Senior Content Designer

Vacancy title: Senior Content Designer

Closing date: 12/05/2026, 16:00

Advertising basis: Permanent

Actual starting salary: £47,675

Salary range or pay band: SEO £47,675 to £56,445

Allowances: No

Work pattern: Full time (applications are welcome from people who work part time, as part of a job share or who work full time)

Group: Health, Social Care and Early Years

Directorate: Strategy

Branch: Digital

Location (s): Cardiff

Main office base: Cathays, Cardiff

Purpose of post: Welsh Government

The Welsh Government delivers digital services to people and business across Wales. Led by our Chief Digital Officer, the Welsh Government is increasingly delivering more services online and has a vision (outlined in the Digital Strategy for Wales) of improving the lives of everyone through collaboration, innovation and better public services. To achieve this vision, the Welsh Government needs specialist digital, data and technology skills across all departments in the organisation to improve the services and policies we develop for Welsh citizens. For more information about the benefits of making a difference with us, please see the Employee Benefits Pack.

Team/Division Overview:

This role is based within the Health and Social Care communications team, leading on all Gov.Wales content across the portfolio. It is a fast paced, user-focussed role which supports the delivery of government priority work. The senior content designer will be linked into strategic planning and will help make the work of the group visible and accessible to ministers, stakeholders and the public.

Job Role:

This post is mapped to the Senior Content Designer role/level in the DDaT Profession Capability Framework. Follow the link to understand the role and the required skills.

Senior content designers are expert practitioners responsible for content quality and small teams. They develop and implement approaches to reviewing content at all stages of the user journey They are responsible for creating, evaluating, updating, and reviewing content and are comfortable using evidence, data, and research to make content decisions They build relationships across government to focus on user needs and influence stakeholders They contribute to and use corporate style guides / content patterns and are active in content communities.

We are looking for an experienced and enthusiastic senior content designer to join our team. You will play a key role in making sure we meet our statutory publication responsibilities, with a focus on clear digital communication and the user experience. You will manage another content specialist, managing the quality of our digital content on Health and social care | Topic | GOV.WALES and other digital channels. You will also work closely with colleagues in the wider digital team and across the organisation, engaging with, and contributing to, the cross-government content community. You will build relationships across government to focus on the needs of the user and to influence stakeholders and will be responsible for content strategies, policies, style guides and standards. You will be a skilled editor with attention to detail. You will also know how to write simply and clearly, with the user in mind, and you will have the confidence to champion high-quality content within the organisation. You will be a crucial part of growing our content design capacity as we seek to transform our products to better meet user needs. To help on this journey, we need somebody with enthusiasm and perseverance who can make the case for the change then see this through to the finished product. You will work with subject matter experts to design content to meet user needs and make complex language and processes easy to understand.

Key tasks:

As the most Senior Content Designer and Web Manager in Health and Social Care, you will:

• Work autonomously and have responsibility for the health and social care area of GOV.WALES, ensuring content is user-centred and consistently meets publishing standards.
• Lead and direct strategic content improvement projects, driving content improvement in the health and social care area of GOV.WALES, with a focus on clear digital communication and the user experience. This includes reviewing existing content and upskilling health and social care policy officials and content providers in how to write for the web.
• Build long-term strategic relationships and communicate clearly and regularly with stakeholders, supporting mutual needs and commitments while focusing on user needs.
• Lead and develop content in order to embed good practice on layout, accessibility and data visualisation, making information accessible to all.
• Use data, research and evidence to review and evaluate content in order to drive continuous improvement.
• Take responsibility for assuring the quality of content from more junior colleagues, and coaching and guiding them to improve.
• Manage one staff member and have responsibility for the publication work programme of the health and social care web publishing team, deciding how work is allocated amongst the team.
• Oversee the creation, checking and publishing of webpages from content provided by policy teams to strict deadlines, using content management system.
• Ensure statutory responsibilities and professional publication standards are met.

Development opportunities:

This role is part of the DDaT profession and the Health and Social Care communications team and wider communications profession, with opportunity to develop leadership and technical skills in both areas.

Other vacancy related information

In the event of a large number of applications, an initial sift will be conducted against the lead assessment criterion: Experience 1. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift or progressed straight to assessment/ interview. Interviews will be held in person at the Welsh Government’s Cathays Park office. A reserve list may be held for this opportunity. Any candidate who is successful in being offered a reserve status, will remain on the reserve list for 12 months. A written test on technical ability will be required at Stage 2. More information will be provided in the invitations to that stage.

Contact point for further information regarding the post:

Email: HSScomms@gov.wales

Welsh language requirements:

3 - Welsh language skills are not essential for this post, they are however desirable and will be considered if two or more candidates receive the same score at the application or interview stage.

Behaviour 1:

The selection process and stages are:

Leadership Consider the impacts of own and team’s activities on stakeholders and end users.

Evidence to provide:

Experience questions

• Substantial content design experience, including working with a content management system and applying standards and style guides to content.
• Significant experience in advocating for a user-centred approach and good content practices.
• Ability to work autonomously on managing an extensive portfolio of digital content, and independently recommend content improvements within the framework of standards and style guides.

Technical

• User-centred content design – deliver through others, and direct and critique their work.
• Strategic thinking (content design) – lead and direct strategic content improvement projects, focusing effort in the areas of greatest priority and ensuring goals and objectives are met.

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)
• 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

Benefits

All Welsh Government staff are members of the Civil Service, and as a result are eligible for:

• Civil Service Pension Scheme
• 31 days annual leave (pro-rated for part time)
• training and development opportunities
• Cycle2Work Scheme
• Smart Working flexible working arrangement
• Green Car Scheme (subject to availability)

If you are an active Civil Service Pension member you can continue your membership throughout your employment with us. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition. Please see the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles on the Commission's website. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and wish to make a complaint please email complaints@gov.wales. Please ensure that you refer to the vacancy reference number. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Welsh Government, you can contact the Civil Service Commission: info@csc.gov.uk.

How To Apply

All applications for this vacancy must be made using our online application system. Unless stated otherwise in the 'Other vacancy-related information for advert', the Welsh Government cannot offer Visa sponsorship. Welsh Government holds a Visa sponsorship licence, but this can only be used for certain roles and this campaign does not qualify. Applications are welcomed from people with a diverse range of lived and professional experiences. We are actively committed to becoming an increasingly diverse organisation which represents the diverse communities we serve. There are a number of Diversity networks that staff can participate in, which include the Disability Awareness and Support Staff Network; Minority Ethnic Staff Network; Mind Matters (Mental health and well-being); PRISM (LGBTI+), Women Together and the Neurodivergence Network. If you have an impairment which prevents you from applying online, please email our recruitment team. You can: request an application pack in an alternative format request a recruitment adjustment to help you submit your application

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