Job Description

Description

The

Brand Experience Team

within

VP Communications and Community Engagement

is currently seeking a Full-time Temporary Relief

Senior Content Designer

for approximately 1 year.


We're looking for a senior content designer to lead content strategy and design for web and enterprise applications, balancing business priorities with user needs. Whether your background is in UX design, content strategy, information architecture, or writing, you bring a user-first mindset to everything you do.


Reporting to the Manager, Digital Content, you'll support the Cumming School of Medicine's (CSM) portfolio of websites and applications. By designing inclusive, purpose-driven content, you'll help students, staff, alumni, donors, and others navigate complex information and take meaningful action. From mapping journeys and writing interface copy to wireframing pages, testing content performance, and troubleshooting issues, you'll help shape world-class digital experiences.


As a senior designer, you'll set direction, establish best practices, and build capability in others while delivering work that ranges from editorial website updates to larger projects and initiatives.


You'll collaborate with designers, developers, marketers, communicators, academics, and other stakeholders across campus to ensure content is aligned, accessible, and effective. The role requires strong leadership in coaching and mentoring, navigating complex conversations, and fostering alignment across diverse groups. If you care deeply about good content and love working in cross-functional teams to drive change, we'd love to meet you.



The senior content designer is a strategic thinker who advances the university's content design practice while shaping high-quality, user-centered digital experiences across web, mobile, and other applications. More than writing, this role defines how content is designed, structured, delivered, and optimized to meet user needs and organizational goals.


The role provides guidance, mentorship, and training to colleagues, building capability across the institution and within CSM, and fostering collaboration between diverse stakeholders. It requires exceptional skill in navigating complex and sensitive conversations, managing relationships with senior academic leaders, and advocating for user experience design principles at all levels.


Drawing on research, analytics, and best practices, the senior content designer develops strategies that improve usability, boost engagement, and drive action. Guiding the end-to-end content design processfrom research and journey mapping to wireframing, prototyping, testing and quality assurance they ensure content is accessible, consistent, and actionable.


This position plays a vital role in embedding governance standards, strengthening institutional collaboration, exploring new formats and technologies, and helping scale content operations across teams to elevate the quality of CSM's and the broader university's digital experiences.

Summary of Key Responsibilities

(job functions include but are not limited to):


Content Strategy and Management (30%)

Lead the development and implementation of enterprise- and faculty-level content strategies that balance business priorities with user needs, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and digital experience standards. Conduct ongoing content audits and track performance, identifying risks, duplication, and opportunities for improvement, and presenting data-informed recommendations and reports to senior leadership. Provide strategic guidance to content architects, product designers, service analysts, developers, communications and marketing specialists as part of cross-functional teams and projects. Champion brand and content governance by ensuring adherence to institutional voice, tone, and accessibility standards, while coaching others to apply these consistently across all platforms and audiences. Establish, embed, and oversee content governance frameworks and documentation, holding others accountable for adoption and ensuring clarity, scalability, and sustainability in content operations.

Content Design (50%)

Craft user-centered web content that is clear, concise, and tailored for web, mobile, and other applications. Design wireframes, navigation schemes, interaction, and user flows to visualize and refine content placement. Conduct research using methodologies such as usability testing, A/B testing, and focus groups to identify pain points, recommend improvements, and refine designs based on user insights. Write clear, concise microcopy for webpages and applications to guide users and enhance usability, while maintaining brand voice. Craft and revise longer-form copy as needed. Perform web updates and revisions, optimizing content as needed for brand alignment, search, accessibility, and usability. Develop and implement content for chatbots, voice search, and other AI-powered conversational interfaces. Continuously monitor and report on content performance, adjusting strategies and designs as needed based on feedback and analytics.

Facilitation and Stakeholder Engagement (20%)

Lead content discovery and planning at scale, guiding teams through ambiguous challenges to uncover user needs, reconcile competing business priorities, and build alignment across diverse groups. Deliver strategic content recommendations and solutionsincluding audit findings, concept models, and content requirementsto senior leaders and cross-functional partners, supporting decision-making in complex environments. Facilitate critiques, workshops, and difficult conversations with diplomacy, helping stakeholders navigate sensitive issues while advancing user-centered outcomes and institutional priorities. Coach and mentor junior staff and non-experts, developing tools, frameworks, and templates that enable others to create high-quality content while embedding governance and consistency.
Drive collaboration across functions and disciplines, ensuring content design integrates effectively with UX, development, marketing, and academic priorities in large-scale initiatives.

