From a career in teaching to shaping communication messages across our digital channels, we caught up with Sarah to learn more about her journey into the Home Office and what she enjoys about her role as a Lead Content Designer.
Tell us about yourself, your journey into tech and what you did before joining the Home Office?
I’m the Lead Content Designer in the Migration and Borders Technology Portfolio (MBTP) in Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT). I lead a team of around 40 content designers working across a wide range of services in the largest delivery portfolio in DDaT. I joined the Civil Service over eight years ago after a career in Further Education, where I taught English, Maths, and Employability Skills in alternative settings like pupil referral units and prisons.
My path into content design wasn’t planned; in fact I’d say I fell into it by accident. I’d had several roles where I was working on internal and external communications projects writing content on funding arrangements for the post-16 education sector and later for the Department for Education (DfE) working on the COVID guidance. I found I loved using analytics and feedback to improve content and make complex information clearer, especially when collaborating with technical teams.
After years of doing content design but being called something else, I decided to pursue a formal role and that brought me to the Home Office.
What attracted you to pursue a career at the Home Office?
The Home Office had opportunities that I felt matched my skills and experience. More importantly, it had a large User Centred Design (UCD) community that had a good reputation across government. I’d been previously working in small teams, sometimes as the only UCD professional in the team and the prospect of having lots of people around me who shared the same values and thought processes was very appealing. I could see opportunities for me to consolidate and develop my skills, and it felt like somewhere I could really fit into. This has proved to be true: since joining the Home Office, I’ve progressed from Senior Content Designer to Lead Content Designer.
What does your day-to-day work involve?
As Lead Content Designer, my role focuses more on people management, resourcing, and strategic oversight than hands-on content design. I collaborate with the Lead User Researcher and Lead Interaction and Service Designer to ensure a consistent, coordinated approach to User Centred Design across the portfolio. Together, we assess UCD needs for new teams, allocate resources, and prioritise work across programme areas.
I also support Content Designers in MBTP and the wider Home Office, fostering skill-sharing and professional development and have created templates to help designers audit and grow their skills. I’m currently working with a small team of Content Designers to plan our first Content Design Day which will bring together all Content Designers across the Home Office to share skills, celebrate all things content design, learn about topical issues such as trauma-informed content design and the impact of AI on our profession.
What do you enjoy most about your role as a Lead Content Designer?
I really enjoy the people side of my role. Leading a large team is challenging but it’s also really rewarding to be able to support them, offer advice, and ensure they have the tools they need to succeed.
I also help run our 18-month Digital Development Programme (DDP), where new entrants and career changers rotate through placements to become skilled Content Designers. I work with Principal Content Designers and the Head of UCD to plan and orchestrate the placement rotations and ensure the cohort have adequate mentorship and support. This year, I’ve especially enjoyed coaching the cohort through projects and challenges, and it’s been great to see them grow into confident designers ready to begin their careers at the Home Office.
Have you been involved in any interesting projects?
We work on such a range of services in MBTP there’s always something interesting going on. We’ve got a lot of work going on in His Majesty’s Passport Office (HMPO) that links into eGates and the ambition for contactless border crossing. That has been delivering some consistently good user experiences. Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) has been a priority for us over the last few years and that has now been rolled out fully, allowing users to get visa decisions in a matter of minutes. We’ve also been working on some fast-moving changes to our internal systems that help to support front-line colleagues in Border Force and case working teams across UK Visas and Immigration and Asylum. There’s always something going on and no two days are the same!
Tell us about the benefits / support that are available to you at the Home Office?
The UCD community at the Home Office is incredible. There are loads of opportunities for personal and professional development. I’ve been encouraged by my line managers to try new things and go for opportunities when I’ve perhaps been on the fence about them. I’m about to start on the Future Leaders Scheme, a Civil Service development scheme that will help me to further my leadership and strategic skills, and I’m really looking forward to getting started!
There’s also a lot of flexibility in how we work at the Home Office. We have a flexitime system that helps me maintain a good work-life balance. This means I can focus on things that are important to me outside of work, such as competing in various sports with my dogs!
What advice would you give to someone who is considering a career in tech at the Home Office?
The Home Office is a great place to work in tech. The DDaT community is thriving, and there’s a lot of support available both to enable you to work effectively and develop in the way you want to. We’re a friendly bunch and passionate about what we do – come and join us to find out more!
