Line managing a more junior colleague.

If this feels like an exciting challenge something you are enthusiastic about and want to join our team please read on and apply!

Essential

• Working in a technical team preferably one that uses Python and SQL as well as strong technical skills in these languages.
• Understanding of the software development lifecycle including testing () version control (e.g. git)and CI/CD (e.g. GitHub Actions).
• Experience of working with a range of data sources including data wrangling analysis and manipulation.
• Communicating with stakeholders and translating user needs into technical requirements

Willingness to be assessed against the requirements for SC clearance

We welcome the unique contribution diverse applicants bring and do not discriminate based on culture ethnicity race nationality or national origin age sex gender identity or expression religion or belief disability status sexual orientation educational or social background or any other factor.

Our values are Purpose Humanity Openness and Together. Find out more here about how we celebrate diversity and an inclusive culture in our workplace.

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 D&I Strategy.

Base salary for this role is from 42914 - 46182

• New entrants to the Civil Service joining the MoJ are expected to start at the minimum of the pay band.
• Existing Civil Servants moving on a level transfer will retain their current base salary or move to the minimum of the pay band for the role whichever is higher.
• Existing Civil Servants who are promoted will either move to the bottom of the new grades pay band or receive a 10% uplift whichever provides the greater increase.
• Candidates may also be eligible for a nonpensionable Government Digital & Data Allowance of up to 9424 per year This is a temporary allowance reviewed annually and may be retained amended or withdrawn.

The final offer will reflect the skills and experience you demonstrate during the assessment process.

In Justice Digital Data and Science we recruit using a combination of the Government Digital and Data Profession Capability and Success Profiles Frameworks. We shall assess a combination of your Experience Technical skills and Behaviours during the assessment process.

Stage 1 - Application and sift:

• A CV detailing your career history (including any relevant qualifications). Your CV will be assessed against the essential criteria outlined within the Person Specification of this advert.
• A Personal Statement (no more than 750 words) which should outline your experience and skills giving clear examples of work undertaken. It should specifically address the following criteria listed below using a separate paragraph for each.

• Working in a technical team preferably one that uses Python and SQL as well as strong technical skills in these languages
• Understanding of the software development lifecycle including testing () version control (e.g. git)and CI/CD (e.g. GitHub Actions).
• Experience of working with a range of data sources including data wrangling analysis and manipulation.
• Communicating with stakeholders and translating user needs into technical requirements

A diverse sift panel will review the information in your CV and Personal Statement to assess the sift criteria specified above. We operate an anonymous shortlisting process. Please ensure your CV and Personal Statement do not include your name or any other identifying details.

Should we receive a high volume of applications a pre-sift based on Working in a technical team preferably one that uses Python and SQL as well as strong technical skills in these languages will be conducted before the sift.

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

Stage 2 - Interviews:

Candidates who successfully meet the required standard will be invited to attend a technical assessment and panel interview both of which will take place on the same day at our Leeds office on 1^st & 2^nd December 2026. At interview stage you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements - Experience Technical and the following Behaviours:

• Managing a Quality Service
• Changing and Improving

Appointments are made strictly in merit the event that two or more candidates receive identical interview scores the Working in a technical team preferably one that uses Python and SQL as well as strong technical skills in these languages will be applied as the primary lead criterion to determine the final merit order.

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.

A reserve list may be held for up to 12 months from which further appointments may be made.

Use of Artificial Intelligence

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application however all examples and statements provided must be truthful factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others or generated by artificial intelligence as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Please review our Terms and Conditions which set out how we recruit and provide further information related to the role and salary arrangements.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact