Operations Manager - Mental Health

Grade A - £55,172 (National) or £61,028 (London - for London office based or home-based workers within the boundary of the M25) – There is also an additional homeworking allowance of £600 per annum for those working from home. Please note for part time roles – this will be pro rata.
Contracted Hours: Full time 37 hours per week. Speak to us about flexible working.
Contract Type: Fixed Term or Secondment opportunity until 31 March 2027
Closing date: Wednesday 18 November 2026 at 11.59pm

Make a difference
Every role at CQC contributes to our mission. We’re offering two temporary Operations Manager opportunities in Mental Health. Successful candidates may lead one of two focused projects LFPSE Recovery or Bank and Overtime Delivery or lead an inspection team. The specific role allocation will be confirmed following interview. These roles will strengthen our response to patient-safety intelligence and increase assessment and inspection delivery, helping us protect people who use mental health services.

Picture this
This is a varied opportunity to either lead one of two focused, time-limited projects with impact across the Mental Health Directorate or lead an inspection team. The specific role allocation will be confirmed following interview. You’ll bring together people, intelligence and clear delivery plans to address immediate pressures while improving how we work. Working with regional teams and specialist colleagues, you’ll turn learning into practical improvements that last beyond the project or inspection.

As an Operations Manager – Mental Health Directorate, you will have the opportunity to:

• Lead either a dedicated project that strengthens patient-safety oversight or delivers additional assessments through bank and overtime capacity, or an inspection team delivering priority regulatory activity. The specific allocation will be confirmed following interview.
• Work across regions with operations managers, inspectors and support teams to coordinate capacity, manage dependencies and progress priority project or inspection work.
• Develop and test consistent processes, practical tools and quality assurance arrangements that support effective delivery and sustainable ways of working.
  Use data and insight to monitor outcomes, identify emerging risks and provide clear assurance on progress, quality and resource use.

The role

Successful candidates will be allocated to one of the following three areas, with the specific allocation confirmed following interview. Delivery will run to 31 March 2027:

Operations Manager – LFPSE Recovery:

• Lead a temporary team of inspectors aligned to the regions to validate and prioritise the Learning from Patient Safety Events (LFPSE) backlog, progress fatal and severe-harm incident reviews and maintain current monthly reviews.
• Ensure concerns are escalated promptly through agreed regulatory routes, with clear records and effective links to local teams.
• Work with inspectors, operations managers and specialist colleagues to improve the standard operating procedure, review tools and audit arrangements, deliver supporting training and recommend a sustainable future operating model with a safe handover to regional teams.
  

Operations Manager – Bank and Overtime Delivery:

• Coordinate additional mental health assessments delivered through bank inspectors and overtime arrangements.
• Work with regional teams to agree assessment allocations, confirm availability and ensure colleagues have the induction, guidance and support required.
• Oversee the assessment pipeline from allocation to publication, including quality assurance, report timeliness and resolution of delivery barriers.
• Work with finance and business support colleagues to monitor commissioned activity, expenditure and pay arrangements against the agreed funding and delivery plan.

Operations Manager – Inspection Team Leadership:

• Lead an inspection team delivering priority regulatory activity.

• Provide clear operational leadership, allocate work and capacity, oversee inspection planning and delivery, maintain quality and timeliness, and ensure risks and concerns are escalated through agreed routes.
• Support inspectors to make consistent, evidence-based judgements and work with regional and specialist colleagues to resolve barriers and deliver high-quality outcomes.

All roles – operational leadership and assurance:

• Establish clear priorities, responsibilities and success measures; coordinate and support the delivery team; manage risks and dependencies; and provide regular performance and assurance reports to senior leaders.
• Identify learning, escalate barriers early and ensure effective evaluation, handover or continued delivery as appropriate to the allocated role.

Show us
We’ll be looking for the following skills, knowledge and experience in your application form:

Mental health regulatory knowledge: Strong understanding of mental health services, patient-safety risks and CQC’s regulatory approach. Depending on the role allocated following interview, demonstrate relevant experience of reviewing incident intelligence and escalating concerns, delivering and quality assuring assessments, or leading inspection activity and evidence-based regulatory judgements.

Project and operational leadership: Experience of leading teams or coordinating complex project, assessment or inspection delivery, setting priorities and milestones, allocating capacity and managing competing demands. Show how you have improved processes, supported colleagues through change and maintained quality while delivering to deadlines.

Evidence-based delivery and assurance: Ability to analyse data, validate delivery baselines, monitor progress and translate findings into clear actions and senior-level reporting. Demonstrate how you have used evidence to manage risk and improve outcomes, including monitoring resource use or expenditure where relevant.

Collaboration and communication: Ability to build effective relationships across regional and specialist teams, influence without relying on line-management authority and resolve delivery barriers constructively. Show how you have communicated expectations, shared learning and secured agreement on practical improvements.

Compliance

Note for internal candidates:
This is a secondment/fixed term opportunity. Please read the recruitment and selection policy section on secondments. You must discuss your application with your line manager before applying.
To progress your application, you’ll need to provide evidence of your right to work in the UK. Without valid right to work you won’t 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, you’ll need to create a profile and complete an online application form. Your application will be completely anonymous. 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 or not you are shortlisted.
You can read the full details of the role in the Job Description
If you’d like an informal chat about the role contact – Gemma Berry, Deputy Director of Mental Health; Gemma.Berry@cqc.org.uk. For general enquiries, please email recruitment@cqc.org.uk.

The Benefits
We offer a wide range of benefits, including:

• Annual leave starting at 27 days per year, rising to 32.5 days with service, plus bank holidays (usually 8 days per year).
• Training and development opportunities.
• Wellbeing initiatives, such as gym discounts and meditation.
• NHS pension scheme, with around 14% employer contribution.
• Discount schemes (including eligibility for a Blue Light card, at a cost of £4.99 and valid for 2 years), reward vouchers, car leasing and more!

Please see our benefits page for the full list.

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. Please note, if you have previously informed us of adjustments you need for interview or within your role these are not carried over and must be discussed for each individual application you make.
We promote a workplace where fairness, respect and inclusion are a priority. Diverse teams make our work better, help us deliver our mission and make our culture stronger. 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

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.
We are a disability confident employer and a carer confident employer.

A Note on AI
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.