Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
Content Designer
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Bristol, Darlington, Manchester, Wolverhampton
Job Summary
Here at the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government (MHCLG), we work on things that make a real difference to people’s lives. Whether through the homes we live in, the work of local councils, or the communities we are part of, our work is high-profile and central to government priorities. With ambitious outcomes ahead, there has never been a more exciting time to join us.
The Content Improvement Team (CIT), within the Digital Directorate, plays a key role in improving the quality, usability and impact of internal content across the department. As a Content Designer, you will be part of both the CIT and the wider Content Design and UCD communities.
You will lead high-profile content improvement projects, taking ownership from discovery through to delivery and iteration. This includes identifying user needs, mapping end-to-end journeys, and addressing duplication to create clear, accessible and effective content. You will use evidence and research to inform decisions, run content reviews, and ensure improvements are measurable and visible across the organisation.
Working closely with policy teams, content owners and senior leaders, you will guide stakeholders through user-centred content practices, helping to build understanding and adoption of content design principles. You will confidently apply GDS and WCAG standards to ensure all content is accessible, inclusive and high quality.
Alongside project work, you will contribute to the ongoing development of the department’s intranet. This includes responding to requests, identifying patterns and opportunities for improvement, and supporting governance and continuous enhancement of the platform to meet evolving user needs. We are looking for a collaborative and proactive content professional who can balance multiple priorities, influence stakeholders, and advocate for best practice, while working independently to deliver impactful outcomes.
Job Description
As a Content Designer you will:
- Lead and organise the redesign of content across platforms and tools
- Support design and promotion of internal content strategy and support its application through governance routes
- Conduct research to gather insights on pain points and poor practice within a platform to shape content redesign
- Advise and steer teams and individuals on enacting best‑practice next steps
- Confidently steer and direct subject matter experts, content owners and wider teams, helping them understand and adopt good content governance and futureproofing
- Design, test and roll out end to end content solutions that consider the wide range of user journeys through a platform or area of content
- Balance multiple large-scale projects and meet deadlines in a fast‑paced environment
- Apply user‑centred design principles to create clear, accessible and purposeful content
- Support the development and delivery of content governance processes
- Triage requests in the intranet inbox and use the content management system to edit and publish HTML guidance across the intranet
- Lead your own content critiques, user research sessions and pair‑writing activities with colleagues
- Make sure all content meets accessibility standards, including best practice and the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG)
- Support and deliver showcases of content redesign work across the department to raise awareness and engagement
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Person specification
As a Content Designer you will be:
- experienced in user-centred design principles and delivering within them
- confident in conducting various forms of research to shape and iterate content
- experienced in supporting the development and/or delivery of content strategy
- experienced in developing and delivering content governance processes
- confident working quickly and independently, able to prioritise your workload and act as lead with senior stakeholders
- experienced in working to advocate for content and accessibility best practice
- able to drive improvements and make efficiencies and improvements happen
- interested in AI and how we can use these tools in our content improvement work
- have experience of working across different content management platforms such as SharePoint and more
Alongside your salary of £44,004, Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government contributes £12,747 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.
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:
- Ability
- Behaviours
- Experience
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: 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.
Stage 2: Interview
Behaviours: Communicating and Influencing, Seeing the Big Picture, Changing and Improving
Ability
Candidates will be asked to complete a short task ahead of their interview, further details will be provided on invitation to interview.
Sift and Interview Dates
Sifting is envisaged to take place from 2nd September 2026 with interview dates to follow.
Interviews are currently being held remotely via videocall. This could be subject to change.
How We Recruit
Find out everything you need to know before applying here..
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- Applying
- Sifting
- Interview
- Interview Results & Feedback
- Reserve List
- Near Miss
- Civil Service Grades
- We are a DCS, RIS & GPTWV employer
- Reasonable Adjustments
How To Apply
What you need to know before applying.
You must review the following information from the MHCLG Career's Site before submitting your application. This step is essential to ensure your eligibility for the role and that your application is completed correctly.
- Security Clearance Requirements
- Civil Service Nationality Requirements
- Right to Work
- Civil Service Code and Recruitment Principles
- CV Declaration
- Sponsorships
- Salary and Grade
- Existing Civil Servants
- Conflict of Interest
- Location and Flexible Working
- Fixed Term Contracts
- Internal Fraud Database
- Appeals and Complaints
Security Clearance Requirements
National Office: BPSS
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.
Nationality requirements
This Job Is Broadly Open To The Following Groups
- UK nationals
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
- individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
- Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.
We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).
The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.
The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job Contact
Name: Digital Data Jobs
Email: digitaldatajobs@communities.gov.uk
Recruitment team
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