UK Research and Innovation
Salary: £46,743.
Band: UKRI Band E.
Contract Type: Fixed Term until 31 March 2028.
Hours: Full-time/ Part Time (minimum 0.8 FTE) (flexible working available).
Location: Swindon - Hybrid working available including minimum of 2 days a week in office.
Closing Date: Sunday 9 August 2026.
Employees applying for any opportunity which may mean being away from your substantive role for a temporary period of time, please refer to the Recruitment Policy and associated guidance for further information in the first instance. If you are made an offer, please ensure you liaise with your line manager and the designated HR team as soon as possible in order that implications of any move are clear and understood, prior to a move taking place.
About the role
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is a non-departmental public body that invests in research and innovation. Our mission is to advance knowledge, improve lives and drive growth.
The UKRI website is UKRI's primary owned external channel. It connects researchers, innovators, businesses and the public with authoritative, compelling content that demonstrates how publicly funded research and innovation improves lives, drives economic growth and supports national priorities. It is where our funding community finds what it needs and where our wider audiences see why UKRI matters.
The Web team provides strategic oversight of ukri.org, partnering with colleagues across UKRI to deliver the Lives and Livelihoods communications plan and support EAC's wider objectives. We help UKRI speak with one voice - through a website that is accurate, accessible and inspires confidence in all our audiences.
The Senior Web Content Designer reports to the Content Design Lead in the Web team, part of External Affairs, Communications and Public Engagement.
The team is passionate about delivering a consistent, high-quality customer experience, building brand trust and harnessing digital innovation.
As a Senior Web Content Designer, your role is to lead on the design, creation, review and development of web page content on ukri.org in collaboration with subject experts from across the organisation.
Your responsibilities:
You'll be an expert practitioner who develops content strategies and solutions as part of the multidisciplinary Web team. This role can involve working on a single piece of web copy or on an entire end-to-end journey through the site and to other services, helping users complete their goals while delivering UKRI objectives.
You will:
- Lead strategic content improvement projects, focusing effort on the highest priority areas, ensuring objectives are met and influencing senior partners to secure the right resources to support their strategic vision.
- Create, evaluate, update and review content strategies and solutions for ukri.org, using professional expertise, user understanding and evidence to drive continuous improvement.
- Ensure all web content meets high quality standards and accessibility requirements, and review other content designers' work to maintain consistency and quality across the site.
- Champion and participate in user research, playing an active role in journey mapping to better understand user needs and how the website and its content fits into the wider experience.
- Deliver workshops and training to colleagues across the organisation, acting as an advocate for content design, the website and Government Digital Standards.
- Build and maintain a network of internal and external stakeholders, fostering proactive collaborative working and establishing productive relationships with subject matter experts.
- Help colleagues and stakeholders understand what web content design is, why it's valuable and how to work effectively with content designers.
Actively stay abreast of UKRI objectives and priorities, and proactively keep up to date with the latest content design best practice and thinking.
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Personal Specification
The below criteria will be scored during Shortlisting (S), Interview (I) or both (S&I).
Essential
- Significant experience in a web content design role, making strategic decisions about content creation on a large, complex, information-rich website, ideally within a public sector or similarly regulated environment. (S&I)
- Robust experience writing, editing and publishing accessible digital content, applying Government Digital Standards, and working with content management systems, data analytics tools and workflow management systems. (S&I)
- Up-to-date knowledge of accessibility, including the needs of different users and assistive technologies, combined with exemplary editorial skills in writing plain, accessible language. (S&I)
- A deep understanding of end-to-end user journeys, including content structure and user experience, and experience applying user-centred design principles and clearly articulating decisions to stakeholders. (S&I)
- Experience using data, research and evidence to evaluate web content and drive improvements, including familiarity with prototyping tools and agile multidisciplinary team working. (S&I)
- Proven ability to negotiate with stakeholders, handle challenging situations and remove blockers, balancing business objectives with user needs — including putting forward the case for content design at a senior level. (S&I)
Strong communication skills, including the ability to explain content decisions to non-experts, handle constructive criticism of your own work and provide constructive feedback on others. (S&I)
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Benefits
We recognise and value our employees as individuals and aim to provide a favourable pay and rewards package. We are committed to supporting employees' development and promote a culture of continuous learning!
A list of benefits below:
- An outstanding defined benefit pension scheme.
- 30 days' annual leave in addition to 10.5 public and privilege days (full time equivalent).
- Employee discounts and offers on retail and leisure activities.
- Employee assistance programme, providing confidential help and advice.
Flexible working options.
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Plus, many more benefits and wellbeing initiatives that enable our employees to have a great work life balance!
For further information on our benefits please see:
Benefits of working at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)
Please apply online, if you experience any issue applying, please contact [email protected]
Please note, if you will require sponsorship to work in the UK, as part of your sponsorship application, you and any dependants travelling with you, will be required to pay costs directly to The Home Office for the application before you start your role with us. UKRI is normally able to reimburse some, or all of these fees after you have become an employee and this can be discussed with the Hiring Manager. For more information, please visit https://www.gov.uk/skilled-worker-visa/how-much-it-costs or contact [email protected].
