About the job

Job summary

About The Insolvency Service

The Insolvency Service is a leading Government agency which plays a crucial role in providing essential services to the public and to business. The work we do is important to the proper functioning of markets, the economy in general and support for thousands of people each year who are in financial difficulty.  

Inclusive and diverse teams are important to us. We welcome and encourage applications from everyone, including groups underrepresented in our workforce. The Insolvency Service strives to ensure that the agency is a safe, inclusive and welcoming place for everybody to bring their true self to work and to help the agency to achieve its diversity objectives. We have 10 active employee network groups available to join or become an ally, these include, Carers Network, Disability & Health, FACES Network Group, Grass Roots, LGBT+, Mind Matters, No Limits, Part Time Workers, The Shed, and Women’s Network Group. 

We offer full-time, part-time, job share and flexible ways of working. We value capability, technical skills and experience and we place great emphasis on lifetime development to support our people.   

The Insolvency Service is a great place to work, learn and grow your career! 

The Position

This role currently sits within the Chief Executive Directorate as part of the User Design team. You'll be working alongside a multi-discipline team of content designers, user researchers and customer insight specialists, creating user-centred services and setting the standards and direction needed to improve customer experience.

We are looking for a senior content designer to join our User Design team. Working alongside the rest of the team, you will provide content design expertise on all digital services, guidance and letters where content design is a key part of the scope, using a variety of user experience design techniques and methodologies. Alongside this, you will hold responsibility for content quality, manage a small team of content designers and mentor content colleagues.

We are a small team that works closely and collaboratively. You'll be supported by the team and encouraged to suggest improvements, make changes and figure things out together.

You'll have the opportunity to work across different services and different types of content, working with teams across the Insolvency Service.

Job description

As Senior Content Designer, you will work within the User Design team to lead on major pieces of content work. This is an exciting role within our Chief Executive Division to drive improvement across the Insolvency Service.

You'll work on a mix of letters, GOV.UK content and digital service. You'll be responsible for writing high-profile advice, as well as working on new functionality and improvements to user experience across our services. You'll lead complex projects and manage senior stakeholders. You'll support, train, and line manage other Content Designers. 

Responsibilities

As Senior Content Designer, you will:

• Ensure content meets user needs and allows users to complete essential tasks.
• Create, update and review content for end-to-end user journeys.
• Write letters, GOV.UK guidance, and content for new and existing digital services
• Ensure content is in the right format and shown to users in the right place.
• Use evidence, research and data to make the right content decisions.
• Work in a multidisciplinary team across digital and non-digital channels.
• Contribute to and use style guides and design patterns to produce consistent content.
• Influence stakeholders and manage relationships effectively to influence decisions, deal with challenging situations and remove blockers.
• Collaborate with user researchers and the wider User Design team to advocate effectively for users.
• Have a deep understanding of end-to-end journeys and how content is affected within these journeys and identify where journey fixes or content improvements need to be made.
• Mentor more junior content designers, helping them learn more about content design and gain new skills.
• Be responsible for managing the Content Design team, including 2i-ing work created by the team.

Person specification

It is essential that the successful candidate has:

• Experience of working in multidisciplinary teams
• Experience of driving content design practices, tools and techniques
• Experience in creating digital and non-digital content as part of an internal or external customer-facing service, including continuous improvement.
• Experience of working with stakeholders to communicate what you can and can’t deliver. 
• A good understanding of user centred design principles and content accessibility.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £41,880, Insolvency Service contributes £11,307 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Things you need to know

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Behaviours and Experience.

As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a CV and a 750-word personal statement. Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form. 

Your personal statement should be no more than 750 words outlining what you can bring to the role with outlining your experience against the ‘about you’ and Essential skills above. 

Should a large number of applications be received, an initial sift may be conducted using the Personal Statement. Candidates who pass the initial sift may be progressed to a full sift, or progressed straight to interview. 

We will test your experience as part of the sift process, and if successful, you will be invited to a short interview where we will test your behaviours. Full details of the selection process will be made available to shortlisted candidates once the sift has been completed. 

Expected Timeline (subject to change) 

Sift – w/c 10/06/2024 

Interview – w/c 24/06/2024

Location - MS Teams 

Candidates are asked to note the above timetable, exercising flexibility through the recruitment and selection process.

Further Information

A reserve list may be held for a period of 12 months from which further appointments can be made.

Any move to Insolvency Service from another employer will mean you can no longer access childcare vouchers. This includes moves between government departments. You may however be eligible for other government schemes, including Tax Free Childcare. Determine your eligibility at https://www.childcarechoices.gov.uk

If successful and transferring from another Government Department a criminal record check may be carried out.

In order to process applications without delay, we will be sending a Criminal Record Check to Disclosure and Barring Service on your behalf.

However, we recognise in exceptional circumstances some candidates will want to send their completed forms direct. If you will be doing this, please advise Government Recruitment Service of your intention by emailing Pre-EmploymentChecks.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk stating the job reference number in the subject heading. 

For further information on the Disclosure Scotland confidential checking service telephone: the Disclosure Scotland Helpline on 0870 609 6006 and ask to speak to the operations manager in confidence, or email Info@disclosurescotland.co.uk

New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.

Transforming Workplaces

The Insolvency Service is currently delivering an exciting five-year transformation project that started in April 2022 which will define our future direction supporting a gradual migration to a Regional Centre model combined with smarter ways of working. As part of this, transforming our estate will align us with the government modernisation programmes making The Insolvency Service a great place to work.  

We are letting you know about our future plans because if you are joining the Insolvency Service and are recruited into an office over the next five years that is not one of the Regional Centres, you will be expected to move to one of the Regional Centres in the future. This move would not attract financial assistance.   

The 11 Regional Centres are : Birmingham, Cardiff, Croydon, Edinburgh, Exeter, Ipswich, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Stratford.

Hybrid Working

Insolvency Service operates a hybrid working policy subject to business need, giving people the flexibility to choose when and where they work and collaborate with others.

Individuals are expected to work from one of the office locations stated in the advert to connect with their colleagues, as required by their role and business team needs. There is flexibility to split the working week, spending a minimum of 60% in the workplace, which includes the office, site visits, court etc.

Reasonable Adjustment

If a person with disabilities is put at a substantial disadvantage compared to a non-disabled person, we have a duty to make reasonable changes to our processes. 

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should: 

Contact Government Recruitment Service via insolvencyrecruitment.grs@cabinetoffice.gov.uk as soon as possible before the closing date to discuss your needs. 

Complete the ‘Assistance required’ section in the ‘Additional requirements’ page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need further on in the recruitment process. For instance, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you’re deaf, a Language Service Professional.

If you are experiencing accessibility problems with any attachments on this advert, please contact the email address in the 'Contact point for applicants' section.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

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) (opens in a new window)
• 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

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window). The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria. The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.