Director of ASC Workforce and Quality in Leeds

You will be required to attend the London and Leeds offices on a regular basis, and some travel to other locations across UK.

DHSC has a hybrid way of working. You will be expected to attend the office for more than 60% of your working time Subject to the capacity of individual buildings, there is no upper limit on the number of days of attending offices and this should be driven by business need.

Job summary

DHSC are seeking an outstanding senior leader to join the Adult Social Care Group as Director of Adult Social Care Workforce and Quality. This high-profile role will lead delivery of major workforce priorities, including the Workforce Action Plan, Fair Pay Agreement, establishment of the adult social care negotiating body and international recruitment work. The role will lead work on how to shape a new approach to driving quality across adult social care, and will lead policy and delivery on specific aspects that drive quality including safeguarding adults, support for unpaid carers and health protection in social care.

The successful candidate will bring substantial experience of leading complex, high-profile policy and delivery programmes, excellent strategic judgement and the ability to build trusted relationships with ministers and senior stakeholders across Whitehall.

This is an opportunity to provide visible leadership and make a significant contribution to transforming adult social care in England.

Key responsibilities

As Director of ASC Workforce and Quality your key responsibilities will include:

• Lead delivery of the Government’s workforce reforms for adult social care, including implementation of the first Fair Pay Agreement, establishment of the new Adult Social Care Negotiating Body, and delivery of the Adult Social Care Workforce Plan, ensuring reforms deliver a skilled, valued and sustainable workforce.
• Provide authoritative strategic advice to Ministers and senior leaders on complex and high-profile adult social care workforce, quality and safeguarding issues, navigating significant public, sector and cross-government interest and translating long-standing challenges into clear policy and delivery choices.
• Strengthen workforce capacity, capability and professional practice across the 1.5 million-strong adult social care workforce, driving improvements to recruitment, retention, training, skills and standards, professionalisation and workforce supply, including the future approach to the international care workforce. Ensure value for money and excellent results through the delivery of workforce grants and contracts.
• Drive improvements in quality, safeguarding and people’s experience of care, strengthening protections for adults at risk, national safeguarding leadership and accountability, statutory guidance and learning systems, while delivering priorities for unpaid carers, visiting, health protection and emergency preparedness. Lead the government’s response to Module 6 of the Covid 19 Inquiry and the development of the adult social care pandemic preparedness action plan.
• Build influential partnerships across government and the health and care system, working closely with the Home Office, Cabinet Office, HM Treasury, local government, providers, sector partners and people who draw on and provide care to develop and deliver sustainable solutions through genuine co-production.
• Lead and develop a high-performing Workforce and Quality Directorate, comprising around 70 people across Leeds and London, three Deputy Directors and a new NDPB negotiating body, with responsibility for around £100m of workforce grants and contracts. As a senior leader, you will build capability, support excellent delivery and help shape the structure, culture and ways of working of the new Department as NHS England is brought into DHSC.

Person specification

It is important through your CV and Statement of Suitability that you give evidence and examples of proven experience of each of the following essential criteria:

• Strategic policy and analytical capability – exceptional policy and analytical skills, with demonstrable experience of developing strategic responses to complex, challenging and long-standing policy and operational problems and translating these into clear priorities and deliverable solutions.
• Senior stakeholder engagement and executive influencing: A proven track record of advising and influencing senior leaders and key decision-makers—such as board members, ministers, or executive leadership—on sensitive, high-profile issues, with the political acuity, negotiation capability, and credibility to provide robust counsel, manage competing priorities, and secure consensus in complex, high-scrutiny environments.
• Strategic collaboration and system-level delivery: A proven track record of leading across complex organisational boundaries and navigating multi-layered governance or regulatory environments, with the demonstrated ability to influence senior institutional decision-makers—such as central government departments, regulators, or funding bodies—while aligning competing agendas and building collaborative, cross-sector coalitions to shape strategy, policy, and large-scale delivery.
• Delivery and implementation – proven experience of translating ambitious policy into effective delivery, managing complex programmes, competing priorities and significant delivery risks while maintaining a clear focus on outcomes.
• Stakeholder partnership and co-production – significant experience working with a diverse range of partners and stakeholders, building trusted relationships and ensuring that different perspectives and lived experience inform the development and delivery of policy.
• Exceptional leadership and people management – a strong and inclusive leader with proven experience of leading and developing multidisciplinary teams, building capability and maintaining effective delivery through significant organisational change and transformation, particularly relevant as the transformation across DHSC and NHS England takes shape.

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