Lead content designer

Band 8b · Content designer · 602 job evaluation points

UK GDaD PCF level: Lead content designer

Most often performed at Civil Service grade G7 or G6.

A lead content designer is an expert practitioner and leader who directs a team of content designers. They assure the content quality across whole teams and make sure content aligns to strategy and objectives while meeting the needs of users.
At this role level, you will:
work closely with service managers, programme directors and senior stakeholders to resource teams, resolve problems and develop future projects
promote the content design discipline, engage with the cross-government community and keep up to date with industry changes

Contains public sector information from the UK Government Digital and Data Profession Capability Framework (https://understand-digital-data-roles-skills.service.gov.uk/), licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. © Crown copyright.

Responsibilities

Direct a team of content designers and assure content quality across several teams.
Make sure health content meets clinical assurance, accessibility, and style standards.
Work with senior clinical, communications, and product leaders to resource teams and resolve content problems.
Lead content for the organisation's most sensitive or high-risk information.
Line manage and develop content designers.

Skills

Skill	Expected level	What this level means
Content management and architectureUK GDaD PCF	Expert (4)	You can: direct the approach to content management to ensure content is regularly reviewed and evaluated by publishing or service teams identify opportunities to improve content workflows, efficiency and scalability define and manage relationships between content in complex systems
Design communicationUK GDaD PCF	Expert (4)	You can: communicate design strategy across organisational boundaries coach others in how to effectively communicate design develop or introduce more effective methods of communicating design and working in the open
Designing for everyoneUK GDaD PCF	Expert (4)	You can: improve the practice of inclusive, accessible and environmentally sustainable design in multiple teams or across your organisation against measurable criteria help others understand and mitigate potential barriers, biases and assumptions that may exclude or harm users
Designing strategicallyUK GDaD PCF	Expert (4)	You can: work with leaders to ensure that design is part of developing organisational strategy, and involved early enough in policy, technology and delivery processes to inform effective decision making enable use of patterns and components across the organisation help teams align their work to the goals and vision of their organisation
Designing togetherUK GDaD PCF	Expert (4)	You can: effectively plan and run design sessions that include senior leaders or stakeholders coach other designers in how to involve stakeholders of any level in the design process develop or introduce more effective ways to design together help teams connect and work across organisational boundaries
Evidence-based designUK GDaD PCF	Expert (4)	You can: embed a practice of hypothesis-driven design in a team guide the organisation in how to use evidence to improve content or services analyse, synthesise and use evidence to improve the way the organisation works ensure user insights are shared with and used by the wider organisation and across government
Iterative designUK GDaD PCF	Expert (4)	You can: embed the practice of iterative design and agile working in teams or wider organisation guide designers in creating materials to test complex ideas at any fidelity help teams adapt quickly to changes in requirements, priorities or user needs iterate delivery processes or team structures to help teams work effectively
Leading designUK GDaD PCF	Practitioner (3)	You can: lead and coordinate design work for a team advocate for user-centred design with leaders outside of digital and data create an inclusive, productive environment for designers to work in mentor and coach other designers iterate and improve design processes within your team
Understanding health and care servicesThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: analyse how a service fits into care pathways across organisations work with clinicians, care staff, and patients to shape digital services explain the effect of digital decisions on care, safety, and staff workload
Health information contentThis reference	Expert (4)	You can: set the organisation's standards for health information content and its clinical assurance lead content strategy for health information across services and channels advise senior clinical and communications leaders on health information risks
Equality, diversity, and inclusionThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: carry out equality impact assessments build inclusive teams and practices
Clinical terminology and classificationThis reference	Working (2)	You can: find and use the right codes for a data item or form use terminology browsers and reference sets
Designing for clinical safety and human factorsThis reference	Working (2)	You can: design interfaces that make the safe action the easy action, for example by reducing ambiguous labels and needless alerts test designs in realistic clinical scenarios, including interruptions and time pressure raise design-related hazards with the clinical safety officer and record how designs control them
People managementThis reference	Practitioner (3)	You can: line manage a team, setting objectives and running appraisals support wellbeing and manage attendance, performance, and conduct plan the team's development and succession

Typical qualifications and experience

Extensive experience of leading content design across teams.

Band 8b outline

Knowledge: Expert knowledge across several disciplines or a large service.
Autonomy: Shapes policy and strategy for a large area.
Scope: Several services or teams, or a principal-level discipline.
Leadership: Manages managers, or is the principal authority in a discipline.
Accountability: Several services, their staff, and their budgets.

Job evaluation (illustrative)

Factor	Level	Level summary	Points
Communication and relationship skills	5	Gives highly complex or contentious information needing developed persuasion and negotiation, presents to large groups, or communicates where there are significant barriers to acceptance.	45
Knowledge, training, and experience	7	Highly developed specialist knowledge across the range of the specialism (master's level or equivalent).	196
Analytical and judgemental skills	5	Judgements on highly complex facts or situations needing analysis, interpretation, and comparison of options.	60
Planning and organisational skills	5	Forms long-term strategic plans, with uncertainty and effects across the organisation.	60
Physical skills	2	Skills gained through practice, such as standard keyboard use or driving.	15
Responsibility for patient and client care	1	Helps patients, clients, or relatives during incidental contact.	4
Responsibility for policy and service development	5	Implements and develops a range of policies or services for a directorate.	45
Responsibility for financial and physical resources	3	Authorises payments, buys some assets or supplies, monitors or holds a delegated budget, or maintains assets.	21
Responsibility for people	4	Line manages a function or department, designs training programmes as a main duty, or delivers a full range of HR services.	32
Responsibility for information resources	5	Designs and develops major information systems, or runs information systems for several services as the main duty.	34
Responsibility for research and development	2	Regularly does research, development, trials, or equipment and system testing as part of the job.	12
Freedom to act	5	Works within general policies, and in most cases decides how to interpret them.	45
Physical effort	1	Sitting, standing, and walking, with little physical effort.	3
Mental effort	3	Frequent concentration on unpredictable work, or occasional prolonged concentration.	12
Emotional effort	2	Occasional exposure, or frequent indirect exposure, to distressing circumstances.	11
Working conditions	2	Occasional unpleasant conditions, frequent travel or outdoor work, or near-continuous screen use on most days.	7
Total (Band 8b: 585 to 629)			602

There is no Band 8a level, because the UK GDaD PCF places lead content designer at G7 or G6 and this reference follows the suggested Band 8b. Policy is level 5 because the lead sets content standards for a range of services; emotional effort is level 2, as for senior content designers.