Personalised content. Collaborating cross-functionally. Engage and inspire millions.

Content Designer

£35,000- £39,000 + benefits

Reports to: Senior Content Manager

Grade: P2

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 recruitment@cancer.org.uk 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 Content Designer, you’ll play an impactful role in shaping how millions of people engage with our mission by helping to shape exceptional end-to-end content experiences across our websites. You will help 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.

If you’re an audience-centric 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?

Shaping and delivering structured end-to-end content experiences across a range of website content.

Supporting omnichannel content delivery and personalisation in line with Cancer Research UK’s ambitions.

Helping manage campaign and project requests, ensuring content meets high standards of quality, consistency, and accessibility.

Partnering with teams across Cancer Research UK, helping them design, deliver, and iterate a strategic approach to their content.

Promoting our content strategy and content design best practices both within marketing and digital, and across the wider organisation.

Collaborating closely with other capabilities (particularly SEO, User Experience/ UX, and taxonomy), ensuring an agile, cross-disciplinary approach to content planning, creation, and management.

Supporting continuous improvements within the Content Excellence Function, while acting as a content champion throughout the organisation.

Developing relationships with other areas of the charity to support the development of digital content.

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.

Using content design techniques (such as auditing and analysis) to identify and address gaps in our existing content.

Optimising the content across key websites, ensuring the copy, call to action, format, and assets are accessible and more impactful.

Training, guiding, and supporting teams to foster a culture of audience-centricity and continuously advance content maturity across the charity.

Leading and facilitating workshops and training sessions (including design sprints, user journey mapping, and assumption mapping).

Conducting user interviews and delivering stakeholder workshops, reviewing findings, and making recommendations for content improvements.

Supporting with our content migration to our new headless CMS (Contentful).

Support the testing and prototyping of new digital ideas.

What are you looking for?

Experienced 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 data-literate with the ability to interpret content performance metrics and use insights to inform content strategy and decision-making.

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.

Has built credible and collaborative cross-functional stakeholder relationships with strong interpersonal and influencing skills.

Solutions-driven and continuous improvement mindset.

Strong organisational, prioritisation, and planning skills with a proven ability to deliver multiple campaigns and projects simultaneously while maintaining strong attention to detail.

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 recruitment@cancer.org.uk.  

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 recruitment@cancer.org.uk 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.