Overview

Director of Mental Health — Location: Homebased. Contract: Permanent. Salary: £95,000 - £113,625 per annum. Closing Date: Wednesday 24 September at 11.59pm.

For an informal discussion or further information on the role, please contact Dr Arun Chopra via his Executive Personal Assistant, fanni.kovari@cqc.org.uk; for general enquiries please contact recruitment@cqc.org.uk.

About Us

We’re the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and we work to improve health and adult social care in England. We regulate health and adult social care, work with the public, systems and providers of care to protect people, and to promote and improve quality of care. Our vision is to see everyone receiving safe, effective and compassionate care. We’re committed to listening, acting, informing and protecting the public, helping providers and systems of care to improve and innovate, ensuring our people feel valued and do great work, and to work together with partners who share our purpose for better care. We’re now looking for a Director of Mental Health to join us on a full-time, permanent basis.

Why this could be a great role for you

This is a fantastic opportunity for a credible and inspirational leader from the health and social care system with change and improvement experience gained within regulated systems to join our senior leadership team. We’ve built our organisation around our values of Excellence, Integrity, Caring, and Teamwork. We are insight-led, proportionate and innovative, transparent, accountable and impartial, just, compassionate and respectful, and collaborative, inclusive and fair. If these values resonate with you and you feel you can embody and represent them, you will discover an outstanding working environment with opportunities for professional development and growth, where your contributions make a lasting impact. What’s more, you’ll be taking on a role with real purpose at a time when mental health and social care is at the forefront of the nation’s mindset and having solutions, systems and processes in place is even more important than ever.

What you will bring

To be considered as our Director of Mental Health, you will need:

• Extensive experience in complex, senior stakeholder engagement across the health and social care system
• Previous experience of working in health, social care, the NHS, regulatory or related fields
• Experience leading large-scale change and driving improvement in complex environments
• Experience of risk management, operational policy development and shaping regulation
• Strong people management experience, including building and developing high-performing teams
• Excellent interpersonal, communication and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence at the highest levels
• Political awareness and strong business acumen, with the ability to identify opportunities for innovation
• Analytical capability, using data and insight to drive decision-making
• Knowledge of the Mental Health Act (1983), Mental Capacity Act (2005), and wider government and regulatory policy
• An understanding of corporate finance, managing budgets and measures of performance
• A future-thinking approach, skilled in horizon scanning and shaping strategy

What you’ll be doing

As our Director of Mental Health, you will provide strategic leadership across our mental health work, driving improvement and shaping future policy. Specifically, you will work with the Chief Inspector of Mental Health, coordinate our Mental Health Act responsibilities and shape policy and practice across the health and social care sector. You will provide clear leadership to the Mental Health Act operations teams, as well as mental health policy and strategy teams, whilst supporting our regulation of Mental Health Independent Providers and High Secure Hospitals, assisting with the annual Mental Health Act Report, and leading our activity in the implementation of the Mental Health Bill. Additionally, you will:

• Respond to emerging issues and thematic work in the mental health sector
• Build strong relationships with key stakeholders to enhance registration and assessment processes
• Manage risk across health and care, collaborating to develop a shared view of quality

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

Next steps

You can read the full details of the role in the Job Description and Candidate Information Pack:

• JD Director of MH
• Candidate Pack Director of Mental Health Final

To apply please upload a current CV and covering letter via the link below. Your covering letter should describe your suitability for the role and outline your knowledge and experience of using the Mental Health Act (1983) and Mental Capacity Act (2005).

Equity and inclusion

Equity for all: We welcome applications from everyone, and we encourage you to apply. We will work with you to remove barriers and provide adjustments as needed. Details on accessibility and equality, diversity and inclusion are available on our pages. For any questions, please contact recruitment@cqc.org.uk.