Job responsibilities
As part of the main duties, you will be expected to:
Expert practice
- Lead on the creation and iteration of content for multiple complex projects.
- Be responsible for content quality. Ensure content design best practice and principles are applied across products and services. Review the work of others to ensure it is user focused, accurate, and meets government and NHS style, design standards and accessibility requirements.
- Develop and contribute to content strategies based on research and data, to support service transformation. Balance user needs with business, operational and technical requirements.
- Use collaborative design tools and techniques to explore problems and opportunities.
- Create content assets to test ideas and solutions.
- Build relationships and work closely with stakeholders. Promote and demonstrate the value of user-centred content design within the organisation and beyond. Advocate for the needs of users to be embedded within strategy, policy and service design, across all levels of the organisation.
- Take a lead role in the UKHSAs content design community of practice, helping to establish the user-centred content design profession within UKHSA.
- Work collaboratively with other user-centred design professions in an agile team to createquality user experiences.
- Work with user researchers to discover and analyse insights to identify common themes,pain points and user needs. Make actionable recommendations based on insights.
- Communicate these to stakeholders clearly and confidently.
Leadership
- Role model inclusive leadership behaviours to promote a diverse, supportive, and inclusive culture. Support a community of practice to thrive and mature within UKHSA.
- Foster a culture of continuous professional development, working openly and collaboratively. Contribute to building the skills of all members of the UCD Team, including non-content specialists.
- Lead and manage change positively. Champion and promote a culture of imaginative thinking, learning from experience, expanding mindsets and genuinely listen to and encourage ideas from key stakeholders, partners, and colleagues.
- Line manage staff, undertaking the full range of line management responsibilities as well as providing coaching and support to staff across UKHSA. Proactively develop, promote and monitor staff engagement and wellbeing measures, striving to make improvements.
- Represent UKHSAs content design capability across government, NHS and the wider public health system. Proactively work across government departments to develop and promote excellence within the specialism. Contribute to cross-government communities of practice.
Communication and key working relationships
The Senior Content Designer will develop effective working relationships and communicate regularly with a wide range of individuals, clinical and non-clinical, internal and external to UKHSA. Communication may be face to face, including delivering presentations and facilitating workshops, by phone, email, correspondence or via reports and briefings.
Essential Criteria
- Significant experience of working at a lead / senior level within a content design role or a degree in a relevant subject (for example English, communication, journalism, design, UX design, UCD, Content creation) and able to demonstrate an equivalent level of knowledge
- Senior level experience in user-centred content design methods and best practice within large, complex organisations
- Extensive experience of writing and editing accessible and usable content using a style guide and design standards. Ideally, experience on digital and non-digital platforms, including guidance and transactions.
- Regularly use feedback, analytics data and user research insights to make strategic content decisions and explain these to others.
- Experience of developing content strategies to plan, create, deliver, measure and manage content, to meet user needs and business objectives.
- Experience of managing stakeholder relationships. Able to influence others to gain support for user-centred standards, strategies, and ways of working.
- Experience of working in an agile or similar multidisciplinary team including user researchers, to discover user needs, map and define user journeys and create quality user experiences.
- Experience of using collaborative design tools and techniques to explore problems and opportunities. Able to create content assets to test ideas and solutions.
- Leadership skills. Strong coaching and mentoring skills to help others develop. Experience of managing others, including reviewing their work, and giving clear direction
- Expert communication skills to promote best practice content design, including accessibility requirements, to non-experts, for example in presentations or workshops
- Appreciation and acknowledgment of diversity and inclusion. Awareness of own emotional intelligence, biases, and personal triggers. Able to demonstrate cultural sensitivity and awareness.
- Knowledge of the barriers to access which affect engagement with content. Be able to demonstrate the importance of designing inclusive, equitable, accessible and sustainable public services.
Selection Process
This vacancy is using Success Profiles and will assess your behaviours and technical skills
Stage 1: Application & Sift
You will be required to complete an application form. You will be assessed on the listed essential criteria, and this will be in the form of:
- an application form (Employer/ Activity history section on the application)
- a 750 word supporting statement
This should outline how your skills, experience, and knowledge, provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with reference to the essential criteria.
Please note you will not be able to upload your CV. You must complete the application form in as much detail as possible. Please do not email us your CV.
The Application form and supporting statement will be marked together.
Longlisting: In the event of a large number of applications we will longlist into 3 piles of:
- Meets all essential criteria
- Meets some essential criteria
- Meets no essential criteria
Only those meeting all essential criteria will be taken through to shortlisting.Shortlisting: In the event of a large number of applications we will shortlist on:
- Significant experience of working at a lead / senior level within a content design role or a degree in a relevant subject (for example English, communication, journalism, design, UX design, UCD, Content creation) and able to demonstrate an equivalent level of knowledge
- Senior level experience in user-centred content design methods and best practice within large, complex organisations
If you are successful at this stage, you will progress to interview and assessment.
Please do not exceed 750 words. We will not consider any words over and above this number.
Feedback will not be provided at this stage.
Stage 2: Interview (Success Profiles)
You will be invited to a remote interview.
Behaviours and technical skills will be tested at interview.
You will be required to prepare a 5 - 10 minute presentation as part of the interview. This will be a scenario based task testing technical skills and experience. The full details of this will be sent to you prior to the interview.
The Behaviours tested during the interview stage will be:
- Communicating and Influencing
- Seeing the Big Picture
- Leadership
- Working at Pace
Interviews will be held week commencing 12th January 2026. Please note, these dates are subject to change.
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Location
This role is being offered as home working.
Eligibility Criteria
Open to all external applicants (anyone) from outside the Civil Service (including by definition internal applicants).
Security Clearance Level Requirement
Successful candidates must pass a disclosure and barring security check.
Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is Basic Personnel Security Standard.
Salary Range
- Grade 7 National: £56,185 - £66,581
- Grade 7 Outer: £58,340 - £68,574
- Grade 7 Inner: £60,494 - £70,566
If you are successful at interview, and are moving from another government department, NHS, or Local Authority, the relevant starting salary principles for level transfers or promotions will apply. Otherwise, roles are offered at the pay scale minimum for the grade, but in exceptional circumstances there may be flexibility if you are able to demonstrate you are already in receipt of an existing, higher salary. Pay increases are through the relevant annual pay award for the role and terms.