Qualifications / Requirements:

5-7 years of relevant experience in content design or related fields (UX writing, content strategy, information architecture or web design) with a strong portfolio of design work. A post-secondary education in visual design, UX design, computer science, marketing, communications, or a related field. Advanced expertise in designing content across multiple channels and platforms including web and product, with proven ability to set direction and drive adoption of best practices. Demonstrated experience with user research techniques and tools, including usability testing, card sorting, user interviews, surveys, A/B testing, and more. Excellent UX writing skills, with the ability to adapt brand voice, tone, and style for different audiences and platforms. Proven facilitation and negotiation skills, including leading workshops, managing sensitive or complex discussions, building consensus among diverse groups, and collaborating on cross-functional teams. Demonstrated ability to coach, mentor, and support junior team members, fostering their growth, building confidence, and strengthening overall team capability. Expert knowledge of digital tools and systems, including content management systems as well as design and testing tools (e.g., Figma, Adobe CS, Google Analytics, Optimal Workshop) and emerging technologies that support scalable content operations (e.g., AI-assisted tools). Proficiency with information architecture, taxonomies, and labeling systems to improve content organization and navigation. Deep expertise in information architecture: designing taxonomies, metadata models, and navigation systems to improve discoverability and user experience at scale. Advanced knowledge of SEO, accessibility (WCAG 2.1 AA), and inclusive design standards, and ability to embed these consistently across institutional projects. Experience scaling content design practices through governance frameworks, operational standards, and enterprise-level tools to enable consistency and efficiency across teams. Ability to translate content frameworks and business requirements, working closely with content architects, web developers and product designers. Knowledge of HTML/CSS, agile software development, and content modelling is beneficial but not required.

Application Deadline:

October 30, 2025.

We would like to thank all applicants in advance for submitting their resumes. Please note, only those candidates chosen to continue on through the selection process will be contacted.


This position is part of the AUPE bargaining unit, and falls under the

Technical Job Family, Phase 3.


For a listing of all management and staff opportunities at the University of Calgary, view our

Management and Staff Careers website

.

About the University of Calgary

UCalgary is Canada's entrepreneurial university, located in Canada's most enterprising city. It is a top research university and one of the highest-ranked universities of its age. Founded in 1966, its 36,000 students experience an innovative learning environment, made rich by research, hands-on experiences and entrepreneurial thinking. It is Canada's leader in the creation of start-ups. Start something today at the University of Calgary. For more information, visit ucalgary.ca.


The University of Calgary has launched an institution-wide Indigenous Strategy committing to creating a rich, vibrant, and culturally competent campus that welcomes and supports Indigenous Peoples, encourages Indigenous community partnerships, is inclusive of Indigenous perspectives in all that we do.

As an equitable and inclusive employer, the University of Calgary recognizes that a diverse staff/faculty benefits and enriches the work, learning and research experiences of the entire campus and greater community. We are committed to removing barriers that have been historically encountered by some people in our society. We strive to recruit individuals who will further enhance our diversity and will support their academic and professional success while they are here. In particular, we encourage members of the designated groups (women, Indigenous peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible/racialized minorities, and diverse sexual orientation and gender identities) to apply. To ensure a fair and equitable assessment, we offer accommodation at any stage during the recruitment process to applicants with disabilities. Questions regarding [diversity] EDI at UCalgary can be sent to the Office of Institutional Commitments (

equity@ucalgary.ca

) and requests for accommodations can be sent to Human Resources (

hrhire@ucalgary.ca

).

Do you have most but not all the qualifications? Research show that women, racialized and visible minorities, and persons with disabilities are less likely to apply for jobs unless they meet every single qualification. At UCalgary we are committed to achieving equitable, diverse, inclusive and accessible employment practices and workplaces and encourage you to apply if you believe you are right for this role.

We encourage all qualified applicants to apply, however preference will be given to Canadian citizens and permanent residents of Canada.