Senior Content Designer

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government; West of England; On-site; GBP 54,000 - 66,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Tailored career pathways

Flexible working

MyLifestyle Childcare Voucher scheme

Cycle to Work scheme

Job summary

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is a UK government department working across housing, planning, local councils and community policy. The Digital Planning Programme teams deliver products and services using agile methods, spanning Plan Making, Planning Data and Open Digital Planning.

The role is a permanent Grade 7 content design position based across Bristol, Darlington, Manchester, or Wolverhampton, with flexible working patterns and video interviews.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience writing clear, plain-English content that meets user needs.
• Extensive experience reviewing, editing, and evaluating content against GOV.UK Style Guide, Service Manual, GOV.UK Design System.
• Extensive experience using research and data to develop, test, and iterate design ideas, incl. inclusive services.

Responsibilities

• Create or modify content spanning digital and offline channels.
• Make content easier to understand and use for end-to-end service journeys.
• Ensure content appears in the right place, in the best format for users.
• Collaborate with researchers, designers, and interaction designers from discovery onwards.
• Lead small content teams, mentor colleagues, and review work for quality.
• Write and map user stories and review colleagues' outputs.

Skills

Plain-English writing

Editing & evaluation

Style guides & GOV.UK

User research & data

Stakeholder management

Agile working

Content prototyping

Strategic thinking

User-centred design

Job description

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is a UK government department whose work spans housing, planning, local councils, and community policy. Its Digital Planning Programme is a multidisciplinary team within the Leasehold, Private Rental, and Digital Directorate, working with policy colleagues, local government, planning software developers, and planners across areas including Plan Making, Planning Data, Planning Software and Open Digital Planning, and Property Technology. The programme uses agile methodologies to create, test, iterate, and deliver its range of products and services.

The role

It is a permanent, Grade 7 position based across one of four office locations: Bristol, Darlington, Manchester, or Wolverhampton.

What you would do

• Work on the creation of, or changes to, transactions, products, or individual pieces of content that span digital and offline channels
• Make content easier for people to understand and use, covering both single pieces of content and end-to-end service journeys
• Ensure the right content is shown to users in the right place and in the best format
• Start from discovery and collaborate closely with user researchers, service designers, and interaction designers
• Take responsibility for content quality, manage small teams, and mentor content colleagues
• Write and map user stories
• Review colleagues' work to assure quality
• Lead cross-government content projects and contribute to the cross-government content community

What they are looking for

• Extensive experience writing clear, plain-English content that meets user needs and achieves the right outcomes
• Extensive experience reviewing, editing, and evaluating content against the GOV.UK Style Guide, the Service Manual, and the GOV.UK Design System
• Extensive experience using research and data to develop, test, and iterate design ideas, including designing inclusive services for a wide range of access needs
• A proven track record of working with and negotiating with stakeholders, including giving and receiving constructive criticism
• Demonstrable experience of agile working in a content design context
• Practitioner-level knowledge of content concepts and prototyping
• Experience in strategic thinking within content design
• User focus and user-centred design experience

Working arrangements

The role is based across four locations: Bristol, Darlington, Manchester, and Wolverhampton. Working patterns available include full-time, part-time, flexible working, and job share. Interviews are currently being held remotely via video call. MHCLG does not offer visa sponsorship; applicants must have a valid right to work in the UK for the duration of employment.

Pay and benefits

The salary is £60,230 (National). MHCLG contributes £17,448 towards membership of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme (an employer contribution of 28.97%).

• tailored career pathways
• flexible working
• a MyLifestyle Childcare Voucher scheme
• and a Cycle to Work scheme.