Senior Content Designer and Technical Writer in Bristol

This is an exciting opportunity for two experienced Senior Content Designer and Technical Writers to join the Health Research Authority and our Digital services and Research Systems Programme (RSP). We are looking for people with proven experience in content and a working knowledge of designing content to GDS guidelines and following the GOV.uk service standard. We would ideally like to speak to people who have worked in organisations that follow these guidelines and potentially those with experience in a health and/or research environment.

The postholder will have excellent stakeholder engagement and communication skills, with the ability to effectively work across our User-Centred Design team and the wider programme. You will be part of a highly successful and driven team delivering critical digital services that support health research across the UK. This is a key role in shaping the future of digital service delivery at the HRA and in helping researchers to do their work more effectively in the UK.

Main duties of the job

• Design and iterate user-centred content following the gov.uk service standard and GDS style guidelines, and user journeys, efficiently and to a high standard to enable users to easily complete their tasks.
• Use analytics data, user feedback and user research to identify the needs of users, map user journeys and inform content strategy.
• Review and contribute direction on the work of other members of the User-Centred Design team containing experts from other disciplines, ideally with experience in working with service and interaction designers.
• Manage relationships between the team and other teams in HRA to ensure consistency and share good practice.
• Contribute to content guidance for the HRA, including content principles and patterns using a user-centred approach, take existing content and develop engaging, informative content that works for our key audiences, focusing on UI, specialist content and documentation.

About us

At the HRA, we are committed to fostering a supportive and inclusive working environment where we actively invest in the development and empowerment of our staff, enabling them to perform at their best. We strive to promote a healthy workplace culture where wellbeing, collaboration, and professional growth are valued and encouraged. Working at the HRA, we support flexible working, recognising that home based or hybrid arrangements provides us with the most productive environment to work well. Where possible, we will offer a working pattern that suits you. The HRA offers home based contracts for all locations. Newcastle based staff can be office based. For our bases in Manchester, Nottingham and Bristol, hybrid working arrangements may be possible. We encourage you to speak with us to explore how this could be accommodated.

We are committed to creating an inclusive workplace that promotes and values diversity. We know from experience that different ideas, perspectives and backgrounds create a stronger, more creative workplace that helps us to deliver the best services. We welcome applications which represent the rich diversity of our community: age, disability, gender identity and expression, ethnicity, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation and other diverse characteristics, and we have policies in place to ensure that all applicants are treated fairly and consistently at every stage of the recruitment process.

Job responsibilities

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification documents for full details about this role. When completing your application, ensure you clearly demonstrate how your experience and skills align with the criteria outlined for this position.

We recognise that generative AI tools can be helpful in supporting applicants during the recruitment process, particularly for tasks such as proofreading, structuring, or refining written responses. However, we encourage candidates to use AI responsibly and sparingly. Applications should reflect your authentic voice, personal experiences, and genuine qualifications. Over reliance on AI-generated content can result in generic or inaccurate submissions that fail to meet the criteria or convey your individuality. Misrepresentation of skills, knowledge, or experience, including through AI-generated content, may lead to the rejection of your application, withdrawal of your offer, or your dismissal if you do start with us. If you choose to use AI, please ensure it enhances rather than replaces your own input, and be transparent about its use where appropriate. False and insincere examples go against our values of integrity and transparency.

We are unable to offer employment under any sponsorship arrangement as we do not hold a sponsorship licence. Applications requiring sponsorship will not be considered. Applications that do not clearly demonstrate how the essential criteria outlined in the person specification are met will not be shortlisted. Only the information provided in the application form will be considered. CVs will not be reviewed. We do not accept applications via recruitment agencies or other third parties. The HRA reserves the right to close this vacancy early should it receive a sufficient number of applications. Our fixed term roles are also open to applicants who wish to apply on a secondment basis. Applicants who fit this category are advised to speak with their line manager before applying and visit their organisations Secondments Policy.

Organisational structure and directorate overview

The HRA is made up of five directorates: Approvals, Chief Executive, Digital, Policy and Partnerships and Resources. This role sits within HRA Digital. The digital directorate is responsible for developing, delivering and supporting complex solutions within the HRA's portfolio of UK-wide information systems for health and care research. This includes a major programme to build new systems, and to achieve the successful migration and eventual closure of current systems. The directorate owns, develops, and delivers the HRA's digital strategy in line with government digital and functional standards. The HRA Digital team is a collaborative, supportive team consisting of HRA employees, secondees, contractors and vendors.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Educated to Master's level in a relevant field, or significant relevant working experience of the subject matter equivalent to this level of qualification.

Knowledge, Skills and Expertise

• Providing advice and guidance across projects on both content design methodologies and GDS standards related to content and deliverables.
• Knowledge and expertise in reviewing and improving processes around content.
• Knowledge of content management systems such as Umbraco and Drupal.

Experience

• Experience in Senior / Content Designer role.

Analytical and Judgemental Skills

• Identifying content needs and ensure they are captured and implemented as part of a project.
• An understanding of accessibility of content and testing user understanding whilst maintaining compliance.
• Expert in working strategically.

Interpersonal Skills

• Encourage a continuous improvement mindset in teams and more junior content colleagues.

Knowledge, Skills and Expertise

• Expertise in producing engaging long-form and guidance content for healthcare professionals and researchers.
• Confident in explaining content standards to senior stakeholders and acting as a persuasive advocate for the content within the team and wider organisation.

Experience

• Expert in Government Digital Service guidelines to ensure all content follows GDS standards.
• Knowledge and experience of content life cycle management, being part of content review cycles, evaluated and iterated where needed.

Other

• Commitment to inclusivity and valuing diversity.

Knowledge, Skills and Expertise

• Expertise in combining user research and analytics to problem solve through design iterations and improve user experience.
• Develop innovative and creative ways to share content philosophy and the importance of the work we do.
• Highly computer literate, familiar with the latest content methodologies and collaborative tools such as JIRA and Lucid.

Experience

• Working within multidisciplinary agile teams, and experience creating epics and user stories.

Analytical and Judgemental Skills

• Excellent problem solving and analytical skills.
• Work collaboratively to seek, request and absorb research of users and their experiences to further improve the product in line with other standards.
• Expertise in creating, iterating, managing and overseeing content.

Interpersonal Skills

• The ability to inspire colleagues.
• Helping facilitate conflict resolution within teams or professions.