Deputy Director of Assurance & Risk

Care Quality Commission; United Kingdom; Remote; GBP 74,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading health regulation authority in the UK seeks a Deputy Director of Assurance and Risk to lead strategic initiatives that enhance decision-making and internal controls. You will oversee risk management frameworks and ensure effective leadership within your team. Qualified candidates should possess strong experience in developing assurance strategies and influence over senior stakeholders. This role offers a salary of £73,150 and is home-based with required travel.

Benefits

Annual leave starting at 27 days, rising to 32.5

Training and development opportunities

NHS pension scheme

Wellbeing initiatives

Qualifications

• Experience leading risk and assurance strategies in a complex organization.
• Demonstrable expertise in risk management and internal control.
• Clear examples of influence over senior stakeholders to drive change.

Responsibilities

• Lead the implementation of the Board Assurance Framework.
• Drive strategic development of CQC's risk management framework.
• Work with the Government Internal Audit Agency to align audit activities.

Skills

Leadership and influence

Risk management

Assurance strategies

Job description

Overview

Executive Level 3 - £73,150 per annum

Contracted Hours: Full time, 37 hours per week

Contract Type: Permanent

Location: Home-based, with travel to meetings as required

Closing date: Wednesday 12 November 2025 at 11.59pm

Interview Date: TBC via MS Teams

Make a difference Every role at CQC contributes to our mission. If you’re looking for a new role in Assurance and Risk that gives a true sense of meaning and purpose, then you’ve found it! As a Deputy Director of Assurance and Risk, you’ll help build trust in CQC’s decisions by leading how we manage risk, assurance and internal controls—making sure our work is safe, sound and focused on people who use health and care services.

Picture this Imagine leading a team that helps CQC make confident, informed decisions that improve care for millions. You’ll shape how we use assurance and learn from risk management to drive better outcomes.

As a Deputy Director of Assurance and Risk in the Governance and Assurance directorate, you will:

• Lead the implementation and ongoing development of the Board Assurance Framework that gives our Board and Executive Team confidence in how risks are managed, and controls are working.
• Drive forward the strategic development of CQC’s risk management framework, ensuring that risks are identified, assessed, managed, and monitored effectively.
• Work with the Government Internal Audit Agency to align audit activity with our key functions and ensure lessons learned are embedded across the organisation.

The role

You’ll play an important part in delivering our mission. In this role, you’ll:

• Lead strategic direction: Shape and deliver CQC’s approach to assurance, risk and internal control, supporting confident decision-making across the organisation.
• Strengthen internal controls: Oversee the development and improvement of our second line of defence, ensuring our systems are robust, efficient and aligned with regulatory needs.
• Promote learning and improvement: Drive a culture of continuous improvement, using insights from assurance and risk to inform performance and planning.

Show us

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

• Experience leading risk and assurance: Show how you’ve developed and delivered risk and/or assurance strategies in a complex organisation, ideally in the public or regulatory sector.
• Demonstrable expertise in risk management, internal control, and assurance processes.
• Leadership and influence: Clear and strong examples of how you’ve led teams, built strong relationships and influenced senior stakeholders to drive change and improvement.

How to apply

To apply for this role, please create a profile and complete an online application form, upload your current CV and a covering letter. In your covering letter, explain how your previous experience makes you suitable for this role and what strengths you will bring to the role. You may also be required to complete additional role specific questions in your application.

Join us and help CQC shape the future of health and care.

Compliance

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 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 and Candidate Pack.

For an informal discussion or further information on the role, please contact Jane Burns, Director of Governance via her PA; Christine Russell at [e-mail]. For general enquiries, please email [e-mail].

The Benefits

• 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, 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. This happens more often to people from underrepresented groups. 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. If you’d like to chat, please contact [e-mail]. 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 employee networks, including 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 useful uses of AI.
• Do not copy and paste AI-generated answers. These will not help you stand out; 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 employment.