Lawyer - Inquiries and Investigations Team in Leeds

Grade B - £42,044 (National) or £47,900 (London – for London office based or homebased workers within the boundary of the M25) – There isalso an additional homeworking allowance of £600 per annum for those workingfrom home. The role also includes a £3,000 recruitment and retention allowance per annum.

Contracted Hours: Full time 37 hours per week

Contract Type: 12Month Fixed Term or Secondment Opportunity – to cover maternity leave

Internal applicantsmust obtain written confirmation from their line manager, granting permission to be released from their current role, before applying for this opportunity

Although this role is offered as a fixed term contract to backfill maternity we are also currently rebuilding our organisation and reviewing our structures and ways of working across several areas of the business, including Legal Services. We would encourage applicants to carefully consider the contract duration as advertised.

Location: Home or office based. CQC’s offices are in London, Newcastle, Leeds and Bristol. Hybridworking also available (working 2 days a week from home).

Closing date:Sunday 27 September 2026 at 11.59pm

Make a difference

Every role at CQC contributes to our mission. If you're looking for a new rolein Inquiries and Investigations, Legal Services that gives a true senseof meaning and purpose, then you've found it.

As a Lawyer, Inquiries andInvestigations, you'll help ensure CQC responds effectively to publicinquiries, reviews and investigations, supporting better outcomes across healthand social care.

Picture this

Imagine using your legal expertise to help CQC respond to high-profileinquiries and investigations, ensuring important lessons are identified andacted upon. You'll work with colleagues across the organisation to manage legalrisks and offering legal insight to support decisions that make a realdifference to people using health and care services.As a Lawyer in LegalServices, you might:

• Get the chance to work on CQC's response to amajor public inquiry or independent investigation, helping identify legalrisks and supporting complex casework that informs organisationallearning.
• Contribute to the development of new legalapproaches or policy solutions that help CQC respond effectively toemerging issues across health and social care regulation.

The role

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

• Provide clear legal advice: Deliver accurate and practical, solutions-focused legal advice across CQC, helping colleagues make informed decisions and manage legal risk.
• Support inquiries and investigations: Work closely with inquiry and investigation teams to provide legal guidance on reviews, investigations, contentious matters and related activities.
• Develop people and relationships: Support and coach legal colleagues where needed, build effective working relationships across CQC and help increase legal awareness through training and guidance.

Show us

We will be looking for specificskills, knowledge and experience in your application form:

• Qualified legal professional: You are a Solicitor, Barrister or Chartered Legal Executive eligible to practise in England and Wales, with relevant post‑qualification experience or substantial pre‑qualification experience in a regulatory or health and social care setting.
• Experience managing a varied legal caseload, assessing risks, advising on complex legal matters and prioritising work in a fast-paced setting.
• Experience explaining complex legal issues in clear, accessible language and providing advice, presentations or guidance to a range of stakeholders.

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.

You can read the full details of the role in the Job Description.

If you’d like an informal chat about the role contact – Lorraine Reed, Public Inquiries Manager; Lorraine.Reed@cqc.org.uk or RossClark, Public Inquiries Manager at Ross.Clark@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 wherefairness, 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 ourcore 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 applicationmustreflectyour real skills and experience.
• Spell-checking and condensing word counts are great ways to use AI effectively.
• Do notcopy 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 andmay lead to your application being withdrawnor termination of your employment.