Contents Location About the job Benefits Things you need to know Apply and further information Location Bristol, Manchester About the job Job summary GDS exists to help government make brilliant public services that empower people in the UK. We work at the very centre of government to drive digital transformation, focused on users. We build and maintain common platforms, products and tools for others to use and create great public services that are accessible, inclusive and easy to use. We also work with departments to identify patterns, share learning and create change to make government more efficient. Our teams are organised around delivering on our priorities. These are: making it easier for people to find what they are looking for on GOV.UK building common service platforms to make it simpler and cheaper to build quality digital services promoting agile, user-centred design practices both in the UK and across the world Job description The Deputy Director for Content is responsible for ensuring that GOV.UK remains the trusted online home for HMG, working across government to keep pace with the changing needs and expectations of users and services. GOV.UK has 800K pages of content, supports over 50m users every month and is part of the UKs critical national infrastructure. As a Deputy Director GOV.UK Content youll: set direction for the continual improvement of content quality across GOV.UK, working with the Central Digital and Data Office, other government departments and across all professions involved in the creation of GOV.UK content, from subject experts to digital specialists, to ensure that content is clear, accessible and easy to find for users advocate for clear content strategies that meet the needs of GOV.UKs users, communicating with and influencing senior decision makers across government to help teams create and manage demonstrably high quality content consistently and quickly work closely with the Deputy Director for Strategy and Programme Delivery and Deputy Director for Web, Publishing & Platform to ensure that GOV.UK keeps pace with changing user needs and expectations; leading the continued development and wider innovation a multichannel GOV.UK proposition and ensuring a joined-up user experience across web, social app and beyond seek opportunities to identify and implement efficiencies and improvements in content management in GDS, recognising GOV.UKs continued value for public investment create and support a collaborative culture across GDS communities and directorates to deliver a joined-up portfolio roadmap that helps to achieve a cohesive GDS vision and strategy join a network of digital, data and technology experts to improve how people interact with the government online; playing a proactive role in GDSs senior leadership team for a diverse and inclusive workplace and embedding a user-centric and outcome-focused culture throughout GDS line manage 4-5 members of the senior management team in GOV.UK and ensure clear work and development objectives are set for around c.80-100 team members within your team aligned with the full directorate (c.300 team members) Person specification Were interested in people who have: experience of leading and overseeing the design and management of complex content, ideally including policy-focused material ability to inspire and motivate teams through the development of complex content strategies informed by data and insight, that fulfil diverse user needs at significant scale evidence of managing and prioritising urgent vs important demands from multiple sources to deliver at pace and meet changing user needs experience in strategic planning alongside tactical decision-making in a leadership environment experience of exploring and implementing new and innovative methods for content delivery across multiple channels in order to meet changing user expectations experience of leading digital transformational projects at scale, in an agile, multidisciplinary environment, with a particular focus on the use of data for insight a proven track record of influencing effectively at the most senior levels, both internally and externally, in an environment where there are complex partnerships with conflicting priorities experience of building and leading high-performance teams in a hybrid working environment Benefits The benefits of working at GDS There are many benefits of working at GDS, including: flexible hybrid working with flexi-time and the option to work part-time or condensed hours a Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97% 25 days of annual leave, increasing by a day each year up to a maximum of 30 days an extra day off for The Kings birthday an in-year bonus scheme to recognise high performance career progression and coaching, including a training budget for personal development paid volunteering leave a focus on wellbeing with access to an employee assistance programme job satisfaction from making government services easier to use and more inclusive for people across the UK advances on pay, including for travel season tickets death in service benefits cycle to work scheme and facilities access to an employee discounts scheme 10 learning days per year volunteering opportunities (5 special leave days per year) access to a suite of learning activities through Civil Service learning GDS offers hybrid working for all employees. This means that everyone does some working from home and also spends some time in their local office. Youll agree to your hybrid working arrangement with your line manager in line with your preferences and business needs. Any move to Government Digital Service 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 Things you need to know Selection process details To apply, please submit the information below: An up to date and relevant CV setting out your career history with responsibilities and achievements A Statement of Suitability (no longer than 2 pages of A4) explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience meet the criteria in the person specification. Interview Shortlisted candidates will be asked to attend an in person panel interview in London which will last no longer than 90 minutes. As part of the interview there will be a presentation task - details of the presentation task will be provided to shortlisted candidates. Depending on how many applications we get, there might also be an extra stage before the video interview, for example a phone interview or a technical exercise. In the Civil Service, we use Success Profiles to evaluate your skills and ability. This gives us the best possible chance of finding the right person for the job, increases performance and improves diversity and inclusivity. Well be assessing your technical abilities, skills, experience and behaviours that are relevant to this role. For this role well be assessing you against the following Civil Service Behaviours : seeing the big picture communicating and influencing leadership making effective decisions delivering at pace Recruitment Timeline Sift completion: 3 February 2025 Panel interviews: 10th & 11th February 2025 Candidates that do not pass the interview but have demonstrated an acceptable standard may be considered for similar roles at a lower grade. A reserve list will be held for a period of 12 months, from which further appointments can be made. 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 D&I Strategy. Please note that this role requires SC clearance, which would normally need 5 years UK residency in the past 5 years. This is not an absolute requirement, but supplementary checks may be needed where individuals have not lived in the UK for that period. This may mean your security clearance (and therefore your appointment) will take longer or, in some cases, not be possible. You may be aware that there are plans for the Government Digital Service (GDS) & the Central Digital & Data Office (CDDO) to move into the Department of Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT). This move is to bring together the digital transformation of public services into one core department. The move itself will offer huge opportunities whilst allowing DSIT to lead the way and drive forward the new Government's digital agenda. As the announcement is relatively new, we are awaiting more detailed information. Therefore, we encourage you to apply for this role, and will keep you informed with updated information throughout the application process. 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 (opens in a new window). See our vetting charter (opens in a new window). 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) (opens in a new window) 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 (opens in a new window) Working for the Civil Service The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) 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 (opens in a new window). 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. 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 (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window). Apply and further information This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative. The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window). 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 : gds-recruitmentdigital.cabinet-office.gov.uk Email : gds-recruitmentdigital.cabinet-office.gov.uk Recruitment team Email : gds-recruitmentdigital.cabinet-office.gov.uk Further information If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact gds-recruitment-complaintsdigital.cabinet-office.gov.uk in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive you can contact the Civil Service Commission by email: infocsc.gov.uk Or in writing: Civil Service Commission, Room G/8 1 Horse Guards Road, London, SW1A 2HQ. Share this page Print Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn GMail