diff --git a/.github/workflows/create_cache.yml b/.github/workflows/create_cache.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a748d6a9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/create_cache.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+name: "Create GHA cache"
+
+# GitHub puts the following restrictions on cache sharing. PRs can access
+#
+# - caches that were created by the PR / earlier runs of the PR
+# - caches that were created on the target branch
+#
+# To get effective cache sharing between PRs, we create caches on the `develop`
+# branch (which is where almost all PRs merge into).
+
+on:
+  push:
+    branches: [develop]
+
+# Cancel running jobs if there's a newer push
+concurrency:
+  group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ github.ref }}
+  cancel-in-progress: true
+
+jobs:
+  # GitHub Actions cache of the pre-commit environment
+  pre-commit:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v5
+
+      - name: Setup Python 3.11
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: '3.11'
+
+      - uses: actions/cache@v4
+        id: cache
+        with:
+          path: ~/.cache/pre-commit
+          key: pre-commit_${{ env.pythonLocation }}_${{ hashFiles('.pre-commit-config.yaml') }}
+          lookup-only: true  # don't actually download the cache
+
+      - name: Populate pre-commit environment (if not cached)
+        if: steps.cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        run: |
+          pip install pre-commit
+          pre-commit install --install-hooks
+
+  # GitHub Actions cache of the translate test data
+  test-data:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    env:
+      TEST_DATA_PATH: ./test_data/8.1.3/c12_6ranks_standard/dycore
+      TEST_DATA_URL: "https://portal.nccs.nasa.gov/datashare/astg/smt/pace-regression-data/8.1.3_c12_6ranks_standard.tar.gz"
+
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout repository
+        uses: actions/checkout@v5
+
+      - name: Setup Python 3.11
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v5
+        with:
+          python-version: '3.11'
+
+      - uses: actions/cache@v4
+        id: cache
+        with:
+          path: pyFV3/test_data
+          key: ${{ env.TEST_DATA_PATH }}
+          lookup-only: true  # don't actually download the cache
+
+      - name: Download test_data (if not already cached)
+        if: steps.cache-restore.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+        run: |
+          mkdir -p pyFV3/test_data  && cd pyFV3/test_data
+          wget ${{ env.TEST_DATA_URL }}
+          tar -xzvf 8.1.3_c12_6ranks_standard.tar.gz
+          rm 8.1.3_c12_6ranks_standard.tar.gz
diff --git a/.github/workflows/lint.yaml b/.github/workflows/lint.yaml
index ea02dc88..0a51aa3d 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/lint.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/lint.yaml
@@ -20,12 +20,18 @@ jobs:
         with:
           python-version: '3.11'
 
+      # Only restore (don't save) caches on PRs. New caches created from PRs won't be
+      # accessible from other PRs, see workflows/create_cache.yaml.
+      - uses: actions/cache/restore@v4
+        with:
+          path: ~/.cache/pre-commit
+          key: pre-commit_${{ env.pythonLocation }}_${{ hashFiles('.pre-commit-config.yaml') }}
+
       - name: Install pre-commit
-        run: |
-          pip install pre-commit
+        run: pip install pre-commit
+
       - name: Run lint via pre-commit
-        run: |
-          pre-commit run --all-files
+        run: pre-commit run --all-files
 
       - name: Check advection code consistency
         run: |
diff --git a/.github/workflows/translate.yaml b/.github/workflows/translate.yaml
index a9aa9acd..eab75fa3 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/translate.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/translate.yaml
@@ -66,6 +66,8 @@ jobs:
           cd ${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/pyFV3
           pip install .[ndsl,test]
 
+      # Only restore (don't save) caches on PRs. New caches created from PRs won't be
+      # accessible from other PRs, see workflows/create_cache.yaml.
       - name: Restore test_data (if cached)
         id: cache-restore
         uses: actions/cache/restore@v4
@@ -76,11 +78,9 @@ jobs:
       - name: Download test_data (if not cached)
         if: steps.cache-restore.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
         run: |
-          cd ${GITHUB_WORKSPACE}/pyFV3
-          mkdir -p test_data  && cd test_data
+          mkdir -p pyFV3/test_data  && cd pyFV3/test_data
           wget ${{ env.DATA_URL }}
-          tar -xzvf 8.1.3_c12_6ranks_standard.tar.gz --no-same-owner
-          cd ..
+          tar -xzvf 8.1.3_c12_6ranks_standard.tar.gz
 
       - name: NumPy FvTp2d
         run: |
@@ -127,10 +127,3 @@ jobs:
             --which_modules=DynCore \
             --threshold_overrides_file=./tests/savepoint/translate/overrides/standard.yaml \
             ./tests/savepoint
-
-      - name: Cache test_data
-        if: steps.cache-restore.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
-        uses: actions/cache/save@v4
-        with:
-          path: pyFV3/test_data
-          key: ${{ steps.cache-restore.outputs.cache-primary-key }}