Director of Adult Social Care - Central

Executive Level 2 - £95,000 - £113,625 per annum
Contracted Hours: Full-time 37 hours per week (Flexible compressed hours will be considered)
Contract Type: Permanent
Closing date: Thursday 15 October 2026 at 11.59pm
Interview Date: Face to Face at London, Stratford Office on Wednesday 25 November & Thursday 26 November

Please not, this advert is for current internal applicants only. External applications will be closed.

Make a difference

Every role at CQC contributes to our mission. If you're looking for a new role in Adult Social Care and Integrated Care that gives a true sense of meaning and purpose, then you've found it.

As our Director of Adult Social Care, you'll help shape how adult social care services are regulated across England, improving the quality and safety of care for people and communities who rely on these services every day.

Picture this

Imagine leading work that influences the future of adult social care regulation nationally, where your decisions help improve care experiences and outcomes for thousands of people. Working with providers, partners, government stakeholders and people who use services, you'll help shape policy, respond to emerging challenges and drive meaningful improvement across the sector.

This might include:

• Leading a national response to emerging quality and safety risks, bringing together lived experience, data and sector insight to inform CQC's regulatory approach.
• Directing a thematic review or improvement programme that strengthened assessment and rating processes, helping to improve outcomes for people receiving care.

The role

Your insight and leadership will influence what we do and how we do it. In this role, you'll:

• Lead strategic delivery: Provide strategic leadership for CQC's regulation of adult social care services, ensuring effective operational delivery, regulatory oversight and continuous improvement.
• Drive performance and develop teams: Lead and support high-performing teams, manage significant resources and budgets, and create an inclusive culture that enables people to deliver their best work.
• Shape partnerships and future regulation: Work closely with providers, system partners, government stakeholders and people who use services to manage risk, influence policy and improve the quality and safety of care.
• Oversee the National Customer Service Centre (NCSC): Provide strategic leadership and oversight of the NCSC, ensuring the delivery of high-quality customer service, effective management of enquiries and concerns, and the continual development of services that support people, providers, and partners.

Show us

We will be looking for specific skills, knowledge and experience in your application form:

• Experience leading large-scale regulatory, operational or service improvement programmes within adult social care, health, the NHS or a related sector, including delivering measurable improvements and managing risk.
• Experience using data, evidence and insight to identify emerging issues, inform strategic decision-making and shape policy, regulation or service improvement activity.
• Experience influencing senior stakeholders across organisations, such as providers, system partners or government bodies, to achieve shared outcomes and drive improvement.
• Proven track record of leading high-performing teams and organisational performance, including managing resources, setting clear priorities and delivering results in complex or changing environments.

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You can read the full details of the role in the following Job Description and Candidate Information Pack:

Job Description

How to apply

To apply for this role, please submit a copy of your CV and Supporting Statement (no more than 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 will you bring to the role?

Next steps

If you apply, you’ll need to create a profile and complete an online application form. Please see our information for applicants for more details on the process. We contact every applicant to let them know the outcome of their application, so you will hear from us whether you are shortlisted.

If you’d like to have an informal chat about the role you can contact – Chris Badger, Chief Inspector of Adult Social Care via his Exec PA at; alexia.partington@cqc.org.uk For general enquiries, please email recruitment@cqc.org.uk

Equity for all

We know job descriptions can feel intimidating. Research shows they can cause some people to doubt whether they’re 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, we’ll work with you to remove any barriers. Visit our accessibility page for more on this. If you’d like to chat, please contact recruitment@cqc.org.uk.

We promote a workplace where fairness, respect and inclusion are a priority. See our ED&I page for more about this.

We welcome applications from everyone, and colleagues can find support and community among our many employee networks. This includes people of any:

• Age
• Sex
• Gender identity or expression
• Sexual orientation
• Religion or belief
• Ethnicity
• Disability

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 application must reflect your real skills and experience.

· Spell-checking and condensing word counts are great ways to use AI effectively.

· Do not copy 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 and may lead to your application being withdrawn or termination of your employment.

Values and vision

We are guided by our core 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.