Lawyer – Legal Services, ASC Legal

Grade: B £37,694 (National Framework) or £42,712 (London Framework – if you are London office based or homebased and live within the boundary of the M25) – There is also an additional homeworking allowance of £514 per annum for those working from home

Contract type: Fixed term/Secondment opportunity for 12 months

Location: Home-based or office based in London or Leeds.

Closing date: Tuesday 30 August at 11.59pm.

Potential interview dates: 22/23 September 2022.

Whilst our current vacancies are located within the ASC team, we may take the opportunity to appoint to potential future vacancies from this campaign.

Are you committed to helping us regulate health and social care within England?

When thinking about what drives you every day in your job, what keeps you motivated and passionate about your work, what comes to mind? For 3000+ people at the CQC, we end each day knowing that we have made a difference to the lives of those most in need in our communities. We make sure health and social care services provide people with safe, effective, compassionate, high-quality care and encourage care services to improve. We are looking for people who are caring, demonstrate integrity and work well as part of a team to join with us and share in this sense of achievement. If you would like to help us make a positive impact to health and social care within England, then read on.

Why this could be a great role for you…

We all use health and social care services and may know people who access these services. This is an opportunity to join an organisation that has an impact on the improvement agenda for those services, so that you can make a difference to the standard of care people receive in adult social care, hospitals, mental health services, children’s services, health and justice services and primary medical services.

CQC’s Governance and Legal Services (GLS) team is established and dynamic. As a Lawyer working in the inhouse legal team, you will be responsible for delivering advice to the Adult Social Care (ASC), as well as the opportunity to work across a range of stakeholders across the organisation.  The work is interesting and often high profile.  You’ll be required to work closely with our award-winning in-house Litigation Inquests and Prosecution Team and to work with the Lawyers and colleagues across all the teams in GLS.

As a Lawyer, you’ll provide legal advice to our Operations Group on a variety of civil enforcement matters, including urgent applications for cancellation or suspension. You will also be required to provide policy and regulatory advice. The role requires flexibility to support wider Legal Services team activity. You will also be responsible for developing strong relations throughout the business, using your experience and knowledge to shape legal solutions.

This is a role for people who are committed to making a difference in this sector, in return you will develop and enhance your skills in the legal aspects of health and social care regulation.

What we can offer you...

Your health and wellbeing are important to us and are supported through generous annual leave (starting at 27 days and rising with service to 32.5days, plus 8 Bank Holidays), a cycle to work scheme, discounted gym vouchers and access to a free employee assistance service 24 hours a day. We also understand the importance of financial health and offer membership of the NHS pension scheme, contributing about 14% of basic salary. You will also be able to access discounts to supermarkets, high street stores, electronics, fleet cars, plus we also have an internal reward scheme which could see you earn yourself a voucher or two! All our Homeworkers are also kitted out with everything they need to comfortably work from home.

We want to make working for CQC a great experience for everyone, and to role model a diverse and representative culture. To support an inclusive environment where colleagues feel empowered to bring their whole self to work, we support a variety of staff networks, including the Race Equality Network, LGBT+ Equality Network, Carers Equality Network, Disability Equality Network and Gender Equality network.

What you will bring…

You’ll be a qualified Solicitor, Barrister or Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives with either 2+ years post qualification experience OR newly qualified with proven substantial experience providing legal advice in a health regulation setting or within the Public Sector.

You will have an established history of managing caseloads and proven regulatory or enforcement experience.  You must be able to quickly adapt to and be able to advise and present complex legal information in an easily understood and accessible format to CQC’s Inspection Directorates. You will work collaboratively with colleagues across Governance & Legal Services as well as the wider organisation. You will have an eye for detail but also be able see the bigger picture; engaging and influencing colleagues in a supportive manner. 

You will have excellent communication skills and the ability to secure and maintain the confidence of a range of Commission stakeholders. You will also be able to analyse risk and benefit within a fast-paced environment, and to reassess priorities on a continual basis. Reporting to the Senior Lawyer, you will also be required to support colleagues across Legal Services.

We are particularly keen to hear from those with current experience working in Adult Social Care, health and/or regulation. Does this sound like you? If you have experience in regulatory advisory work, civil litigation (including defending judicial review claims) we would love to hear from you. 

We want to support you to succeed and be your very best, with opportunities for training and development along with the support of experienced managers and mentors.

For an informal discussion or further information about this role, please contact Hiring Managers:

Laura Mullin, Senior Lawyer ASC – laura.mullin@cqc.org.uk

Camilla Darby, Legal Manager for ASC – camilla.darby@cqc.org.uk

Please note some roles may be subject to a satisfactory DBS check