Senior Lawyer x 2

Care Quality Commission; London; Hybrid; GBP 52,000 - 59,000; Full time

Job summary

The Care Quality Commission is seeking a Senior Lawyer to contribute to the legal aspects of health and social care, ensuring decisions are credible and support their mission. This role involves leading a passionate legal team, providing strategic guidance, and shaping legal policies to ensure compliance and operational efficiency.

Benefits

Annual leave starting at 27 days, rising to 32.5 days with service

Training and development opportunities

NHS pension scheme with 14% employer contribution

Wellbeing initiatives, including gym discounts

Qualifications

• At least 5 years post-qualification experience in complex legal matters.
• Experience in advising on public law and policy development.

Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a legal team, providing coaching and supervision.
• Advise on legal matters and shape legal strategy aligned with organizational goals.

Skills

Legal expertise

Leadership

Strategic thinking

Education

Qualified solicitor, barrister, or chartered legal executive

Job description

Grade A -£52,737(National Framework) or £58,409 (London - for London office based or home-based workers within the boundary of the M25)– There is also an additional homeworking allowance of £581 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

Contract Type:2 x 12 Months FixedTerm or Secondment Opportunities

Location:Homeor office based, flexible location. Hybrid working (working 2 days a week fromhome)

Closing date:Sunday 29 June 2025at 11.59pm

Make adifference

Every role at CQCcontributes to our mission. If you’re looking for a new role in theLegalServices Directoratethat gives a true sense of meaning and purpose,then you’ve found it! As aSenior Lawyer, you’ll help ensure thatCQC’s decisions are legally sound and support our mission to improve health andsocial care for everyone.

Picturethis

Imagine leading ateam of legal professionals who are passionate about making a difference—whereyour advice helps shape national policy and protect people’s rights.

In the last year asaSenior Lawyer, you might have:

Led the legal response to a complexpublic law case, ensuring actions were fair, lawful, and in the publicinterest.

Developed a new legal framework tosupport enforcement activity, helping frontline teams act swiftly andconfidently.

Supported the development of new oremerging policies or legislation.

The role

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

Lead and develop a legal team: Provide coaching, supervision, andsupport to ensure high-quality legal advice across the organisation.

Advise on legal matters: Offer clear, solutions-focused legalguidance on a wide range of issues, including policy development andpublic law.

Shape legal strategy: Work with senior leaders to alignlegal priorities with CQC’s goals and ensure legal risks are identifiedand managed early.

Show us

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

Demonstrated legal expertise: You’re a qualified solicitor,barrister, or chartered legal executive with at least 5 years’post-qualification experience, including advising on complex legalmatters.

Leadership and team development: You’ve successfully led and supportedlegal professionals, helping them grow and deliver high-quality work.

Strategic legal thinking: You’ve used your legal knowledge toshape policy or operational decisions, balancing risk and benefit in afast-paced environment.

Join us and help CQC shape the future of healthand care

Compliance
Note for internal candidates:This is a secondment/fixed termopportunity. Please read the recruitment and selection policy section onsecondments. Youmustdiscuss your application with your linemanager before applying.

To progress your application, you’ll need to provide evidence of your right towork in the UK. Without valid right to work you won’t be eligible for therole.We are unable to offer sponsorship for this role.Someroles 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 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 or not you are shortlisted.

You can read the full details of the role in theJob Description

If you’d like an informal chat about the role contact – Ayo Owusuh at [e-mail] orRebecca Watton at [e-mail] Legal Managers for Corporate Legal Services. For general enquiries, please [e-mail].

The Benefits
Weoffer a wide range ofbenefits, 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 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 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 ouraccessibility pagefor more on this. If you’d like to chat, please [e-mail].

We promote a workplace wherefairness, respect and inclusion are a priority. Diverse teams make our work better, help us deliver our mission and make our culture stronger. See ourED&I pagefor more about this.

We welcomeapplications fromeveryone,and colleagues can find supportand 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
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.