Head of Operations & Quality

We are working exclusively with a specialist adult social care provider to appoint a Head of Operations & Quality into its senior leadership team.

This is a newly created role with genuine organisational influence.

The provider supports adults with complex mental health needs, including people moving from secure, institutional or highly supported environments back into the community.

The organisation is established, CQC regulated and entering its next stage of growth. Rather than allowing growth to run ahead of quality, the leadership team is investing now in stronger operational assurance, governance and consistency across its existing services.

The successful person will sit as a permanent member of the Senior Management Team and work directly with the organisation’s senior leadership.

You will take ownership of the operational and quality standard across the organisation’s existing services.

This includes:

• Building and maintaining an organisation-wide quality assurance framework aligned to CQC expectations

• Owning the audit programme and ensuring actions are identified, tracked and closed

• Developing clear compliance dashboards and management information across staffing, training, recruitment, care records, incidents and service performance

• Supporting and challenging Service Managers around quality, compliance and operational standards

• Leading inspection readiness across services

• Providing senior safeguarding oversight and ensuring learning from incidents is embedded into practice

• Monitoring safer recruitment, workforce compliance, supervision, appraisal and training standards

• Ensuring commissioner monitoring requirements and placement obligations are met

• Chairing operational review meetings and providing clear assurance into the Senior Management Team

• Identifying emerging risks before they become regulatory or operational problems

• Supporting services through improvement, change and growth

This is not simply an audit role.

The organisation wants someone who can understand what is happening inside a service, challenge constructively, build reliable systems and give senior leadership confidence that standards are being maintained.

Who we are interested in speaking with

We are deliberately keeping the search broad.

You may currently be working within a provider as a:

• Regional Operations Manager
• Head of Quality
• Quality & Compliance Manager
• Regional Quality Manager
• Registered Manager operating across multiple services
• Service Improvement Lead
• Head of Operations
• Governance or Assurance Lead

We are also particularly interested in speaking with people who have worked within:

• Integrated Care Boards
• Clinical Commissioning Groups
• Continuing Healthcare teams
• Local Authority commissioning or quality teams
• NHS provider quality or assurance functions
• Transforming Care programmes
• Mental health commissioning
• Complex care commissioning
• Provider quality monitoring

For candidates coming from the commissioner or NHS side, we would expect evidence of previous provider-side, operational or senior service leadership rather than purely strategic programme management.

Likewise, for candidates coming from providers, experience of working closely with commissioners, ICBs, Local Authorities or system partners would be highly valuable.

What matters most

We are particularly interested in people who can demonstrate:

• Senior responsibility within regulated adult social care

• Strong understanding of CQC regulation and inspection readiness

• Experience improving services rather than simply identifying problems

• Safeguarding, Mental Capacity Act and risk-management knowledge

• Credibility with operational managers and frontline teams

• Ability to build assurance systems, audit frameworks and clear management information

• Confidence working with commissioners, Local Authorities, ICBs and other external stakeholders

• Strong written reporting and senior stakeholder communication

• The judgement to challenge senior colleagues where required

A Level 5 qualification in Leadership and Management for Adult Care, or a credible equivalent, is highly desirable.

Experience within forensic mental health would be valuable but is not essential.

We are more interested in people who understand complex services, regulation, risk and how to create consistent standards across an organisation.

Why consider it?

This is a chance to move beyond simply managing an individual service or supporting someone else’s quality function.

You will have a genuine seat at the table and the authority to help define how quality and operational standards are managed across the business.

For someone currently operating at Regional Manager, Quality Lead or senior commissioner level, it represents an opportunity to step into broader Head-level organisational ownership.

The organisation is growing, but growth and mobilisation sit separately, allowing this position to focus on protecting and strengthening the quality of the existing business.

Salary: £50,000 to £55,000 depending on experience
Bonus: discretionary annual bonus of up to 15% of base salary
Location: Buckinghamshire, with regular travel across services in Aylesbury, Oxford and Milton Keynes and Hackney

Full UK driving licence and ability to travel independently are required.

If your background sits somewhere between operations, quality, commissioning and service improvement, we would particularly like to hear from you.

Apply with your CV or contact Dan from Ignis Solutions for a conversation.