Details
Reference number
425781
Salary
£44,720 - £52,130
New entrants to the Civil Service will start their role on the salary band minimum: £44,720 Min Salary for National Roles.
Recruitment Retention Allowance (RRA): Up to £5,000 is available for candidates who demonstrate exceptional skills and experience evidenced at interview stage
National £44,720 - £47,850
London £48,720 - £52,130
A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
GBP
Job grade
Senior Executive Officer
Contract type
Permanent
Business area
HO - Digital Data and Technology
Type of role
Digital
Information Technology
Working pattern
Flexible working, Full-time, Part-time, Compressed hours
Number of jobs available
6
Contents
* Location
* About the job
* Benefits
* Things you need to know
* Apply and further information
Location
Croydon - CR0 2WF
Manchester - M5 3LZ
Sheffield - S3 8NU
About the job
Job summary
We are looking for content designers who are passionate about designing accessible services that meet the needs of users.
The Home Office keeps our UK citizens safe and our country secure. We play a fundamental role in the security and economic prosperity of the UK.
You will work in an agile, multi-disciplinary team in the Migration, Borders and Technology Portfolio (MBTP). Your content will make a lasting impact on our user-centred products and services.
Some of the projects you could work on include:
* Building and improving systems for people and goods that cross the UK border and the process of applying for asylum.
* Building and improving systems and tools for internal staff (such as caseworkers, Border Force officers, Immigration Enforcement officers).
* Continuously improving products and services for visas, passports and registration of marriages, births and deaths.
As a content designer, you'll know how to:
* Make complex language and processes simple to understand
* Make the case for designing content based on user needs
* Work with user researchers to identify, scope and validate user needs based on research, insight and feedback
* Explain your decisions clearly
Your role will be to make sure appropriate content is shown to users in the right place and in the best format
You will work closely with user researchers, service designers and interaction designers to test ideas, challenge assumptions and propose design solutions.
You can learn more about design and research in the Home Office on our Digital and Data blog:
* designing content for people with limited English
* words matter: shaping our Home Office content style guide
* inclusive language by design
* and by looking at our design system
We have a thriving user-centred design (UCD) community. If you want to work with us to ensure that our services are easier and simpler to use, apply now.
Job description
Your main day to day responsibilities will be:
* Scoping, writing and editing content for internal and public-facing digital services
* Working as part of a multidisciplinary team to identify user needs and agree the right design approach
* Choosing the best format for delivering content to users
* Monitoring the performance of content and tools, identifying ways to improve the service
* Working with relevant stakeholders and subject matter experts to make sure content is relevant and accurate
* Helping other team members understand what content design is, why it's important and how to work with content designers
* Contributing to the UCD community by attending and organising events, leading discussions and workshops, and sharing ideas and best practice
* Encouraging constructive criticism of your work and constructively reviewing the work of others, for example during peer reviews
Person specification
UK residency and security requirements - You need to have lived in the UK for the past 5 years.
Essential Criteria
You will be assessed against the following skills and experience during the selection process:
* Prototyping and concept creation: advising on or creating product, service or policy concepts and prototypes using sketching, design software, physical mock-ups or code
* Content design: writing and editing content in line with defined processes and standards, and making complex language simple to understand for a non-specialist audience
* Evidence-based design: using analytics, feedback and research to understand user needs and to inform content decisions
* Accessibility and inclusion: assessing the accessibility of online content and advising teams how to fix issues so it is inclusive and accessible to all
* Collaboration: participating and facilitating group work, seeking feedback on your work and giving others constructive feedback
* Communicate, persuade and advocate: clearly articulating to stakeholders the benefits of taking a user-centred approach, based on evidence
The essential skills listed above are reflective of the Home Office Government Digital and Data Profession Career Framework.
Technical skills
We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:
* Prototyping and concept creation
* Content Design
* Evidence-based design
* Accessibility and inclusion
* Collaboration
* Communicate, persuade and advocate
Benefits
Alongside your salary of £44,720, Home Office contributes £12,955 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.
Why work for us...
* A highly competitive pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
* 25 days annual leave on appointment rising 1 day per year up to 30 days, plus 8 days public holidays and 1 day for the King's Birthday.
* Flexible working options to enable you to achieve the work life balance that is right for you including; Full time, part-time, flexi time, compressed hours and job sharing.
* A hybrid working model of a minimum 60% of your contracted hours in the workplace and 40% remote.
* Training and development opportunities tailored to your role, including access to technical and professional accreditations.
* Access to funded qualifications (subject to approval)
* A capability allowance reviewed annually.
* A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity.
* Enhanced parental leave schemes.
* Annual performance-based bonus and recognition awards.
This link is to a short guide to employee benefits: Benefits - Home Office Careers
Things you need to know
Selection process details
This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Experience and Technical skills.
This vacancy is using Success Profiles, and will assess your Experience and Technical skills.
As part of the application process, you will be asked to complete a CV, 1000-word personal statement
Both the CV and personal statement will be marked and should include all relevant experience that relates to the essential criteria listed in the advert and role description. Use STAR format in your examples and consider tips on how to write your personal statement.
Remove information that identifies you (for example your name, age or place of education) so that you will be judged on merit alone and not your personal background, circumstances, race or gender.
(Do NOT include e-mail addresses or links to online profiles, resumés, or prior work, either personal or business. Active links or e-mail addresses will result in your application being rejected)
Please ensure that all examples provided in your application are taken directly from your own experience and that you describe the examples in your own words. All applications are screened for plagiarism, copying, and generating of examples/ answers from internet sources including Artificial Intelligence. If detected, the application may be withdrawn from the process.
Further action, including disciplinary action, may be considered in such cases involving civil servants. Providing false or misleading information would be contrary to the core values of honesty and integrity expected of all civil servants.
Sift Stage
The sift will be held on the CV and Personal Statement. Please read the Essential skills for this position carefully. We will only consider those who meet the listed requirements.
Interview Stage
Candidates shortlisted will be invited to an interview which will explore your technical skills and experience.
Presentation
You will be sent the interview task before your interview. At the beginning of the interview, you will be asked to conduct a [10] minute presentation based on your task and then asked questions that explore your technical skills and experience.
Sift and interview dates
Sift will be conducted week commencing 25th September 2025.
Interviews will be held week commencing 20th October 2025.
Interviews will be conducted remotely via MS 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.
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 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
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 .
See our vetting charter .
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)
* 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
Working for the Civil Service
The Civil Service Code 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 .
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.
Diversity and Inclusion
The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy .
Apply and further information
This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans initiative.
Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.
Contact point for applicants
Job contact :
* Name : AC Recruitment team
* Email :
Recruitment team
* Email :
Further information
If you feel that your application has not been treated in accordance with the Civil Service recruitment principles and you wish to make a complaint, then contact the Government Recruitment Service via If you are not satisfied with the response that you receive, then you can contact the Civil Service Commission.