JOB SUMMARY

The Government Digital Service (GDS) is the digital centre of government. We are responsible for setting, leading and delivering the vision for a modern digital government.

Our priorities are to drive a modern digital government, by:

• joining up public sector services
• harnessing the power of AI for the public good
• strengthening and extending our digital and data public infrastructure
• elevating leadership and investing in talent
• funding for outcomes and procuring for growth and innovation
• committing to transparency and driving accountability

We are home to the Incubator for Artificial Intelligence (I.AI), the world-leading GOV.UK and at the forefront of coordinating the UK’s geospatial strategy and activity. We lead the Government Digital and Data function and champion the work of digital teams across government.
We’re part of the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) and employ more than 1,000 people all over the UK, with hubs in Manchester, London and Bristol.
The Government Digital Service is where talent translates into impact. From your first day, you’ll be working with some of the world’s most highly-skilled digital professionals, all contributing their knowledge to make change on a national scale.
Join us for rewarding work that makes a difference across the UK. You’ll solve some of the nation’s highest-priority digital challenges, helping millions of people access services they need
We are designing and building GOV.UK One Login, a simple, safe, and secure way for people to prove who they are and access government services.
We’re also designing and building GOV.UK Wallet, an app for people to save government-issued documents to their phone, so they can show them to prove things when useful.
GOV.UK One Login and GOV.UK Wallet are being made for everyone, to be accessible, inclusive, safe, and easy to use.
We’re an ambitious team at the heart of government, full of talented and passionate people. If you’d like to join us in this work, we’d love to hear from you.
Find out more about our work at the GDS Blog.

JOB DESCRIPTION

As a Lead Content Designer (Technical Writing) at GDS you’ll lead the technical writing discipline and operations in the Digital Identity programme. You’ll work alongside other UCD leads.
Lead Content Designers (Technical Writing) at GDS create user-centred technical content using a ‘docs as code’ approach. Our job is to improve and share technical knowledge, best practice and expertise across government. We work in multi-disciplinary teams to understand user needs and turn them into accurate, accessible technical content.
We are recruiting for a Lead Content Designer (Technical Writing). You’ll work closely with senior stakeholders, technologists and delivery leads across the programme to make sure all teams have the technical writing support they need. You’ll line manage, train and support technical writers within the programme. You’ll make recommendations on how to improve existing content, tooling and processes.
The person specification skills must be demonstrated in your cover letter.

As a Lead Content Designer (Technical Writing) you’ll:

• work with the Head of UCD to define the strategy and implementation of technology documentation across the programme
• define and establish standards, guidance and best practice for delivery of technical documentation across the programme, particularly API documentation, in line with GDS’ best practice
• support the Digital Identity programme, delivery teams and programme delivery structure to establish processes, scope and support the work of tech writers in teams
• act as an escalation route for technical writing best practice and issues across the Digital Identity programme – leveraging your expert knowledge in both to provide practical support
• recommend and explain approaches to senior leaders across the Digital Identity programme and ensure teams in the programme can produce quality internal documentation on their own
• manage a team of civil servant and contract technical writers, allocating them to work across multiple delivery teams as required
• provide team members with professional advice and performance feedback, and support their learning and development goals

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

The standard selection process for roles at GDS consists of:

• a simple application screening process - We only ask for a CV and cover letter of up to 750 words. Important tip - please ensure that your cover letter includes how you meet the skills and experience listed in the “person specification” section above
• a 60 minute video intervie

For this role we’ll be assessing you against the following Civil Service Behaviours:

• Seeing the Big Picture
• Making Effective Decisions
• Leadership
• Working Together
• Delivering at Pac

We’ll also be assessing your experience and specialist technical skills against the following skills defined in the Government Digital and Data Capability Framework for the Lead Content Designer role:

• Agile working (content design)
• Content concepts and prototyping
• Stakeholder relationship management (content design)
• Strategic thinking (content design)
• User focus (content design)
• User-centred content desig