Senior Content Designer

Personalised content. Cutting-edge strategies. Engage and inspire millions.

Senior Content Designer

£45,000- £50,000 + benefits

Reports to: Senior Content Manager

Grade: P3

Directorate: Marketing, Fundraising & Engagement

Contract: Permanent

Hours: Full time 35 hours per week

Location: Stratford, London . Office-based with high flexibility (1-2 days per week in the office)

Visa sponsorship: You must be eligible to work in the UK to apply for this vacancy. Cancer Research UK is not able to offer visa sponsorship. 

Closing date: 01 September 2025, 23:55

This vacancy may close earlier if a high volume of applications is received or once a suitable candidate is found, therefore we strongly recommend that you apply early to avoid disappointment. If you require more time to apply as part of a reasonable adjustment, please contact [email protected] as soon as possible.

Recruitment process: One competency-based interview with an exercise

Interview date: From the week commencing 15 September 2025

How do I apply? We operate an anonymised shortlisting process in our commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion. CVs are required for all applications; but we won’t be able to view them until we invite you for an interview. Instead, we ask you to fully complete the work history section of the online application form for us to be able to assess you quickly, fairly, and objectively.

At Cancer Research UK, we exist to beat cancer.

We are professionals with purpose, beating cancer every day. But we need to go much further and much faster. That’s why we’re looking for someone talented, someone who wants to develop their skills, someone like you.

Cancer Research UK has a vision to bring about a world where everybody can lead longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer. However, to achieve our mission and grow our funding, we must build even greater momentum and urgency around our cause, and engage and inspire millions of people in deeper, more meaningful ways to join our mission. Therefore, we have created a long-term Engage Strategy and designed a bold transformation programme which aims to better harness data and digital marketing technology to deliver more relevant, trusted, and frictionless experiences for our audiences (and in turn drive growth).

Our newly created Content Excellence Function (CEF) is responsible for Cancer Research UK's website (including pages such as Race for Life, Stand Up to Cancer, and Donations). We develop content strategies with a focus on ensuring digital journeys are user-focused and optimising our website to make it accessible and easy to navigate. This involves training and supporting colleagues and content owners across the charity to create engaging and personalised omnichannel content that meets our audience's needs and strategic objectives.

As a Senior Content Designer, you’ll play an impactful role in shaping how millions of people engage with our mission by developing and implementing an exceptional content design and strategy across a diverse range of digital experiences. You will manage a range of campaigns and projects, using data, research, and design thinking to identify gaps, optimise journeys, and ensure our content is accessible, consistent, impactful, and aligned with our strategic goals. You’ll also support content owners and collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams to champion best practices, embed content design thinking, and drive user-centric and evidence-based decision making.

As a senior member of the team, you’ll provide matrix management for a Content Designer while mentoring others to evolve content design across the organisation. This includes guiding and supporting peers, refining and developing content standards and frameworks, and driving excellence in the design and implementation of our content strategy.

If you’re an audience-centric Senior Content Designer who has delivered and optimised accessible digital content in a large organisation with a headless CMS, we’d love for you to join our mission.

What will I be doing?

• Leading the development and implementation of Cancer Research UK’s content strategy, governance, and standards. This involves:
• Embedding best-in-class content design across the organisation by providing strategic direction and support to teams, helping them harness content to meet audience needs, drive engagement, and achieve their strategic goals.
• Collaborating with the Senior Content Strategy Manager and other capabilities (particularly SEO, UX and taxonomy) to ensure that the strategy is reflected across our content portfolio.
• Overseeing the day-to-day management and implementation of content governance and standards across the charity.
• Overseeing the delivery of complex campaign and project workflows, ensuring content meets high standards of quality, consistency, accessibility, and aligns with business and user needs.
• Partnering with product design and content modelling to develop components and content types that are user-centred, robust, and scalable for use across the content estate.
• Driving continuous improvements within the Content Excellence Function and content capability, acting as a content champion throughout the organisation.
• Building and nurturing cross-functional relationships at all levels of the charity to deliver a strategic approach to content across the entire organisation.
• Use data-driven insights to evaluate content performance, identifying outdated or underperforming content (we use Google Analytics and Hotjar).
• Improving content performance by supporting and guiding content owners to optimise, retire, or repurpose content in line with user needs and organisational goals.
• Training, guiding, and supporting teams to foster a culture of audience-centricity and continuously advance content maturity across the charity.
• Utilising content strategy and design techniques to proactively identify opportunities for improvement:
• Applying a test-and-learn approach across projects—iterating content based on user feedback, performance data, and evolving audience needs to ensure continuous optimisation and impact.
• Supporting the testing and prototyping of new digital ideas.
• Helping embed new ways of working and identifying opportunities for collaboration within the Content Excellence Function.
• Supporting with our content migration to our new headless CMS (Contentful).
• Mentoring and supporting Content Designers, role modelling professionalism and contributing to the growth of the discipline and the development of team capability.
• Matrix managing a Content Designer.
  
  
  

What are you looking for?

• Experienced Senior Content Designer with experience delivering and optimising digital content in a large, complex organisation with a headless CMS (preferably Contentful).
• Strong content creation and copywriting skills, with a strong knowledge of writing for websites, User Experience/ UX, usability, accessibility, SEO, and optimisation techniques.
• Audience-centric with demonstrable knowledge of accessibility guidelines and best practices (e.g., WCAG- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines).
• Analytical and strategic mindset with experience using performance metrics and insights to develop content strategies and drive decision-making.
• Has built credible and collaborative cross-functional stakeholder relationships with experience influencing senior leaders.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills with a proven ability to tell a story and translate complex concepts into engaging content for a diverse range of lay audiences.
• Solutions-driven with experience implementing continuous improvements and best practices aligned with governance standards.
• Strong organisational and planning skills with a proven ability to deliver multiple campaigns and projects, coordinate the work of junior members of the team, and prioritise content workflows simultaneously.
• Some experience in either direct line or matrix management with experience supporting, coaching, and mentoring more junior members of a team.
• Ideally available to start on one month’s notice or less (this is not essential, meaning we welcome applicants who meet all the above criteria, but have a longer notice period)
  
  
  

Our organisation values are designed to guide all that we do.

Bold: Act with ambition, courage and determination  

Credible: Act with rigour and professionalism   

Human: Act to have a positive impact on people  

Together: Act inclusively and collaboratively

We’re looking for people who can believe in and embody these organisation values and can use them to drive forward progress against our mission to beat cancer.

If you’re interested in applying and excited about working with us but are unsure if you have the right skills and experience we’d still love to hear from you.

What will I gain?

We create a working environment that supports your wellbeing and provide a generous benefits package, a wide range of career and personal development opportunities and high-quality tools. Our policies and processes enable you to improve your work-life balance, take positive steps in your career and achieve your personal wellbeing goals.

You can explore our benefits by visiting our careers web page.

Additional Information

For more information about working with us please visit our website or contact us at [email protected].  

For more updates on our work and careers, follow us on: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, X and YouTube.

Our vision is to create a charity where everyone feels like they belong, benefits from and participates in, the work we do. We actively encourage applications from people of all backgrounds and cultures, in particular those from ethnic minority backgrounds who are currently under-represented.

We want to see every candidate performing at their best throughout the job application process, interview process and whilst at work. We therefore ask you to inform us of any concerns you have or any adjustments you might need to enable this to happen. Please contact [email protected] or 020 3469 8400 as soon as possible.

Unfortunately, we are unable to recruit anyone below the age of 18, so that we can protect young people from health & safety and safeguarding risks.