Junior Content Designer London, England
Job description
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Salary
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Information Technology
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Contents
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About the job
Benefits
Things you need to know
Apply and further information
Location
About the job
Job summary
The first duty of the government is to keep citizens safe and the country secure. The Home Office has been at the front line of this effort since 1782. As such, we play a fundamental role in maintaining the security and economic prosperity of the UK.
The Home Office leads on immigration and passports, refugee protection, counter-terrorism, policing, fire services, and crime and drugs policy.
Digital Data and Technology (DDaT) enables the Home Office to keep the UK safe and secure. We design and build the services that help people apply for visas or passports; support policing and counter-terrorism operations; and protect the UK’s borders.
This is an exciting time to be at the Home Office. You’ll have a chance to shape the future and support our mission to deliver exceptional public services that work for everyone.
Our work is guided by these principles:
- we put user needs first
- we value delivery and outcomes over process
- we work in the open
Our flexible working policy ensures a healthy work-life balance. We also nurture talent and offer a broad range of learning and development opportunities that will help you flourish in your role.
We work hard to maintain a positive working culture and are committed to helping you fulfil your potential. We value diversity and provide an open, inclusive and supportive environment to help you do your best work.
You can keep up-to-date with our work on the Home Office DDaT blog.
Job description
Working in the intranet content team, you’ll manage a fast-paced content request ticketing system, and create and publish clear, accurate and user-led content for the Home Office’s intranet.
We design and publish content to help staff find policy and guidance documents they need to do their jobs, helping the Home Office to keep the UK safe and secure.
You’ll have excellent organisational and IT skills, strong editorial experience and web-writing skills (especially plain English), and a good knowledge of content usability and accessibility.
You’ll work flexibly on business-as-usual tasks and on projects, and build relationships with stakeholders, policy officials and content designers working on other Home Office digital platforms
Person specification
Your main day-to-day responsibilities will include:
- managing the team’s content request ticketing system – assigning tasks to team members, and ensuring publishing deadlines are met
- responding to queries (including page statistics) and users’ feedback
- monitoring content reviews with stakeholders, ensuring deadlines are met
- planning, writing, editing and publishing Home Office intranet content
- ensuring content is clear, accessible and consistent with the Government Digital Service (GDS) style and standards
- building relationships with stakeholders across the Home Office
- advising stakeholders on the best format for delivering content to users to meet their needs
- using analytics, user research and feedback to inform content decisions and make improvements to content
You will also be expected to:
- explain to internal teams what content design is, why it’s important and how to work with the content team to meet user needs
- keep up-to-date with GDS and content design developments
- manage publishing requests for the Home Office digital signage system.
Essential skills
You will have a demonstrable passion for user-centred content design, with the following skills or some experience in:
- writing, proofing and editing user-centred content in line with defined processes and standards
- making complex language and processes simple to understand using style guides and plain English
- organising and prioritising work effectively to meet rapidly changing deadlines, demands and goals
- building effective working relationships with a wide range of stakeholders
Our skills align with the cross gov DDaT Capability Framework https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/digital-data-and-technology-profession-capability-framework- GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Desirable criteria
Ideally, you will also have the following skills or some experience in:
- using SharePoint as a content publishing system
- working in a digital communications team that deals with high profile and/or complex content
- working collaboratively in an agile environment with people from other professions
- understanding how GDS work to manage and develop online content
Candidates reaching the required standard and attending the final interview, will be assessed using technical and experience-based questions. Technical level definitions can be found via https://www.gov.uk/guidance/content-designer#junior-content-designer
Behaviours
We'll assess you against these behaviours during the selection process:
- Communicating and Influencing
- Delivering at Pace
We only ask for evidence of these behaviours on your application form:
- Communicating and Influencing
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
- User focus (content design). Skill level: awareness
- User-centred content design. Skill level: awareness
Benefits
You will have access to the same benefits available to all civil servants in the Home Office:
- An in-year performance bonus scheme.
- A Civil Service pension with employer contribution rates of between 26.6% and 30.3%, depending upon salary.
- 25 days annual leave on appointment, plus 8 days public holidays and 1 day for the King’s Birthday, rising further with service.
- Flexible working options to enable you to achieve the work life balance that right for you including part-time, flexi time and job sharing.
- Training and development opportunities tailored to your role.
- A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.
- Season ticket loans and rental deposit loans.
- Cycle to work and payroll giving.
- Employee discounts - including a huge number of retailers, Microsoft Home Use programme and gym membership.
- A variety of staff recognition schemes including thank you vouchers.
- Health and wellbeing initiatives including monthly mindfulness sessions.
- Staff support networks.
- Maternity, adoption or shared parental leave of up to 26 weeks full pay followed by 13 weeks of statutory pay and a further 13 weeks unpaid.
- Maternity and adoption support leave (paternity leave) of 2 weeks full pay.
- Up to five days paid leave for volunteering.
- Study leave and support for studying for a qualification or other accredited development relevant to your role.
