Senior Lawyer – Inquires Team

Job summary

Make a difference
Every role at CQC contributes to our mission. If you’re looking for a new role in Legal Services that gives a true sense of meaning and purpose, then you’ve found it.
As a Senior Lawyer in the Inquires Team, you'll help ensure CQC responds effectively to public inquiries, supporting better outcomes across health and social care.

Picture this
You'll work at the heart of important decisions, providing practical legal advice that helps CQC respond to high-profile inquiries and investigations, ensuring important lessons are identified and acted upon. You'll collaborate with colleagues across the organisation to solve complex challenges, manage legal risks, and shape effective legal solutions.

As a Senior Lawyer, you might:

• Get the chance to work on CQC's response to a major public inquiry or independent investigation, helping identify legal risks and supporting complex casework that informs organisational learning.
• Help shape strategic legal solutions that influence how CQC respond effectively to emerging issues across health and social care sectors.

Job description

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

• Lead and support a legal team: Manage, coach and develop legal professionals, helping them deliver high-quality advice and services across CQC.
• Provide expert legal guidance: Deliver practical, solutions-focused legal advice across CQC, support inquiry proceedings where required, helping colleagues and leaders make informed legally-robust decisions.
• Drive continuous improvement: Monitor legal trends, review team performance, build strong relationships, and use feedback and learning to drive improvement in legal services and support organisational priorities.

Person specification

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

• A legal qualification as a Solicitor, Barrister or Fellow of CILEX, with the right to practise in England and Wales, with at least 5 years post qualification experience of advising on public inquiries, inquests or significant public law matters including preparing submissions, drafting witness statements, or acting as a legal representative.
• Experience leading, coaching or developing legal professionals while managing legal work and delivering high-quality outcomes.
• Experience advising on complex legal matters, assessing legal risk, and explaining legal issues clearly to senior stakeholders or colleagues.

Apply today to join a workplace where your impact is felt every day.

Benefits

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 23.7% 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.

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

Please apply on CQC's job page using the link at the bottom of the page.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Suleman Patel, Deputy Director of Public Inquiries
• Email : Suleman.Patel@cqc.org.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : recruitment@cqc.org.uk

Further information

https://www.cqc.org.uk/