Principal Content and Design Experience Lead

Responsibilities

• Defining the strategic direction for CRUK's content and design capability, ensuring it is future-focused, user-centred and aligned to organisational goals.
• Leading and developing a high-performing team through the Senior Manager, Design and Content Delivery Lead, fostering a collaborative culture and shared ways of working.
• Owning the operating model, governance and prioritisation approach for the function, ensuring clear decision-making, effective resource planning and delivery excellence.
• Driving CRUK's content optimisation strategy, using audience insight, analytics, search, experimentation and user research to improve the quality, findability and effectiveness of content.
• Championing accessibility, user-centred design and content best practice across the organisation.
• Overseeing key transformation initiatives, including content platform and CMS developments, while managing supplier relationships, budgets and associated risks.
• Ensuring content and design teams have the right skills, capacity and structures in place to deliver against current and future organisational needs.
• Building strong partnerships across Digital, Data, Insights and other stakeholder groups to maximise organisational impact.

Requirements

• Significant experience leading multidisciplinary content, design and user experience teams, including managing senior leaders and managers.
• Translating strategic vision into successful delivery through a strong track record of developing and delivering content and digital experience strategies that drive measurable user and organisational outcomes.
• Expertise in one or more content or design disciplines, alongside a broad understanding of UX, UI, service design, content operations, accessibility and taxonomy.
• Specific knowledge of CMS, DAM and design systems, and of end-to-end supporter journeys.
• Excellent stakeholder engagement and influencing skills, with the ability to build alignment and drive change across complex organisations.
• Strong people leadership experience, creating inclusive, high-performing teams and developing future talent.
• Experience managing budgets, suppliers, contracts and organisational risk.
• An understanding of emerging technologies, including AI and automation, and how they can enhance content and design operations.
• A passion for creating exceptional user experiences and a commitment to Cancer Research UK's vision of bringing about a world where everybody lives longer, better lives, free from the fear of cancer.

Benefits

• generous benefits package
• wide range of career and personal development opportunities
• high-quality tools