Company: Care Quality Commission
Location:
Posted: May 14th, 2026
Grade E3:75,183 per annum
Contracted Hours:Full-time 37 hours per week
Contract Type:Permanent
Location:Homebased, with travel as required
Closing Date: Monday25th May 2026at 11.59pm
Interview Date: Tuesday7th or Wednesday 8th July 2026 - these will be face to face in either our Stratford, London Office or Newcastle Upon Tyne Office
Makea difference
Everyrole at CQC contributes to our mission. If youre looking for a new role thatoffers purpose at a pivotal moment for the organisation, youve found it.
As Deputy Director for Mental HealthInspectorate Office, youllsupport the Chief Inspector and Inspectorate Senior Leadership Team to deliverCQCs strategy, strengthen performance, and help rebuild our organisation so itis fit for the future.To achieve this, you will need to build closerelationships with the Directors and colleagues in the widerinspectorates
Weare recruiting four roles, each supporting one Inspectorate: Hospitals,Primary Care & Community Health Services, Mental Health, and Adult SocialCare. While aligned to a specificsector, these roles are integral to working across Inspectorates to enablejoined-up, consistent approaches and enhance collaboration.
Picturethis
Youwork at the heart of the Chief Inspectors Office, helping a small central teamrun smoothly while supporting clear priorities, strong relationships andconfident leadership across the system.
Inthe last year as a Deputy Director for the Inspectorate Office, you might have:
. Helped the Chief Inspector drive operational delivery and performance during a period of organisational change, ensuring priorities stayed focused and achievable.
. Worked alongside other Deputy Directors to align crosssector priorities, sharing insight and learning so approaches were consistent across health and care.
Therole
Youllwork closely with others to deliver shared outcomes. In this role, youll:
. Support the Chief Inspectors leadership and delivery: Ensure the Chief Inspector of Mental Health is well supported to lead their Inspectorate, with clear priorities, strong oversight and effective use of time and resources.
. Coordinate and connect teams: Make sure relationships with the Senior Leadership Team, National Professional Advisors and corporate partners work well, so the Mental Health Inspectorates work is joined up and well supported.
. Provide operational insight and assurance: Bring together performance, risk and delivery information to give the Chief Inspector a clear picture of progress, emerging issues and opportunities to improve quality and consistency.
Showus
Wewill be looking for specific skills, knowledge and experience in yourapplication form:
-Executive support and strategic delivery: Proven experience and track record of delivery in supporting executive leaders to deliver complex portfolios in national or complex organisations, including prioritisation, strategic planning, budget management and driving delivery against organisational priorities and objectives.
-Operational delivery and collaboration: Strong understanding of operational delivery in a fast paced, high energy environment, including monitoring and oversight of performance, productivity, quality, risk and assurance . Ability to deliver through matrix working, building trusted stakeholder relationships to achieve shared outcomes.
-Decision making, performance and change: Experience using data and insight to inform decisions, manage performance and deliver programmes. Able to communicate complex information clearly. Evidence of experience in leading and supporting complex change and demonstrating sound judgement, business acumen and political awareness.
-Sector-specific expertise: Demonstrable knowledge and experience of the Mental Health sector, including key operational pressures, regulatory requirements, and quality and safety considerations. Ability to apply this knowledge to support effective oversight, assurance or improvement activity is essential.
Applytoday and be part of CQCs work to strengthen health and care, making a realdifference for people across England.
Youcan read the full details of the role in the followingJobDescriptionandCandidate Information Pack:
Job Description
Candidate Pack
How to apply
To apply forthis role, please submit a copy of your CV and Supporting Statement(nomorethan 750-words)via the Recruitment System.
Your Supporting Statement should cover the following:
- How your previous experience makes you suitable for this role?
- What strengths you will bring to the role?
If youd like to join an informal group session on 22nd May 10-11am for more information about the role, please contact Maeve Coleman to receive a link maeve.coleman@cqc.org.uk (the session will be recorded if you are unable to join the session).
For general enquiries, please email recruitment@cqc.org.uk.
Compliance
To progress your application, youll need to provide evidence of your right to work in the UK. Without valid right to work you wont be eligible for the role.We are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.Some roles may also be subject to a satisfactory DBS check.
Next steps
If you apply, youll need to create a profile and complete an online application form. Please see ourinformation for applicantsfor more details on the process.We contact every applicantto let them know the outcome of their application, so you will hear from us whether you are shortlisted.
The Benefits
We offer a wide range ofbenefits, including:
Please see ourbenefitspage for the full list.
Equity for all
We know job descriptions can feel intimidating. Research shows they can cause some people to doubt whether theyre a good fit. This happens more often to people from underrepresented groups (e.g. ethnic minority backgrounds).If this role interests you, we encourage you to apply.Your unique perspective, skills, and experience could be exactly what we need.
We want every candidate to feel supported and able to do their best. If you need adjustments to our process,well work with you to remove any barriers. Visit ouraccessibility pagefor more on this. If youd like to chat, please contactrecruitment@cqc.org.uk.
We promote a workplace wherefairness, respect and inclusion are a priority. See ourED&I pagefor more about this.
We welcome applications fromeveryone,and colleagues can find support and community among our many employee networks.This includes people of any:
A Note on AI
We know AI tools can be great for research and refining ideas, but we want to learn about you. If you use AI or Chatbots to help you with your application, keep these points in mind:
AI can support research, structuring and refining your writing, but your applicationmustreflectyour real skills and experience.
Spell-checking and condensing word counts are great ways to use AI effectively.
Do notcopy and paste AI generated answers. These will not help you stand out; remember we want to hear about your skills and experience.
Providing false and insincere examples goes against our core values of honesty and integrity andmay lead to your application being withdrawnor termination of your employment.
Values and vision
We are guided by ourcore values, which shape our work and our culture.
Excellence being a high-performing organisation.
Caring treating everyone with dignity and respect.
Integrity doing the right thing.
Teamwork learning from each other to be the best we can.
We are a disability confident employer and a carer confident employer.