Operations Manager – Hospitals, Secondary and Specialist Care – East of England or London

Grade A - £55,172 (National) or £61,028 (London – for London office based or homebased workers within the boundary of the M25) – There is also an additional homeworking allowance of £600 per annum for those working from home. For part time roles – please note this will be pro rata.

Contracted Hours: Full time 37 hours per week

Contract Type: 1 x Permanent vacancy in East of England. 1 x Secondment opportunity until March 2028 in London

Closing date: Sunday 22nd November 2026 at 11.59pm

Interview dates: Monday 14th & Tuesday 15th December 2026 - Stratford Office

This role requires regular travel across East of England or London areas as needed for meetings and engagement activities. Applicants must be willing and able to travel within this area. For this reason, we are seeking candidates who live within the specified regions. Location will be carefully considered to ensure the role and responsibilities remain manageable.

Make a difference

Every role at CQC contributes to our mission, if you’re looking for a new role in Operations – Hospitals, Secondary and Specialist Care that gives a true sense of meaning and purpose then you’ve found it! As an Operations Manager, you’ll lead a team of specialists to deliver high-quality assessments that help ensure people receive safe, effective, and compassionate care.

Picture this

Imagine leading a team that helps identify and address risks in health and care services – making a real difference to people’s lives every day. You’ll be part of a supportive, values-driven team that works together to improve care across the country.

At CQC As An Operations Manager – Hospitals, Secondary And Specialist Care In The Operations Directorate, You Will Get The Chance To

• Lead a specialist HSSC team to deliver a complex system-based assessment that uncovers risks and drives improvements in care.
• Work collaboratively with other HSSC operational managers to identify and respond to risk and to schedule inspections across the network.
• Develop network wide ways of working in respect of HSSC services, developing consistency through procedures and processes
• Collaborate with data and insight teams to apply intelligence that shapes regulatory decisions and protects people using services.
  
  

The role

You’ll be key in helping us deliver our work. In this role, you’ll:

• Lead and support teams: Manage a team of inspectors, ensuring they have the tools, support, and development they need to succeed.
• Manage operational delivery: Oversee end-to-end assessment activity of HSSC services within the area and the wider network, ensuring it meets performance targets and regulatory standards.
• Collaborate and problem-solve: Work with colleagues across CQC including colleagues in mental health act operations and external partners to manage risk, respond to concerns, and drive improvements in care.
  
  

Show Us

We’ll be looking for the following skills, knowledge and experience in your application form:

• Significant experience and expertise in HSSC services.
• Experience leading operational delivery: You’ve successfully managed teams and delivered complex programmes or services, ideally in a HSSC setting.
• Ability to use insight to drive decisions: You’ve used data or evidence to inform actions, solve problems, or improve quality.
• Strong collaboration and communication skills: You’ve worked with a range of stakeholders – internally and externally including with NHS trusts – to influence outcomes and build effective partnerships.
  
  

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.

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

If you’d like an informal chat about the role contact :

East of England: Sarah Ivory-Donnelly, Deputy Director of Hospitals, Secondary and Specialist Healthcare Central Region - Sarah.Ivory-Donnelly@cqc.org.uk

London: Antoinette Smith, Deputy Director of Hospitals, Secondary and Specialist Healthcare South Region - Antoinette.Smith@cqc.org.uk

For general enquiries, please email recruitment@cqc.org.uk.

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.

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 recruitment@cqc.org.uk. 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.

e 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.