Content Designer

Canterbury City Council; Canterbury; Hybrid; GBP 41,000 - 45,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working

Local government pension

Annual leave and benefits

Training and professional development

Cycle-to-work scheme

Employee assistance programme

Job summary

Canterbury City Council is seeking a Content Designer to join its Digital Services team. You will design, create and improve accessible content and digital journeys for customer-facing services, using research and analytics to help residents complete tasks online.

You will work with multidisciplinary teams, develop online forms and workflows, and advise colleagues on content accessibility and best practice.

Qualifications

• Clear, accessible content across devices and communities.
• Understanding of service design and interaction design.
• Plain English writing with adaptable tone for audiences.
• Ability to monitor impact using analytics and research.
• Experience with multiple content management systems.

Responsibilities

• Design, create and improve accessible content and journeys.
• Develop and improve online forms and workflows.
• Advise colleagues on content best practices and accessibility.
• Collaborate with multidisciplinary teams from discovery to live service.
• Document design decisions and risks clearly.

Skills

Content design

Accessible content

HTML/CSS

Analytics

Service design

Education

Undergraduate degree or equivalent experience

Tools

Jadu

Job description

Canterbury City Council is looking for a Content Designer to join its Digital Services team.

Are you experienced in creating clear, accessible content and designing digital journeys around user needs?

This is an opportunity to join a multidisciplinary digital team that supports essential council services. You will use evidence, research and feedback to improve content and help customers complete tasks online more easily.

The role covers content across customer-facing digital services, including accessible web content, online forms, workflows and end-to-end user journeys. You will work with services across the council to turn complex information and processes into clear, usable digital experiences.

Experience of working with more than one content management system and a form-building platform such as Jadu will be valuable.

What’s in it for you?

• A salary of £40,537.29 to £45,094.96 per annum
• Cost-of-living pay award negotiated annually as a salary increase
• Flexible, hybrid working. We understand the importance of a good work-life balance
• A generous annual leave entitlement, which increases with service, plus bank holidays and three additional days usually used while our main offices are closed over Christmas
• The option to buy additional annual leave
• A local government pension scheme
• Training and development opportunities, including support with professional membership fees where these are essential to the role
• Employee benefits, including retailer and lifestyle discounts
• Free use of Canterbury’s Park and Ride, flexi-bus tickets and a cycle-to-work scheme
• Access to free counselling, advice and webinars through our employee assistance programme, as well as contributions towards the cost of flu vaccinations

About this job

You will work within the Digital Services team to design, create and improve accessible content and digital journeys across the council’s customer-facing services.

You will use analytics, user feedback and research to understand what people need, then produce content in the right format and place to help them complete their goals.

You will also design and develop online forms and workflows, advise colleagues on content best practice and work with multidisciplinary teams from discovery through to live service.

Here’s what you’ll get up to

• Using analytics, user feedback and research to identify user needs, map journeys and inform content decisions
• Writing, editing and structuring clear, accurate content in plain English for different audiences and channels
• Designing inclusive and accessible content that meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
• Designing, developing and deploying online forms and workflows that enable customers to self-serve
• Working with multidisciplinary teams to deliver and improve services from discovery through to live
• Advising colleagues on content accessibility and content-design best practice
• Contributing to standards, guidance, style patterns and quality assurance
• Documenting and explaining design decisions, risks and unresolved issues clearly

Working pattern

• Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays
• Full-time, 37 hours a week
• Permanent contract
• The team operates a flexible hybrid-working model. Normally, you will be expected to work on site at least once a fortnight. This may vary and could be more frequent depending on the projects and service needs you are supporting
• We recognise the benefits of smarter working practices that enable us to maximise productivity

About you

Your knowledge

You will have:

• A thorough understanding of how to create effective, accessible content across devices and for different communities
• An understanding of service design and interaction design
• A good working knowledge of plain English and plain-English standards
• An understanding of how to monitor the performance and impact of content across digital channels
• The ability to explain content and design decisions and represent a service at a service assessment
• A good understanding of accessibility needs and the latest Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
• A working knowledge of HTML and CSS

Your experience

You will have experience of:

• Working with more than one content management system
• Using Jadu or an equivalent form-building platform

Local government experience would be useful but is not essential.

You will be able to:

• Write, edit and structure clear, concise and accurate content in plain English, adapting language, tone and format for different audiences and channels
• Design inclusive and accessible content that meets the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines and the needs of people using different devices and assistive technologies
• Understand user needs and use research, feedback, analytics and other evidence to design, test and continually improve content
• Organise complex, technical or policy information into logical content, accessible online forms and effective end-to-end user journeys
• Use content management systems, form-building platforms and basic HTML and CSS to create, publish, maintain and troubleshoot digital content
• Work collaboratively, explain and justify design decisions, advise colleagues on best practice, review content constructively and communicate risks or unresolved issues clearly
• An undergraduate degree, or equivalent relevant experience delivering web and digital projects

For an informal discussion about the position or what it is like to work in Canterbury City Council’s Digital Services team, please contact Stu Collett, Senior Digital Services Manager, at [e-mail].

Equality, diversity and inclusion at Canterbury City Council

We are committed to promoting equality and diversity in everything we do. We provide a safe and welcoming environment where everyone is valued, included and respected.

Our diversity strengthens our ability to serve the diverse communities we support through our work.

To demonstrate this through our actions, all applications are anonymised for the shortlisting panel, allowing applicants to be assessed on merit alone.