Associate engagement · Remote, with some travel in England · 21 October 2026 to 31 March 2027
We are looking for a service or content designer to turn an existing local government AI playbook and maturity framework into something councils will actually use.
About the client
Our client is a UK consultancy working on AI governance, assurance and adoption in the public sector. They help organisations use artificial intelligence in ways they can explain, evidence and stand behind — the governance, the assurance and the practical delivery, rather than the technology alone. theHRkey is handling this search on their behalf, and will introduce you directly if there is a fit.
About the work
Our client is bidding to be the delivery partner for a five-month programme of work on artificial intelligence with a national local government organisation in England. If they are successful, the engagement runs from 21 October 2026 to 31 March 2027 and covers three workstreams: making an AI playbook and maturity framework genuinely usable by councils; research into AI-generated correspondence and what it does to information governance and statutory duties; and a review of AI training and workforce capability across local government. There is also scope for work on responsible AI governance, agentic AI, and AI procurement and evaluation as priorities emerge.
Please read this before applying. This is a competitive tender and the role depends on our client being awarded the contract. The award decision is expected around 20 October 2026. The team has to be named in the bid, so they need to know now who would take the role — but no work is guaranteed and we will not pretend otherwise.
Purpose of the role
The client has an AI playbook and a maturity framework. What it does not yet have is the set of practical things that make a framework usable: clear descriptions of what good looks like at each stage, a self-assessment a council can complete without help, checklists, templates and real examples. This role produces those, designs them with councils rather than for them, tests them with real users, and changes them in response. It is the client's highest priority of the three workstreams.
What you would do
- Refine the existing AI maturity framework and write good-practice descriptions for each stage, in language a council officer recognises.
- Co-design with councils: run sessions where the people who will use the material shape it.
- Run user-testing on the drafts and act on what you learn, rather than defending the first version.
- Produce the practical artefacts — self-assessment tools, checklists, templates and case studies drawn from real council experience.
- Keep the whole set consistent in structure, tone and level, so it reads as one product.
- Prepare everything for handover, including source files and guidance on maintaining it.
What you would produce
- A refined maturity framework with good-practice descriptions per stage.
- A self-assessment tool councils can complete unaided.
- Checklists and templates supporting each stage of the framework.
- Case studies based on real council experience.
- A consistent, handover-ready set of materials with source files.
Essential experience
- Service design or content design on public-sector products, ideally local government.
- Running co-design and user-testing with real users, and demonstrably changing the work as a result.
- Plain-English writing to a recognised content standard.
- Producing tools and templates, not only documents — the output here is something people fill in and use.
- Working from an existing framework rather than starting from a blank page.
Desirable
- Work against the GOV.UK service standard or a comparable design standard.
- Experience designing self-assessment or maturity tools.
- Accessibility knowledge, since the material will be published by a public body.
The experience that matters most
One thing matters more than anything else on this list. The client treats experience of working within or alongside English local government, or central government, as an essential requirement rather than a preference, and it carries the heaviest weight in how bids are scored. If you have delivered for a council, a combined authority, a government department or an arm's-length body, say so specifically and name the organisation. Strong consultants without that background will not be as strong on this particular piece of work.
Time commitment
Front-loaded, heaviest from October to January, tailing into testing and handover towards the end of the term.
Terms
Engagement basis. Subcontract to the client. Most of their associates work through their own limited company, outside IR35, invoicing against agreed days and deliverables. Other arrangements are possible where they suit both sides.
Term. 21 October 2026 to 31 March 2027. The end date is fixed by the client and will not move.
Location. Remote, with some travel in England for workshops and user-testing sessions.
Rate. Tell us your day rate excluding VAT when you apply. Each bid is priced against the buyer's budget, so we would rather start from your number than publish one.
Intellectual property. Everything produced is owned by the client. It cannot be reused, republished or shown as portfolio work afterwards.
Working with us. This is a small, named team. Everyone does the work as well as planning it, and the person in each role is the person we put in the bid.
How to apply
Send the following to info@thehrkey.com, with the role title in the subject line:
- A CV of no more than two pages.
- Your day rate excluding VAT.
- Your company name and registration number, if you work through a limited company.
- Confirmation that you are willing to be named in a tender submission.
- Whether your company holds professional indemnity insurance, and at what level.
- A short paragraph on your work within or alongside English local government or central government, naming the organisation and what you delivered.
Please reply by 1 October 2026. The team has to be named in the bid, which closes on 8 October.