Executive Level 2: £95,000 - £113,625 per annum
Contracted Hours: Full time 37 hours per week
Contract Type: Fixed Term / Secondment for 6 Months
Location: Home-based, with travel to meetings, CQC offices and providers as required
Closing Date: Monday 25 August 2025 at 11.59pm
Interview Date: Tuesday 30 September 2025 via MS Teams
For an informal discussion or further information on the role, please contact Chris Usher, Director for Finance, Commercial and Workplace via his PA [email protected] and for general enquiries please contact [email protected]
Make a difference
Every role at CQC contributes to our mission. This is a pivotal time for CQC as we continue to strengthen our governance and accountability frameworks to meet the evolving demands of the health and social care landscape. As an organisation committed to transparency, integrity, and excellence, we are seeking a highly capable and values-driven leader to ensure our governance arrangements are robust, effective, and aligned with best practice.
If you’re looking for an
interim role that gives a true sense of meaning and purpose, then you’ve found it! As our
Director of Governance & Assurance, you’ll help shape how we lead, learn and improve—ensuring our organisation is accountable, transparent and always striving for excellence.
Picture this
Imagine leading a team that helps CQC make confident, informed decisions that improve health and social care across England. You’ll be at the heart of our strategic thinking, working closely with senior leaders and the Board to drive assurance.
- At CQC as a Director of Governance & Assurance , you get the chance to shape and influence the way a new CQC Board makes decisions and works collegiately with the Executive team, implementing the findings of an external governance review.
- As a Director of Governance & Assurance, you get the chance to drive forward a refreshed approach to risk management and assurance that helps us manage risk and improve organisational resilience, building our credibility as a regulator.
The role
At CQC, we are proud of our values—Excellence, Caring, Integrity, and Teamwork—and we expect our senior leaders to embody these in everything they do. You will be someone who builds trust through authenticity, champions diversity and inclusion, and fosters a culture of continuous improvement. Your insight and leadership will influence what we do and how we do it.
In This Role, You’ll
- Embed the CQC way: ensure the way you lead and that governance and decision making across CQC embodies with the CQC way.
- Champion assurance and improvement: Build systems that identify risks, support internal audits, and promote a culture of continuous improvement.
Show Us
We will be looking for specific skills, knowledge and experience in your application form:
- Experience leading governance or assurance functions in a large, complex organisation, with a track record of improving workings and delivering value.
- Ability to analyse and present complex data to senior stakeholders, turning insights into clear, actionable recommendations.
- Proven success in building inclusive, high-performing teams, setting a clear vision and fostering collaboration across diverse groups.
Join us and help CQC shape the future of health and care.
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.
Note For External Candidates
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: Director of Governance and Assurance JD.pdf
How To Apply
To apply for this role, please submit a copy of your CV via the Recruitment System (no supporting statement / covering letter is required).
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
[email protected].
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
About
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.