Things you need to know
Selection process details
This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, drives up performance and improves diversity and inclusivity.
As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a CV, the Statement of Suitability (Max Word Limit: 750) and the behaviour- "Communicating and Influencing" (Max Word Limit:250).
Further details around what this will entail are listed on the application form.
The Statement of Suitability should explain your motivation for applying to this role and offer evidence how you meet the essential criteria listed on the Job Specification.
The CV is for information purposes only and will not be marked.
The sift will be held on the Statement of Suitability and the Lead behaviour- "Communicating and Influencing".
In the event a high volume of applications received, an initial sift will be held on the Lead Behaviour – "Communicating and Influencing". Candidates who pass the initial sift will be progressed to a full sift.
Additionally, candidates will be asked to complete a content design task prior to the interview, which will be used to assess that they have the requisite level of skills for this role. The candidate's content design task will also be discussed during the interview.
Further details regarding the test will be sent to those candidates who pass the sift and are invited to interview.
Sift and interview dates
The sift will commence from 16th August 2023.
Interviews are expected to take place from week commencing 11th September 2023.
You will be invited to attend a video interview -Microsoft Teams.
We will try to meet the dates set out in the advert. There may be occasions when these dates will change. You will be provided with sufficient notice of the confirmed dates.
Due to time constraints we may not be able to offer alternative interview date(s). It is therefore expected that candidates who are successful at sift stage will make themselves available during the above time frame given.
Further Information
For meaningful checks to be carried out, individuals need to have lived in the UK for a sufficient period of time to enable appropriate checks to be carried out and produce a result which provides the required level of assurance. You should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for the last 3 years if the role requires CTC clearance, 5 years for SC clearance and 10 years for DV. A lack of UK residency in itself is not necessarily a bar to a security clearance and applicants should contact the Vacancy Holder/Recruiting Manager listed in the advert for further advice.
lease read the essential skills for this position carefully. We will only consider those who meet the listed requirement.
If you have previously made an unsuccessful application for a role with the same essential skills and are not able to demonstrate how you have developed these skills since your last application please reconsider applying as your application is unlikely to be successful.
A reserve list may be held for a period up to 12 months from which further appointment may be made.
Visa sponsorship
We are unable to sponsor any individuals via Skilled Worker Sponsorship / Tier 2 (General) work visas as we do not hold a UK Visa & Immigration (UKVI) Skilled Worker License.
This post is eligible for a DDaT Recruitment Retention Allowance. Successful candidate with exceptional skills and experience may apply for a Recruitment and Retention Allowance up to a maximum of £2,500. This allowance is subject to an initial review within six months of taking up the post and thereafter an annual review in line with the departmental priorities and could be reduced or withdrawn at any time.
This role can be based in any of the advertised location/regions, with an occasional travel required. You will be located in a regional office and under Home Office hybrid working practices you will be required to attend a Home Office workplace on an average of 40% of your working hours. Successful candidates will be able to obtain further information from their line manager.
Job offers to this post are made on the basis of merit. We often have similar roles available at different grades. If a candidate is suitable for a similar role or a lower grade than they have applied for, we may offer the candidate that role without the need to go through a further selection process providing the role has the same behaviours and essential skills.
Every day, Home Office civil servants do brilliant work to develop and deliver policies and services that affect the lives of people across the country and beyond. To do this effectively and fairly, the Home Office is committed to representing modern Britain in all its diversity, and creating a welcoming, inclusive workplace where all our people are able to bring their whole selves to work and perform at their best.
We are flexible, skilled, professional and diverse. We work to recruit and retain disabled staff and area Disability Confident Leader. We are proud to be one of the most ethnically diverse departments in the civil service. We are a Social Mobility Foundation top 75 employer.
New entrants are expected to join on the minimum of the pay band.
Applicants who are successful at interview will be, as part of pre-employment screening, subject to a check on the Internal Fraud Database (IFD). This check will provide information about employees who have been dismissed for fraud or dishonesty offences. This check also applies to employees who resign or otherwise leave before being dismissed for fraud or dishonesty had their employment continued. Any applicant's details held on the IFD will be refused employment.
For further information please see the attached notes for candidates which must be read before making an application.
Existing Civil Servants should note that some of the Home Office terms and conditions of employment have changed. It is the candidate’s responsibility to ensure they are aware of the Terms and Conditions they will adopt should they be successful in application and should refer to the notes for candidates for further details.
Transfer Terms: Voluntary.
If you are invited to an interview you will be required to bring a range of documentation for the purposes of establishing identity and to aid any pre-employment checks.
Please see the attached list of Home Office acceptable ID documents.
Any move to the Home Office 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
Reasonable Adjustments
If a person with disabilities is 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 [email protected] 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
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
Security
See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
- UK nationals
- nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
- nationals of the Republic of Ireland
- nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
- relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
- certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals
Working for the Civil Service
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).
Apply and further information
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
Recruitment team
Further information
principles, and wish to make a complaint, then you should contact in the first instance
[email protected]. If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission.
