Lead Content Designer

Are you passionate about creating user-centred content and ready to lead content strategy at a world-class institution? Join The Open University as a Lead Content Designer and shape the future of digital experiences through innovative, accessible, and impactful content.

About the Role

The role of Lead Content Designer sits within Digital Services which is aligned with the Digital, Data and Design Profession which provides for communities of practice which supports professional development. The focus of this role will be to lead the content strategy, and the creation and management of user centred content across services and products to ensure the best possible outcomes for our users. The role sits within the Design Profession in Digital Services and reports into the Head of UX, Interaction and Content Design.

Your main accountability will be

the vision, strategy and design of content across services that are especially complex, high risk or sensitive. You will also be responsible for the development of the Open University’s wider content design strategy. They will line manage Senior content designers and support their professional development.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead content design, strategy and information architecture across a service area containing multiple agile teams, working in collaboration with senior leadership and teams to ensure the service meets user needs, and aligns with and feeds into the organisational content strategy.
• Lead on the development and application of content and format strategies that work across the OU’s content and service landscape, in line with industry best practice, collaborating with other disciplines as required to implement these strategies.
• Lead and coach more junior content designers to design and improve content within a service, and design and improve content across more complex services or service areas with a strategic and holistic mindset.
• Champion usability, accessibility, accuracy and consistency in content design.
• Create space and right conditions for good content design within teams, and across a service area.
• Lead teams and other content designers to identify the needs of users and how well content is performing using analytics, user feedback, user research and other sources of information, to inform content design decisions.
• Enable content designers to identify and collaborate effectively with stakeholders and subject matter experts in the content design process.
• Line manage other content designers, supporting their professional development, providing pastoral care and supporting them to do their best work within their teams.
• Establish, maintain and improve team processes, templates and guidance to ensure content design consistency and best practice across style, accessibility, and usability.
• Lead in the development and sharing of knowledge and best practice in content design, and support internal stakeholders across the OU on content design, including content management standards and content style guide.
• Be a leader and ambassador of the Open University’s User Centred Design Communities of Practice, contributing to our collective knowledge and skills, and joining up to make the design of our content and services more consistent.
• Work with leadership to develop the role of content design in holistically improving the OUs products and services, and the organisations approach to being service led and focused on user needs.
• Enable content designers to negotiate, plan, allocate, manage and deliver content design work across your service area, collaborating where needed, while also managing BAU or unplanned content support work.
• Identify capacity and capability gaps in your teams, working closely with senior leadership to fill those gaps, and identify opportunities for specialist learning and development for yourself and others.
• Support other content designers to on board and upskill in content management tools, systems, processes and principles, and manage content management system (CMS) and content tools including permissions.
• Keep up to date in developments in user centred design, content design, trends and technologies, and share with the wider content design team to build a deep understanding and appreciation of best practice in this field.

About You

• Extensive experience designing, improving and publishing user-centred digital content.
• Strong understanding of how the web works and how to design effective online content.
• Expert knowledge of user-centred design principles and applying accessibility & usability requirements to the design & delivery of service content.
• Proficient in using analytics, user research and user feedback to inform content decisions and improvements.
• Experienced in developing content strategies, improving content processes and using content management systems.
• Proven ability to lead content design work in agile, complex and ambiguous environments.
• Skilled at prioritising, planning and delivering content design projects independently and collaboratively.
• Experienced in coaching, mentoring and establishing content design best practice within and across teams.
• Strong collaborator, able to engage multidisciplinary teams throughout the content design process.
• Experienced in working with stakeholders to understand their issues while maintaining content quality, representing content design both internally and externally.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to influence, negotiate and advocate for user needs.
• Demonstrates curiosity, initiative, continuous improvement and openness to constructive feedback.
• Committed to professional development with the ability to carry out the role in a way that is consistent with equality legislation and the University’s values and relevant policies.

Why Join The Open University?

Our benefits include:

• 33 days annual leave, plus bank holidays and a three-day Christmas closure
• Access to a leading pension scheme with generous employer contributions
• Staff Fee Waivers for OU study, meaning you could earn a degree for free
• Flexible working and family-friendly policies
• Discounts, wellbeing support, and development opportunities

Ready to make an impact? Apply now and help us design content that powers the next generation of learning at one of the UK’s most respected institutions.