Senior Lawyer (Criminal) - Litigation, Prosecution & Inquest Team

Grade A - £55,172 (National) or £61,028 (London – for London office based or homebased workers within the boundary of the M25). All Senior Lawyers receive an additional £2,500 Recruitment and Retention allowance annually. For full time homeworkers this role also offers a £600 annual homeworking allowance. Contracted Hours: Full time 37 hours per week - we may also consider compressed hours Contract Type: Permanent Location: Flexible – you can be home-based or office-based (London or Leeds office). We also operate hybrid working, with an expectation of 2 days per week working from home. Closing date: Tuesday 16 June 2026 at 11.59pm Make a difference Every role at CQC contributes to our mission, if you’re looking for a new role in Legal Services that gives a true sense of meaning and purpose, then you’ve found it! As a Senior Lawyer , you’ll help make sure our decisions are fair, lawful and protect people who use health and care services. Picture this You’re advising on complex, high-impact cases while working with colleagues across CQC to make sure the right legal decisions are made at the right time. Your work directly supports safe, high-quality care by helping guide investigations and enforcement activity. As a Senior Lawyer in the Criminal Litigation team , you will be working on: Leading legal work on complex investigations, supporting criminal prosecutions and inquest cases that concern people using services. Shaping legal strategies with senior leaders to manage risk and respond to emerging issues across CQC’s regulatory work. The role You’ll play an important part in delivering our mission. In this role, you’ll: Lead legal advice and litigation: Provide clear, practical legal advice and lead on litigation including prosecutions and inquests to support CQC’s regulatory enforcement work. Manage and support a legal team: Line management supervision of colleagues, providing support and coaching to members of the team and other colleagues within CQC, helping to develop the legal team to deliver high quality, consistent legal advice and support. Work with senior stakeholders: Build strong relationships across CQC, helping teams understand legal risks and apply the right approach in their work. Show us We will be looking for specific skills, knowledge and experience in your application form: Legal qualification and experience: Qualified solicitor, barrister or legal executive in England and Wales with at least 5 years’ experience, including managing caseloads and advising on complex legal matters. Advocacy and litigation experience: Experience handling legal proceedings, including presenting cases in the criminal courts, coronial settings or a background in regulatory enforcement work. Leadership and applying legal knowledge: Experience leading or supporting colleagues while applying knowledge of investigations, prosecutions or public law to solve complex problems. 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 – Annette Cocchiara, Legal Manager; [email protected]. For general enquiries, please email [email protected] . 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 [email protected] . 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.