Lead Content Designer - Guidance

Basis: Permanent, Full time 36 hours per week

Location: Cardiff, Belfast, Edinburgh or (Hybrid – min. 2 days in office) or Remote (UK)

Benefits: Outstanding benefits including Civil Service Pension Scheme, flexible working, 28+ days holiday, and more.

About the Electoral Commission

The Electoral Commission is the UK’s independent body overseeing elections and regulating political finance. Everything we do is about ensuring trust, participation, and integrity in the democratic process.

As we continue to deliver our five-year Corporate Plan, the Commission is building on a period of growth and change, expanding our workforce and modernising how we deliver our services to better support the needs of a changing democracy. As our organisation develops and adapts to meet future challenges, this post will play a vital part in supporting that progress and helping ensure we remain responsive to the democratic needs of voters, campaigners, parties and electoral administrators across the UK.

About the role

We're working on an exciting transformation of how guidance is delivered across the UK and are looking for an experienced Lead Content Designer to help shape this work.

This role will lead the redesign and redevelopment of the Commission's guidance content as part of a major corporate website transformation programme. Working across multidisciplinary teams, you'll ensure our guidance is accessible, user-centred and meets the needs of a diverse range of electoral stakeholders.

You will provide strategic leadership for content design, helping to establish content standards, governance frameworks and sustainable publishing processes that enable high-quality guidance services across the organisation.

Key responsibilities include:

• Leading the content design approach for the redevelopment of electoral and regulatory guidance services
• Working with user researchers, policy specialists and digital colleagues to understand user needs and improve content journeys
• Developing content standards, governance processes and best practice guidance
• Managing relationships with internal stakeholders and external delivery partners
• Using analytics, user research and feedback to continually improve guidance services
• Championing accessibility, plain English and user-centred design principles across the Commission

This is an opportunity to make a lasting impact on how electoral guidance is delivered and accessed across the UK, helping support the effective administration of democracy.

About the team

The Guidance Team is responsible for producing and maintaining authoritative guidance that supports electoral administrators, candidates, agents, campaigners and others involved in the democratic process. The team plays a critical role in helping ensure elections are delivered consistently, accurately and in line with legislative requirements.

Working closely with colleagues from Digital Communications, Policy, Legal and wider Electoral Administration and Regulation directorate, the team is committed to delivering high-quality services that genuinely meet user needs. The culture is collaborative, inclusive and supportive, with a strong focus on continuous improvement and innovation.

This role will sit at the heart of a significant organisational transformation programme, offering the opportunity to work with colleagues from across the Commission while helping shape the future of our digital guidance services.

Who we’re looking for

You'll be an experienced content design professional who combines strategic thinking with a practical ability to deliver lasting change. You'll have a passion for creating accessible, user-focused content and be confident working in complex environments where multiple stakeholders and priorities need to be balanced.

You'll be successful in this role if you can confidently influence others, use evidence to drive decision-making and bring people together around a shared vision for better digital services.

We're particularly interested in candidates who can demonstrate:

• Significant experience leading content design, content strategy or digital content transformation work
• Experience delivering large-scale website content redevelopment projects
• Strong understanding of user-centred design principles and accessibility standards
• Experience using user research, analytics and insight to improve content and services
• Excellent stakeholder management and influencing skills
• The ability to translate complex information into clear, accessible guidance
• Strong planning, prioritisation and project management capabilities

Why work for us?

The Role:

This is a rare opportunity to lead a nationally significant content transformation programme that directly supports the delivery of elections across the UK.

You'll have the chance to shape organisational approaches to content design, influence strategic decisions and leave a lasting legacy through the development of modern, user-centred guidance services. Working with senior stakeholders and multidisciplinary teams, you'll gain valuable experience delivering complex transformation within a respected public body.

The role offers substantial autonomy, visibility and exposure, making it an excellent opportunity for an experienced content leader looking to further develop their strategic impact and leadership experience.

The Office:

Our offices provide welcoming, collaborative spaces where colleagues can connect, share ideas and work together across teams. Whether based in London, Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh, you will be part of a supportive working environment that balances the benefits of in-person collaboration with the flexibility of hybrid working.

The Benefits:

We offer a strong total reward package, including:

• Flexible working and hybrid model for office-based staff, with a minimum of 40% of working time spent in the office
• Flexi-time scheme, allowing flexible hours with the option to accrue and take flexi leave
• 28 rising to 30 days annual leave + bank holidays
• Civil Service pension scheme (28.97% employer contribution)
• Performance-related pay

How to apply

We are committed to fair and inclusive recruitment. To help reduce unconscious bias and ensure all applicants are assessed solely on their skills, knowledge and experience, we use an anonymous recruitment process.

When applying, please provide an anonymised CV which omits your protected characteristics and any personally identifiable information:

Do not include:

• Your name, address, phone number, email or other contact details
• Your date of birth or age
• Gender, ethnicity, nationality or other personal identifiers
• A photo of yourself
• Remove educational dates as these are a clear indication of your age
• There is no requirement to include your primary education details.

Do include:

• Your employment history including employers and dates of employment
• Explanation for gaps in your history
• Your duties, responsibilities and achievements

If your CV contains personal details (such as your name or contact information), we will be unable to consider your application. Please double-check your documents before submitting, including the file name you use to save and upload your CV.

Supporting disabled applicants

The Electoral Commission is proud to be a Level 2 Disability Confident Employer. As part of this commitment, we aim to prioritise interviews for disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria listed in the job description.

There may, however, be occasions where it is not practicable or appropriate to interview all disabled applicants who meet the essential criteria. For example, during periods of exceptionally high application volumes or seasonal recruitment activity, the Commission may need to limit the overall number of interviews offered to both disabled and non-disabled applicants.

If you have a disability and would like to be considered under this commitment, please indicate this when you apply. We also welcome requests for reasonable adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process or within the workplace.

Key dates

• Application deadline: Friday 30 October (23:59)
• Interviews: Week commencing 9 November
• Anticipated start date: ASAP

Interviews may be conducted either in person or virtually via Microsoft Teams. You will be notified of the process if selected for intervie