Lead Content Designer

Hippo is recruiting for lead consultants in content design. 

As a lead consultant, you’ll come to Hippo as an expert in content design and working in multidisciplinary teams.

You’ll also be a leader of people and teams and advocate for user-centred design approaches with our diverse range of clients and complex problems. 

Hippo will provide exciting opportunities to share your expertise with, and influence, clients and team members, and to develop as a leader.

As a lead content design consultant, you’ll:

• already be an expert in content design
• help clients explore and solve complex problems with user-centred design
• champion inclusive approaches and styles within content design
• establish and manage complex relationships with clients and stakeholders
• be comfortable working in rapid sprint cycles
• run workshops with your team and senior stakeholders
• lead on running elements of Hippo communities of practice
• support Hippo in recruitment, events, blog-writing and winning new business
• promote Hippo values
• be a strong communicator and presenter
• have a positive “can do” attitude

You’ll need to demonstrate you can:

• develop and implement content strategy on complex projects, showing leadership at a project or service level
• create content strategically and implement creation processes across an entire service or complex project
• manage and create style guides, contribute to design patterns and use design patterns strategically across a project
• be the content standards and patterns expert on a complex project
• use expert knowledge to proactively use research findings and analytics as evidence to drive change at a delivery and strategic level
• provide leadership in the application of inclusive content for diverse audiences and WCAG accessibility guidelines on complex projects
• write, edit and publish multi-channel content, providing leadership to proactively ensure content is being designed strategically across a service
• lead teams of content designers to deliver a strategy, meeting user needs
• understand what's required of a content designer at any agile phase or point in the content lifecycle on complex projects
• implement content governance across an entire service or complex project
• design and lead 2i support processes, presenting in depth at show and tells
• lead other opportunities for colleagues to share their work at a project or team level on complex projects

It'd be great if you can also:

• oversee content audits over multiple channels on complex project
• design IA and taxonomies, based on different models and methodologies and implement across a complex project
• provide leadership on the development, implementation or procurement of CMS on complex projects at a service or department level
• explain in simple terms why content design is different to SEO and know how to approach SEO depending on the type of organisation and project

Agile and multidisciplinary team experience

You'll need to:

• design, deliver and adapt Agile delivery methods and confidently evaluate the effectiveness of these to maintain delivery; and advise on how content design contributes to them, working with clients to solve problems when they arise. 

It'd be great if you can also:

• work closely with clients to coach and upskill where necessary to enable better Agile practices 

Consultancy and business experience

You'll need to:

• manage tricky conversations when senior people don't understand the value of Agile user-centred design on complex projects
• identify sources of conflict across complex multi-team environments and facilitate conflict resolution to defuse and resolve the situation
• convey ideas and confident at explaining design decisions in a clear focused style using effective verbal and non-verbal communication techniques in formal and informal situations 
• have the ability to line manage, coach or mentor people

It'd be great if you can also:

• lead in creating client proposals; coordinating other contributors to ensure quality and timely creation 
• pitch new ideas and proposals to colleagues and clients
• demonstrate some business and commercial acumen in contract formulation and negotiation

Industry experience

You'll need:

• extensive demonstrable strategic experience as a content designer
• demonstrable experience in the public sector
• an excellent working knowledge of the Government Digital Service (GDS) Digital Standard and Central Digital and Data Office (CDDO) assessments

It'd be great if you also had:

• experience of working as a content designer for private sector companies

Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at Hippo

At Hippo, we’re dedicated to creating a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace that works for everyone. We understand that having a diverse team unlocks our capacity for innovation, creativity and problem solving. Only by building a community of diverse perspectives, cultures and socio-economic backgrounds can we create an environment where all can contribute and thrive.

We actively encourage applications from underrepresented groups including women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+, neurodivergent and people with disabilities. We are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment process that reflects our workplace culture. We are a registered Disability Confident Employer, Mindful Employer, Endometriosis Friendly Employer and a member of the Armed Forces Covenant. Hippo continually strives to remove barriers, provide accommodations and offer reasonable adjustments to ensure equity throughout our practices.

Hi, we’re Hippo.

At Hippo, we design with empathy and build for impact. We do this by combining data-informed evidence, human-centred design and software engineering.  We're a digital services partner who is genuinely invested in helping our clients thrive as modern organisations. Our delivery methodology is truly agile, from concept to reality, supporting innovation and continuous improvement to achieve your desired outcomes.

We firmly believe that technology should serve humanity, not the other way around. We take a human-centred approach to everything we do because we understand that complex problems require a service design approach. This means understanding how users behave and ensuring our solutions work for them in the real world. 

Our combination of data, design, and engineering delivers bespoke digital services that make a positive and meaningful impact on organisations and society. We're confident in our abilities, authentic in our approach, and passionate about what we do. If you're looking for a digital services partner that can deliver real results, let us help you build for the future and make a lasting impact.

Hippo locations

We are headquartered in Leeds and located across the UK in Glasgow, Manchester, Birmingham, London and Bristol. We're on the lookout for top talent nationwide, so don't let location hold you back from applying. We welcome candidates from all over the UK who possess the flexibility to work from any of our locations. Plus, we offer a generous relocation support package of up to £8k to help make your move a smooth one. It's worth noting that, given the dynamic nature of our business, you may be required to work on-site at client locations or from your own home.