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Senior Content Designer

On-site in Manchester·Added today (last checked 23 Oct)

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG)

14 open roles

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Overview

Salary: £60,230 a year
About £3,790 a month after tax.
Work mode: On-site, Manchester
Experience: Senior level
Closing date: Apply by Sunday 8 November
Pension: 28.97% employer pension
Commute: Cycle to work scheme

Skills

The role

Apply before 11:55 pm on Sunday 8th November 2026

Details

Reference number

487053

Salary

£60,230

The salary for this role is £60,230 (National).
For existing civil servants, the usual policy on level transfer and promotion will apply and is non-negotiable. More information can be found in our 'Things you need to know' section further down on this page.

A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%

GBP

Job grade

Grade 7

Contract type

Permanent

Type of role

Digital

Working pattern

Flexible working, Full-time, Job share, Part-time

Number of jobs available

Location

Bristol, Darlington, Manchester, Wolverhampton

About the job

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 listed in the job description.*

*Candidates will be asked to prepare a 5-10 minute presentation, further details will be provided on invitation to interview.

Sift and Interview Dates

Sifting is envisaged to take place the week commencing 9th November 2026.

Interviews are envisaged to take place shortly after and 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..

Applying
Sifting
Interview
Interview Results & Feedback
Reserve List
Near Miss
Civil Service Grades
We are a DCS, RIS & GPTWV employer
Reasonable Adjustments

Human

How to Apply

What you need to know before applying.

Security Clearance Requirements
Civil Service Nationality Requirements
Right to Work
Artificial Intelligence
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 - Internal Fraud Register
Appeals and Complaints
Conflict of Interest

Security Clearance Requirements

National Office: BPSS

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a basic (or equivalent) criminal record check.

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).

Apply and further information

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

Email : Digitaldatajobs@communities.gov.uk

Further information

If you are unsure about any part of the process or require additional information about the post to enable you to progress your application, you should speak to the Resourcing team - Recruitment@communities.gov.uk. Candidates can appeal at any stage of the recruitment process if they believe there has been:
• a procedural irregularity
• an infringement of the Civil Service equal opportunities policy
• exceptional circumstances which were not notified to the interview panel which might have affected performance on the day.
It is important to note that these are appeals about the process not the decision. In the first instance, an appeal should be directed to the MHCLG Resourcing Hub at Recruitment@communities.gov.uk.
If the MHCLG Resourcing Hub is unable to satisfactorily resolve your complaint, you may contact put your complaint in writing to the Civil Service Commission, Room G8,1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ or by email to: info@csc.gov.uk