Senior Content Designer

Job summary

We are MHCLG

Here at the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG), we work on things that make a real difference to people's lives. Whether it's through the homes we live in, the work of our local councils, or the communities we' re all part of, our work is at the top of the political agenda. We have ambitious and far-reaching outcomes to achieve this year and, if you' re thinking of joining us, there's never been a more exciting time.

The senior content designer will be part of our Digital Planning Programme at MHCLG. The Digital Planning Programme is a multidisciplinary team within the MHCLG Leasehold, Private Rental, and Digital Directorate who work with policy colleagues, local government, planning software developers, and planners, shaping the product roadmap and delivering value for our users.

The programme uses agile methodologies to create, test, iterate, and deliver our range of interventions:

• Plan Making
• Planning Data
• Planning Software and Open Digital Planning
• Property Technology

Find out more about our Digital teams and what they are working on through our MHCLG Digital blog. Please note that MHCLG do not offer visa sponsorship and applicants will need a valid visa for the duration of your employment.

Job description

As a Senior Content Designer, you'll:

• Be involved in the creation of, or change to, a transaction, product or single piece of content that stretches across digital and offline channels
• Make things easier for people to understand and use. This can involve working on a single piece of content or on the end-to-end journey of a service
• Make sure appropriate content is shown to a user in the right place and in the best format
• Start from discovery and work 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 the work of others to assure quality
• Lead on cross-government content projects
• Engage with and contribute to the cross-government content community

Person specification

Make sure your CV and interview answers explain how you meet the criteria. We recommend using the STAR technique (situation, task, action, result) and first-singular pronouns ('l', 'me', 'my' and 'mine' instead of 'we', 'us', 'our', 'ours').

As a Senior Content Designer, you'll have:

• Extensive experience writing clear and easy to understand content in plain English that meets user needs and achieves the right outcomes
• Extensive experience reviewing, editing and evaluating content following 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 multiple design ideas, designing inclusive services that meet a wide range of access needs
• A proven track record of working closely and negotiating with stakeholders including giving, receiving, and encouraging constructive criticism
• Demonstrable experience in agile working (content design)
• Practitioner level on content concepts and prototyping
• Experience in strategic thinking (content design)
• User focus and user-centred design experience

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £60,230, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £17,448 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides (opens in a new window).At MHCLG we offer many benefits that range from tailored career pathways and flexible working to MyLifestyle Childcare Voucher and Cycle to Work Schemes. For more information, please click here.

Things you need to know

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 (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

Application and Selection
The application process will be split into 2 stages, testing the following Success Profiles:

Behaviours , Experience , Technical

Please ensure your CV does not contain any personally identifiable information.

Note: We do not consider direct CV applications. All applications must be submitted via the provided application link.

Important: Your CV and Cover Letter must be merged into a single document before uploading.

Stage 1: Sift (CV & Cover Letter)

Experience & Technical: Your covering letter should be no more than 1 page referencing how you meet the criteria set out in the job description.

Most of our campaigns utilise multiple assessors and so it is possible that each of your answers would be viewed by different assessors.

In the event that we receive a large number of applications, we may conduct an initial sift using the lead sift question listed in the advert. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to interview.

Lead sift question (Technical): In no more than 250 words, please explain how you deliver a high quality, efficient and cost-effective service by considering a broad range of methods for delivery.

Stage 2: Interview

• Behaviours: Communicating and Influencing, Delivering at Pace, Managing a Quality Service, Developing Self and Others
• Experience: Experience questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as listed in the job description.
• Technical: Technical questions will be based around the essential skills and criteria as list