23533 - Lead Data Engineer

Lead Data Engineer

Location: National*

Interviews:
Technical Tests: Week commencing 23rd November 2026

Interviews: Week commencing 7th December 2026

Grade: G7

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

Salary:
National: £58,511 - £74,525 (which may include an allowance of up to £16,014)

London: £63,343 - £79,313 (which may include an allowance of up to £15,970)

Working pattern: full-time, part-time, flexible working

Contract Type: Permanent

Number of vacancies: 10

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.

The Role

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

We’re recruiting for a Lead Data Engineers here at Justice Digital, to be part of our warm and collaborative Data & Analytics Engineering community.

This role sits within Justice Data, where multidisciplinary teams work across the data lifecycle to turn complex data into better decisions, tools and services.

We bring together expertise in data management, engineering, access and sharing, data linking, data science and AI, analysis and service management. Working with partners across the department, the Criminal Justice System and wider government, we strengthen data foundations, connect data across organisational boundaries and make it easier to use data securely and effectively.

By combining strong data foundations and governance with engineering, insight and AI, Justice Data supports better decision-making, frontline delivery and long-term transformation of the justice system.

This is a great opportunity to 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 decision-making. We're looking 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 in a team of Data Engineers, alongside Analytics Engineers, to bridge the gap between data producers and data users, developing analytical pipelines and self-service tools to acquire and transform data, making it available on our Analytical Platform. A summary of the type of work our teams are involved in can be found in our handbook.

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

You’ll 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 King’s birthday.
• Flexible working arrangements including hybrid working, working part time or compressed hours. Designed to support a positive work–life balance.
• Employees are allocated 10% of their working time for personal and professional development.
• A £1k per person learning budget is in place to support all our people, with access to best-in-class conferences and seminars, accreditation with professional bodies, fully funded vocational programmes and e-learning platforms.
• Compassionate maternity, adoption, and shared parental leave policies, with up to 26 weeks leave at full pay, 13 weeks with partial pay, and 13 weeks further leave. And maternity support/paternity leave at full pay for 2 weeks, too!

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.

Key Responsibilities:

As a Lead Data Engineer your work might involve:

• leading a team of Data Engineers to build robust and scalable automated data flows to connect operational systems, data for analytics and business intelligence (BI) systems
• creating and promoting best practices within the team and wider
• applying knowledge of systems integration to your work
• championing data engineering across the department and wider
• collaborating with a range of stakeholders to understand their needs and establish project goals and deliverables
• using a range of AWS services to deploy your solutions in a reproducible, sustainable manner

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

• updating and maintaining technical documentation
• leading and organising team building and development initiatives for data engineering and wider
• supporting the Ministry of Justice's Analytical Platform users to use our data and tools
• line managing more junior colleagues
• keeping up to date with current trends and best practices in engineering for continuous improvement

We welcome applications from anyone with the skills we consider make a good

data engineer. You may not currently be in a data engineering role and that's ok.

Many of our team members have a background in analysis, software engineering,

data science, and more.

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

Person Specification

Essential

You’ll have a demonstrable passion for Data Engineering, with the following skills or

some experience in:

• Strong technical proficiency in one or more programming languages, preferably including Python and SQL
• Understanding of the software development lifecycle, including testing (e.g. pytest), version control (e.g. git) and CI/CD (e.g. GitHub Actions)
• Designing and building data pipelines that bring complex data sources together into useful and usable data sets
• Communicate with technical and non-technical stakeholders, and manage their expectations
• Leading and setting the technical direction for a team and developing the capability of others

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.

Salary Information**

Base salary for this role is from £58,511 - £65,329 (National) to £63,343 - £70,725 (London)

• 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 grade’s pay band or receive a 10% uplift, whichever provides the greater increase.
• Candidates may also be eligible for a non‑pensionable Government Digital & Data Allowance of up to £16,014 per year (National) or £15,970 (London). 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.

How to Apply

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:

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

• an anonymised CV including career history, responsibilities, and achievements
• A Statement of Suitability (no more than 750 words) which should outline your experience and skills, giving clear examples of work undertaken. It should specifically address the following essential criteria listed below, using a separate paragraph for each.

- Strong technical proficiency in one or more programming languages, preferably including Python and SQL

- Designing and building data pipelines that bring complex data sources together into useful and usable data sets

- Communicate with technical and non-technical stakeholders, and manage their expectations

- Leading and setting the technical direction for a team and developing the capability of others

A diverse sift panel will review the information in your CV and statement of suitability 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 strong technical proficiency in one or more programming languages, preferably including Python and SQL and leading and setting the technical direction for a team and developing the capability of others will be conducted before the sift.

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

Stage 2 - Interviews:

Candidates who meet the required standard will be invited to undertake a technical test, if you pass the technical test, you will be invited to a 1-hour panel interview (on a separate date) held via video conference.

At interview stage, you will be assessed against the following Success Profile elements - Experience, Technical and the following Behaviours:

• Changing and Improving
• Managing a Quality Service

Appointments are made strictly in merit order. In the event that two or more candidates receive identical interview scores, strong technical proficiency in one or more programming languages, preferably including Python and SQL 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.

Terms & Conditions

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 digitalanddatarecruitment@justice.gov.uk