About the job

Job summary

Are you a highly skilled and experienced graphic designer? Do you have a wealth of knowledge in design and a keen eye for visual aesthetics?

Do you want to use your creativity to support the development of content that makes a real impact on people and businesses across the UK?

Join the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) and work on a range of high-profile cases and projects and communicate our work that makes a difference to millions of people’s lives.

About Us

We help people, businesses, and the UK economy by promoting competitive markets and tackling unfair behaviour. Our work is wide ranging, ambitious and often new and challenging.

You can read more about working at the CMA in our candidate pack.

Job description

As Senior Creative Officer, you will join the Creative and Campaigns Team. We are a small, friendly and collaborative team, responsible for overseeing the CMA’s social media, campaigns, graphic design, and insights.

You will be responsible for planning, managing, and delivering work for our busy graphic design function – often to tight deadlines – and you will be expected to feed into the creative development process for our social media and campaigns work.

Alongside the Digital Graphic Designer, you will design content for use across all the CMA’s digital channels, including GOV.UK and social media, in addition to designing materials for events and other projects.

You will ensure the quality assurance of all design outputs as well as the ongoing protection of our brand. Alongside the Deputy Head of Digital Communications, you will own the CMA’s brand guidelines. This will involve advising colleagues at all levels within the organisation on how to apply them.

You will also continually work to develop and evolve our approach to design work by keeping up to date with developments in the world of design.

Person specification

It is essential that you can provide evidence and examples for each of the following selection criteria in your application. For tips on how to make the most your application, please have a look at our guidance document.

Essential: Ability to use conceptual thinking to devise creative products, working alongside colleagues from other specialisms. (Lead Criteria) Experience of dealing with brand guidelines, and ensuring compliance, including overseeing the work of others, and acting as the brand guardian for an organisation. (Lead Criteria) Ability to manage projects from concept, design to delivery, drawing in additional resource as required, to successfully meet deadlines and prevent work stalling. (Lead Criteria) Experience delivering high-quality design work across a range of creative products. Expert level skills in Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign etc) Desirable: Skills in producing short creative video animation work.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £46,000, Competition & Markets Authority contributes £12,420 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, Experience and Technical skills.

The selection process will comprise of the sift (CV & application review) and interview.

An initial sift based on lead criteria 1,2 and 3 may be held if a large number of applications are received.

If your application then progresses to a full sift, all elements of the essential criteria listed under Person Specification of the role profile will then be considered.

The sifting dates are from 21st May - 24th May 2024.

If your application is successful, you will be invited to attend an interview.

The first part of the interview will be an assessment to assess your technical skills, this can include a presentation and/or in-tray exercise, details of which shall be given nearer the time. This will be followed by a 45-50 minute panel interview and questions based on the behaviours and experience specified in the role profile will be asked. 

You will also be asked a question based on one of our values - Excellence. 

Interviews will be held in-person at our London office. 

Interviews will be held on 31st May and 3rd June 2024, if there's any change to these dates, candidates shall be notified. 

Reasonable adjustments

You will be notified via email to log-in to your Civil Service Account to book your interview slot. You will then be sent an email with full details of your arrangements for interview.

We want to make sure no one is at a disadvantage during our recruitment process because of a disability, condition, or impairment. To assist you with this, we will reduce or remove any barriers where possible and provide additional support where appropriate.

If you need a change to be made so that you can make your application, you should complete the “Assistance required” section in the “Additional requirements” page of your application form to tell us what changes or help you might need during the recruitment process.

For example, you may need wheelchair access at interview, or if you are deaf, a Language Service Professional. You might also require additional time to complete a timed assessment or a sign language interpreter to support with the relaying of information.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check. Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). 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.