Senior Content Designer
Scottish GovernmentOverview
Do you want to shape the delivery of Scotland’s Census, enabling governments and other public bodies to plan the services we all rely on, and telling the story of Scotland's people for generations to come? If so, this post could be for you.
We are the trusted producer of Scotland’s population statistics, including taking the Census of Scotland’s population every 10 years. The next Census is in 2031 and will be delivered in partnership with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency (NISRA). This is one of the largest digital programmes delivered in Scotland, gathering data from every household across a population of c.5.7m. Census data is used by government, local authorities, health boards, the third and private sectors to plan national and local services and informs the allocation of billions of pounds of UK and Scottish Government public funds each year.
NRS is a Non-Ministerial Department of the Scottish Government & and our staff are part UK Civil Service, working for Ministers and senior stakeholders to deliver vital public services which improve the lives of the people of Scotland.
We are looking for a skilled and motivated Senior Content Designer who will support teams to design products and services and that are user-centred and evidence-based.
You will collaborate with teams across the programme including operations, statistics, technology, policy, communications, finance, procurement and commercial. A significant part of the role will also be collaborating with other census taking offices in the rest of the United Kingdom. This is an exciting opportunity to design products and services that will support every household in Scotland.
You should note that Scotland’s Census is a time limited project which will run until 2032 depending on the role. Please contact the line manager named in this advert if you have any further questions.
Responsibilities
Agile working (content design)
- Work in agile teams and help them to manage and visualise outcomes, prioritise work, define scope and agree a minimum viable product (MVP).
- Adapt, reflect and be responsive to feedback.
Content concepts and prototyping
Choose the best option to make content understandable to different audiences and show proposed approaches to content design through the creation of prototypes and content plans.
Explain how the pattern choice or need for a new pattern, publishing approach and metadata will shape how the content will be published and managed.
Stakeholder relationship management (content design)
- Negotiate with stakeholders and influence decisions, dealing with challenging situations and removing blockers.
- Act as a point of escalation if stakeholder relationships break down or to support more junior members of staff.
Strategic thinking (content design)
- Create and implement content strategies and processes, balancing the business objectives and needs of users.
User focus (content design)
- Work within a multidisciplinary team to shape and record design decisions and design debt across complex user journeys, creating and advocating for content that meets the needs of users.
- Set performance measures for content to evidence how the design meets user needs and in turn supports business objectives.
User-centred (content design)
- Use data, research and evidence to plan, write, design and edit content across multiple channels that meets content styles and standards.
- Take responsibility for ensuring the quality of content from more junior colleagues (if you have them), coaching and guiding them to improve.
- Set review dates and monitor the effectiveness of content to make continuous improvements.
- Engage with and contribute to the Scottish Government content design community of practice.
Responsibilities
- Your experience of working in an agile team and using agile tools allows you to use an iterative and flexible approach to rapidly deliver content.
- Your experience of creating content prototypes and patterns, and using content management systems, allows you to create prototypes that show value to others and publish content.
- Your experience of leading the design of content and using data to review, evaluate and improve it, allows you to direct and critique the content design work of others.
- Your experience of negotiating and influencing stakeholders allows you to manage expectations, influence decisions, handle objections and deal with challenging situations
- Making effective decisions – Level 3
Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can be used to support your application, but all statements and examples 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, and presented as your own) applications will be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on acceptable and unacceptable uses of AI in recruitment.
Recruitment Principles
As a government organisation, we adhere to the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles and we investigate any complaints received in relation to recruitment cases.
Qualifications
We are the trusted producer of Scotland’s population statistics, including taking the Census of Scotland’s population every 10 years. The next Census is in 2031 and will be delivered in partnership with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Northern Ireland Statistics & Research Agency (NISRA). This is one of the largest digital programmes delivered in Scotland, gathering data from every household across a population of c.5.7m. Census data is used by government, local authorities, health boards, the third and private sectors to plan national and local services and informs the allocation of billions of pounds of UK and Scottish Government public funds each year.
NRS is a Non-Ministerial Department of the Scottish Government & and our staff are part UK Civil Service, working for Ministers and senior stakeholders to deliver vital public services which improve the lives of the people of Scotland.
Our standard hours are 35 hours per week and we offer a range of flexible working options depending on the needs of the role.
Candidates should note that office attendance will be needed at points in particular for collaboration sessions but there is currently no fixed set days in addition there will be occasional travel to other UK agencies. If you have specific questions about the role you are applying for, please contact us.
Successful candidates must complete the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS), before they can be appointed. BPSS is comprised of four main pre-employment checks – Identity, Right to work, Employment History and a Criminal Record check (unspent convictions ).
You can find out more about BPSS on the UK Government website, or read about the different levels of security checks in our Candidate Guide.
Scotland’s Census is a time limited project which will run until 2032 depending on the role. Please contact the hiring manager if you have any further questions.