Overview
Children’s Services Inspector
Grade B: £39,784 (National) or £45,456 (London – for London office based or homebased workers within the boundary of the M25) – There is also an additional homeworking allowance of £581 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: Permanent
Location: Homebased – Flexible
Closing Date: Monday 20 October 2025 at 11:59pm
Location: This post is for a national programme and the ability to travel regularly and be accommodated away from home when on site for week-long inspections will be required.
Make a difference
Every role at CQC contributes to our mission. If you’re looking for a new role in the National Operations, Multi-agency Operations Directorate that gives a true sense of meaning and purpose, then you’ve found it!
As a Children’s Services Inspector , you’ll help make sure children and young people receive safe, high-quality care by inspecting and improving health services across England.
Picture this
Imagine working in a team where your insights help shape the future of children’s health and wellbeing. Every day, you’ll see the real impact of your work on children, families, and communities.
In the last year as a Children’s Services Inspector in the National Operations, Multi-agency Operations Directorate , you might have:
- Led a multi-agency inspection to improve safeguarding for children at risk, working closely with health, social care, and police partners.
- Helped develop new inspection tools and training resources to support colleagues and drive better outcomes for children and young people.
The role
You’ll play an important part in delivering our mission. In this role, you’ll :
- Lead and deliver inspections: Plan and carry out reviews of children’s health services, working with a range of partners to ensure services are safe and effective.
- Gather and analyse evidence: Collect information from different sources , engage with children and families, and use your findings to make clear recommendations.
- Share knowledge and support improvement: Build strong relationships with colleagues and partners, sharing insights and supporting improvements in children’s health and care.
Show us
We will be looking for specific skills, knowledge and experience in your application form:
- Experience working in children’s services, including supporting children who are looked after, have special educational needs, or are subject to child protection plans.
- Ability to assess and present evidence clearly, including experience leading or contributing to inspections, audits, or reviews in health, social care, or related settings.
- Strong knowledge of safeguarding, relevant legislation, and how different agencies work together to protect and support children.
Join us at CQC and grow your career in an organisation that values learning, collaboration, and meaning. Apply today to join a workplace where your impact is felt every day.
Compliance
To progress your application, you’ll need to provide evidence of your right to work in the UK. Without 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 .
If you’d like an informal chat about the role contact:
- Lea Pickerill, Children’s Services Manager at lea.pickerill@cqc.org.uk or Jess Taylor-Beirne, Children’s Services Manager at jess.taylor-beirne@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 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 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.
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.
