Director of Primary Care

Director Of Primary Care & Community Services x 2
Location: Homebased, although travel across the region and to meetings will be required
Contract: Up to 18 months
Salary: Exec 2 - £95,000 - £113,625 per annum
Closing Date: Monday 10 November 2025 at 11.59pm
Make a Difference
Every role at the Care Quality Commission (CQC) contributes to our mission. If you're looking for a leadership role that combines strategy and high-quality operational delivery in Primary Care & Community Services, this is it.

As a Director of Primary Care & Community Services, you'll lead operational delivery and regulatory activity across your Directorate. You'll be accountable for achieving key performance targets and delivering in the CQC Way - putting people who use services at the heart of everything we do.

Achievements

• You will have a track record of leading high performing teams to deliver significant operational priorities in Primary Care
• You will be experienced in working with General Practice, developing innovative solutions with cross-sector partners, ensuring safe and effective care
• You will have led a national or regional review of access to Primary Care using data & insights (including lived experience) to shape future regulation/improve service delivery

You'll Play a Key Role in the Organisation By:

• Providing strategic leadership across regulatory and operational activity, driving performance and sector improvement.
• Identifying and responding to emerging risks and trends, shaping national policy and practice.
• Managing resources and budgets effectively to deliver high-impact outcomes.
• Building and maintaining relationships with senior stakeholders across health and social care.
• Supporting the development of sector expertise and consistency across regulatory teams.

Show Us
We're looking for candidates who can clearly demonstrate:

• Experience leading strategic change in Primary Care & Community Services.
• Ability to use data and insight to identify risks and drive quality improvements across complex systems.
• Proven success in senior stakeholder engagement, including presenting to national bodies and influencing policy.

How To Apply...
To apply for this role, please create a profile and complete an online application form, uploading your current CV and a covering letter. In your covering letter, explain why you are suitable for the role and highlight your knowledge and experience in regulation and improvement within the primary and community care sector. Be sure to address how you would contribute to achieving our strategic priorities.

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.

To progress your application, you'll need to provide evidence of your right to work in the UK. Without the 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 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 and Candidate Brief via the apply button.

For an informal discussion or further information on the role, please contact Professor Bola Owolabi CBE, Chief Inspector of Primary Care and Community Services, via her Exec PA Nichola Mitchell or for general enquiries, please contact our recruitment team.

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 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 our benefits page on our website 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 our recruitment team.
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.

We 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
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.